TEXAS, USA — Powering the race for governor is a lopsided affair when it comes to the backing of big energy.
The epic Texas freeze fueled a surge of campaign cash, with the war chest of Gov. Greg Abbott dwarfing other candidates in energy-interest contributions, according to a KHOU 11 analysis of data from the Texas Ethics Commission.
Since 2021, Abbott’s campaign received at least $7.8 million from oil and gas companies, energy executives and energy-related political action committees. The campaign coffers of Republican challenger Donald Huffines took in $258,653 from energy interests. Democratic hopeful Beto O’Rourke only received $41,380 in energy-related contributions.
“Business and industry, and particularly oil and gas, bet on winners, and what they’re telling you is who they believe is going to be the next governor of Texas,” said Bob Stein, KHOU 11 political analyst. If Beto had a chance of winning this election, I assure you he would be getting oil and gas money.”
O’Rourke’s campaign described Abbott’s energy contributions as “extortion,” “corruption” and “unacceptable.” They include 33 checks of $100,000 or more and a $1 million contribution from Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren, whose pipeline company reportedly made more than $2 billion during the blackouts last year.
Since 2021, 15.4% of Abbott’s campaign contributions have come from energy interests, according to the KHOU 11 analysis.
"The bigger the donation, the harder it is to justify,” UH Political Science Professor Brandon Rottinghaus said.
Rottinghaus added that the timing of those big checks can be critical.
“The fact that this ($1 million) donation came right on the heels of the major decisions the governor made on the energy grid, does, I think, raise suspicions for voters,” Rottinghaus said.
Abbott’s campaign, in a statement, said the governor has worked to protect Texans’ high-paying oil and gas jobs, while O’Rourke would “kill hundreds of thousands of Texas energy jobs with his green new deal agenda.”
Both political scientists said big energy’s influence will likely not be the only issue voters will think about when it comes time to hit the polls. They said the economy and border security will be key points on the campaign trail, and voters will tend to forget last year’s power failures as time moves on.