Artwork: Allie Carl/Axios
With national eyes on Tuesday United States Senate run-off in Georgia, we took a look at the Austinites who gave big this election cycle to the campaigns of Republican candidate Herschel Walker and Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock.
Why is this important: Yes, Democrats will control the Senate regardless of who wins, but holding the extra seat would reduce the power of individual senators — like West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin — and help Democrats control the flow of committee business.
- More: Adding a Senate seat in Georgia’s Dec. 6 runoff would give Democrats more investigative resources and — most importantly — the nearly unilateral power to issue subpoenas without Republican buy-in.
- A victory for Walker would boost the prospects of former President Donald Trump, who has seen his political influence diminished by the losses of key candidates mid-term in November.
Between the lines: The donations, which we extracted from the Federal Election Commission’s campaign finance data, are a window into the upper echelons of central Texas political donors.
Top Donors locally in Warnock for Georgia include:
- Matt Winker, founder of the biotechnology company Asuragenwho contributed $5,000.
- Lucia Johnson, investor and the late president’s daughter, contributed $8,700.
- Marc Winkelman, philanthropist and head of Calendar Holdings, donated $5,800.
- Joe Gebbia, founder of Airbnb; Jerome Kearns, head of four-handed housekeeping; and Chris Hyams, CEO of Indeed, each donated $2,900.
Local donors at Walker include:
What they say : Walker “speaks for conservatives who have been viciously lied to in the mainstream media,” Barnard told Axios.
- “I support candidates who believe in limited government, free speech, the Second Amendment and who are pro-life…Most importantly, I am for common sense governance and America First policies which benefits everyone.”
The other side: “People like Herschel Walker who support a guy like Donald Trump are dangerous people — dangerous to the future of the republic,” Winkelman told Axios. “He doesn’t have to get involved in governing people.”
Zoom out: Statewide, major Walker supporters include Bettina Langlais, who staged a mask-burning protest in Dallas in opposition to COVID restrictions; Annette Simmons, philanthropist and widow of storage of radioactive waste Baron Harold Simmons; CEO of construction company Plano Ben Pogue; restaurateur Bobby Cox; real estate broker David Mafrige; and Tom Hicks, businessman and former owner of the Texas Rangers; and construction magnate Harlan Crow.
- Warnock contributors include North Texas attorney Roger Sanders, Fort Worth investor Geoffrey Raynor, Dallas auto executive Christopher Reynolds and Dorchester Minerals CEO William McManemin.
By the numbers: Warnock’s campaign reported raising $150.5 million through Nov. 16, three times the $58.3 million Walker’s campaign reported raising during the same period. by open secretsa non-profit organization that tracks money in politics.
At the end of the line : The Texas donations confirm how fierce national local politics have become.
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