Greg Abbott, Gina Hinojosa each post biggest fundraising hauls yet in final leg of Texas governor’s race

A remarkable amount of money flowed into the Texas governor’s race over the last month, marked by a furious fundraising push by Gov. Greg Abbott as he finds himself in an unusually competitive race against Democrat Gina Hinojosa.

From Sept. 25 through Oct. 24, the span covered by new campaign finance reports due Monday, Abbott raised $26 million — the highest total he has posted in any reporting period this cycle. For comparison, Abbott raised $8.8 million over the same period in his 2022 campaign against Beto O’Rourke, whom he went on to defeat by over 11 percentage points. Nearly one-fifth of Abbott’s latest haul came from one man: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who has also bankrolled a nine-figure GOP spending binge in the U.S. Senate race.

Abbott also spent heavily, dropping $35.8 million in the last month. His outflow of more than $1 million a day mostly went toward television ads, which, in tandem with Musk-funded spots boosting Senate nominee Ken Paxton, have dominated Texans’ commercial breaks for weeks.

The staggering sums are a sign of how tight the race is and how seriously Abbott is taking the threat, with a handful of public polls putting the governor behind for the first time in any of his four gubernatorial runs. Monday’s campaign finance reports were the final forms due before Election Day, aside from daily disclosures of donations received over the final week.

Hinojosa picked up her fundraising, too, in the past four weeks, raising $17.5 million and spending $19.1 million. Both totals are her highest for a reporting period this cycle.

The Austin lawmaker ran on a shoestring budget for much of the campaign, overshadowed by the intensely competitive U.S. Senate race between Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, and the perception that Abbott was nearly unassailable. But Hinojosa has gained sudden momentum in the final months, as strong polling despite Abbott’s massive cash edge put her on the national map.

Among Hinojosa’s top donors these past four weeks were Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the Democratic Governors Association, which is chaired by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Both Pritzker and Beshear, who are widely anticipated 2028 presidential contenders, gave Hinojosa $1 million, though dozens of Latino Democrats had urged Beshear to invest $10 million in her race. Senate Democrats’ campaign arm also paid for just under $1.5 million worth of canvassing and campaign materials.

Over the past year, from Hinojosa’s campaign launch on Oct. 15, 2025, to the end of this most recent reporting period, Abbott has outspent her nearly eight-to-one, dispensing $281 million to Hinojosa’s $36.8 million, according to campaign finance filings.

That spending disparity has shown up in advertising, through which Abbott has promoted his own record while bashing Hinojosa for her votes on taxes and culture war issues in the Texas House. Hinojosa, in turn, has had to rely more on other means of getting her message out, such as through social media influencers, on top of her more limited advertising.

Abbott’s spending this cycle also more than doubles his $131 million outlay over his 2022 bid.

Beyond Musk, numerous megadonors poured resources into Abbott’s bid over the past four weeks.

Nike co-founder Phil Knight kicked in $2.5 million, while billionaire investment manager Kenneth Fisher donated $2 million. Several contributed $500,000 apiece: GOP megadonor and casino magnate Miriam Adelson, Roku co-founder Anthony Wood, Houston businessman John Nau and Fort Worth billionaire Lee Bass. The Republican Governors Association donated another $3 million.

Artificial intelligence interests contributed to Abbott, too, as the governor has sought to rein in data center development in response to rural backlash to their rapid influx. Tom Brown, the co-founder of Anthropic, donated $300,000, while Anthropic’s employee-funded PAC gave $200,000.