Raising Campaign Cash: Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo

Yeow! The report submitted by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo for the period covering 2/20/2022 to 6/30/2022 was so large (over 800 pages) it would not download from the site. I was able to obtain a copy nevertheless. Not only is Hidalgo running for re-election she is also a marathon runner and she is running away in the fundraising campaign.

In this period Hidalgo raised $1,150,804, spent $569,065, has an outstanding loan of $1400, and has a Cash on Hand balance of $1,983,697. Of the $1,150,804 about $290,000 came from donations of $10,000 or more. The highest donation was $30,000. These donations account for about 25% of her entire fundraising for the quarter. Her opponent raised 70% of her total fundraising from just 7 individuals including 4 who gave $100,000 each.

The rest of her report was littered with 800 pages of small donations. The reports provided by the County Commission is not like the Texas Ethics Commission where a spreadsheet could be downloaded and analyzed. It is difficult to analyze due to the volume of pages and donations. (but I did it for you!)

In contrast, during her run in 2018 Hidalgo raised about $183,000 in her January 2018 report.