On the Records: Newt's Weak Texas Fundraising

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has been enjoying recent successes in the polls, but when it comes to fundraising in Texas, he has work to do.

According to Federal Election Commission campaign finance data, Gingrich collected only $132,835 in Texas in the 2012 election cycle up to Sept. 30, receiving only 0.9 percent of donations given to Republican candidates in the state. Among his major rivals, only Rick Santorum raised less here: $48,510.

To help visualize Gingrich's performance so far in Texas, we have added his numbers to our interactive that breaks down the amount and number of contributions by ZIP code. His donation map has also been embedded below. Click on a ZIP code area to compare each candidate's contributions from people who live there.

Gingrich seems to have struggled to find donors willing to max out the federal contribution limit of $2,500, which is key for any candidate aiming to raise a lot of money quickly. Of the 298 contributors to his campaign, only 24 gave in excess of $2,500. The ZIP code of 76016, southeast of Lake Arlington, was Gingrich's highest contributing ZIP code, but the $7,500 collected there came from one family.

Of course, it's important to note that we will not have concrete numbers on the final quarter of 2011 until Jan. 31, 2012, which would include any fundraising efforts since Gingrich's well-regarded debate performances and his surge in the polls. Gingrich's campaign is moving to capitalize on these recent successes. According to Politico, the campaign is currently running a national telemarketing campaign in hopes it can reach out to Republican donors. With the void created by Herman Cain's exit and Rick Perry's fall from the top of the pack, Gingrich could find hesitant donors who have been looking for someone to support.

And as Nicholas Confessore of The New York Times reports, Gingrich has recently gained the support of the Super PAC Solutions 2012, an important step toward building a well-rounded presidential campaign. But for a candidate who intends to go toe to toe with top GOP fundraisers like Perry and Mitt Romney, who raised $9.7 million and $2.1 million in Texas through the third quarter of 2011, respectively, Gingrich has a considerable hill to climb.

The table below lists the 52 $1,000+ Texan contributors to Gingrich's campaign. To view all of Gingrich's Texas donors in the 2012 election cycle, click here.