The Texas Association of Realtors is overwhelmingly backing Republican incumbents in the Lone Star State’s high-profile election races this November.
Texas REALTORS’ Political Action Committee, or TREPAC, has released its list of candidates it’s supporting in statewide and state house elections.
TREPAC’s support is overwhelmingly going to incumbents, such as Republican Greg Abbott for Texas governor over his Democratic challenger, former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke.
The Lone Star State’s major real estate players also support Abbott over O’Rourke.
California transplants and Texas Hill Country ranch owners Michael and Mary Porter have doled out a combined $1 million to Abbott’s campaign as individuals and another $1 million through their political action committee Texans for Responsible Government.
Houston-based hospitality magnate and owner of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, Tilman Fertitta, and his wife, Paige, have shelled out a little over $900,000 to Abbott’s gubernatorial campaign.
Ross Perot Jr and chair of Dallas-based real estate development company Hillwood, have given $750,000 to Abbot’s campaign so far.
O’Rourke’s mother-in-law Nancy Sanders, who is married to Bill Sanders, the founder of the company that eventually became commercial real estate services giant JLL has donated a little more than $142,000 to O’Rourke’s campaign.
Both gubernatorial candidates have received support from out-of-state real estate interests in 2022.
Los Angeles industrial developer Ed Roski, whose Majestic Realty has a presence in Austin, Dallas, and Laredo gave $1.5 million to Abbott’s re-election campaign. In contrast, O’Rourke has pulled in $75,000 from Robert Friedman, a Santa Monica broker and president of the firm YF Group and $25,000 came from architect Frank Gehry.
TREPAC is backing Republican incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over his Democratic and Libertarian challengers Mike Collier and Shanna Steele.
In one of TREPAC’s hottest races, the group is supporting incumbent Republican and legally embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Democratic and Libertarian challengers Rochelle Garza and Mark Ash. Paxton has been indicted for fraud and is being investigated for bribery by the FBI for allegedly accepting donations in exchange for going after opponents of litigious Austin real estate developer Nate Paul.
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