Central Texas senators have plenty of cash

Senators Kirk Watson, Charles Schwertner, Judith Zaffirini, Dawn Buckingham and Donna Campbell each represent a portion of Travis County, with Watson representing the lion’s share. Bearing in mind that members of the Legislature are not allowed to collect donations while the Legislature is in session and for a couple of weeks after that, here are some highlights from the July 15 campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission. Although Watson raised only about $6,900 during the short window prior to June 30, he reported cash on hand of nearly $1,302,000 and he’s not up for reelection next year. On the other hand, Zaffirini, whose hometown is Laredo, reported raising $72,760 and her cash on hand was more than $1,276,000. She is up for reelection in 2020. Schwertner, who is from Georgetown, reported collecting no political contributions, but still retains more than $1,269,000 in the bank. Campbell, who represents parts of far South Austin as well as Hays and Kendall counties and parts of Bexar County, reported contributions of just $3,250 but still has more than $631,000 in the bank. Buckingham, on the other hand, raised more than $405,000 during that short window in late June and reported that she has $1,349,589 in the bank. However, the campaign owes her more than $1,023,000. Buckingham, who is an ophthalmologist plastic surgeon, had a list of wealthy contributors and political action committees, including APAC, Inc./Oldcastle Materials, Inc. Texas PAC, which contributed $10,000 to her campaign. She also received $5,000 from the Beer Alliance of Texas PAC, the Eye-PAC of the Texas Ophthalmological Association and $15,000 from Alan Harper of the L&M Service Group. She is up for reelection in 2020.