Texas Real Estate Donors Divided in Battleground Primaries

Primary election day is on March 3, and hotly contested races have drawn hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from some of the state’s top real estate players.

In the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leaving the office he’s held for over a decade to give incumbent Sen. John Cornyn his toughest primary challenge yet for the seat. A third Republican candidate, Houston-area congressman Wesley Hunt, could drive the U.S. Senate Republican primary to a runoff.

The Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat pits Texas House member James Talarico against former peer and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in a race that’s drawn national attention. While the winner won’t wield direct power over Texas real estate as a U.S. senator, he or she will be able to influence the Senate’s attention to border policy, foreign investments and other issues that have given rise to new state laws, thanks in part to Cornyn and his counterpart Ted Cruz.

The upcoming Republican primaries for attorney general and comptroller will both likely determine the winner of the general election, since a Democrat has not won a statewide office in Texas since 1994.

In the primary race for attorney general, four Republicans are vying to replace Paxton, and no clear institutional favorite has emerged. Whoever wins will be tasked with enforcing several new laws affecting the industry, including the state’s ban on real property purchases by companies and people from certain countries.

Four Republicans are also vying to be the state comptroller, an office which holds substantial sway over the state budget and property taxes.

Here is The Real Deal’s analysis of the biggest real estate industry donations for the candidates, according to data from the Federal Election Commission and the Texas Ethics Commission. Donations from industry members to candidates in all three primaries total just over $1 million, with contributions to Republican candidates for Senate accounting for over $506,000.

U.S. Senate

Real estate players made their biggest donations for candidates in the U.S Senate race.

On the Republican side, the industry’s top players are divided between Cornyn and Paxton.

John Carona, founder of Dallas-based property management giant Associa, gave Cornyn’s campaign over $66,000 in 2025, the last year for which data is available, according to the Federal Election Commission. It’s the biggest contribution in the race for either party by a donor who identified real estate as his or her occupation.

Cornyn’s biggest donations from industry players also include over $12,000 from David Weekley Homes co-founder Richard Weekley; $10,400 from Mischer Investments scion Walt Mischer; and $32,000 from Lucy Billingsley, daughter of Trammell Crow. Hillwood Development Chairman Ross Perot Jr. gave Cornyn $3,500 in March.

Meanwhile, Paxton has the support of Phillip Huffines, president of Huffines Communities and twin brother of comptroller candidate Don Huffines, who gave over $20,000. North Texas developers Rex Glendenning and Mehrdad Moayedi have also given Paxton several gifts of $7,000 apiece.

U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt is a distant third in overall fundraising. Hunt’s notable donations from the industry include $7,000 from Washington developer David Lugliani, and $13,500 from Houston commercial real estate developer David Ley.

The real estate industry has contributed less in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate — total donations from self-identified real estate professionals add up to less than $60,000 for both Democratic candidates — but a few big names emerge from Talarico’s donation records.

Talarico, who has raised more funds this cycle than any other candidate for the seat, received his biggest gifts from Peter McCarthy of Houston-based Eden Asset Management, who contributed over $10,000 to Talarico last year. Talarico’s supporters also include Faisal Halum, a highly ranked Compass agent in Dallas who gave $1,000; and George Billingsley, descendant of late developer and Republican megadonor Trammell Crow, who gave $3,500.

Crockett reported no gifts from a self-identified real estate industry member over $1,000.

Texas Attorney General

The battleground Republican primary to replace Paxton as attorney general includes U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a conservative congressman known for moments of friction with Trump; Paxton protege Aaron Reitz, running as a Trump loyalist; oilman Mayes Middleton, one of the more conservative members of the Texas House; and state senator Joan Huffman, a longtime ally of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Huffman’s real estate industry donors are few, but they include one of the top magnates in Texas: Hillwood Development Chairman Ross Perot Jr., who donated $50,000 to Huffman. MetroNational CEO Jason Johnson also gave Huffman $2,500.

Middleton’s only five-figure donations from the industry came from Alliance Residential COO Brian Austin and Dallas commercial real estate broker Ryan Keiser, a Trammell Crow Company alumnus. Both contributed $10,000 to Middleton’s campaign.

Reitz raked in $25,000 from Ingrid Crow, founder of The Crow Group, a private equity firm in Austin that invests primarily in real estate. Other industry donors include Abilene developer Brian Huntley, whose gifts to Reitz add up to $20,000 in cumulative donations, and $10,400 from Joe Pastora of Dallas-based investment firm Stockdale.

Despite Don Huffines’ “MAGA Trump Republican” billboards, the Huffines family is going for Roy over Reitz. Phillip Huffines donated $25,000 to Roy’s campaign, Roy’s biggest gift from a member of the real estate industry. Roy also received $10,000 from Timmerman Capital founder Timothy Timmerman.

Comptroller

In the Republican primary for comptroller, incumbent Kelly Hancock, a former state senator who was appointed to replace Glenn Hegar as comptroller last year, is facing Christi Craddick, a Republican who has served on the Railroad Commission since 2012, and Don Huffines, a former state senator who cemented his reputation as a party firebrand when he challenged Gov. Greg Abbott from the right in the 2022 Republican primary. A third Republican candidate, real estate broker Michael Berlanga, reports no contributions for this race, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.

Craddick collected $10,000 from Perot, further demonstrating the businessman’s preference for Republican party stalwarts during this cycle.

Shawn Todd and Patrick Todd, founder and partner of Dallas-based Todd Interests, respectively, together chipped in almost $31,000 to Hancock’s campaign, including $5,800 worth of food, beverage and valet services for a fundraising event. Fidelis Realty Partners CEO K. Alan Hassenflu gave Hancock $10,000, and Weekley gave Hancock $5,000.

Huffines received $2,000 from Allie Beth Allman, founder of one of the state’s top luxury brokerages, and $50,000 from Moayedi, one of the state’s most prolific developers. Bandera Ventures founder Charles Anderson gave Huffines $10,000.