Republicans Raise 5 Times More Cash
for Dozen Hottest Texas House Battles

General Election Rankings

Capitol Inside
July 21, 2026

Republican nominees raised almost $10 million combined in the past 18 months for a dozen Texas House races in districts Democrats have the best shot on paper to flip in the midterm election this fall.

Democratic foes in the 12 districts that Democrats think they have a decent chance to turn blue rounded up $1.9 million during the same span of time - a sum that's five times less than the Republicans who are playing defense on the House battlefield in 2026.

The GOP contenders in Capitol Inside's top 25 races to watch for the Texas Legislature's lower chamber raked in over over $14.3 million combined between the start of last year and June 30 - according to an analysis of reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission last week. Democrats in sharp contrast scrambled up $2.3 million for the 25 hottest House fights during the 2026 election cycle by the end of last month.

The help from Washington D.C. that Texas Democrats have been told to expect failed to arrive before the outset of July in contests that the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has targeted in the Lone Star State.

While Democrats have been pinning their hopes on a potential blue wave that starts with James Talarico in the U.S. Senate race that's crowning the Texas ballot, the gap between the major party candidates in the top Texas House battles may be wider this year than it's been in nearly three decades of GOP rule in Texas.

Republicans raised more campaign cash than Democratic foes in every single one of the 30 top-rated races for House seats that are red now. The top 10 candidates on the House money list are all Republicans including five incumbents - State Reps. Marc LaHoodl of San Antonio, Jeff Leach of Allen, Morgan Meyer of Dallas, Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi - who've raised more than $1 million apiece in 18 months.

That doesn't include incumbent GOP members in districts that are safely Republican like State Rep. Ken King of Canadian - the chairman of the powerful State Affairs Committee - who's raised $1.9 million for a re-election race he thought would be more competitive in the primary. House Speaker Dustin Burrows of Lubbock rounded up $7.5 million by the end of June for a race in his hometown district with a token Democratic opponent this fall. When the speaker is excluded from the calculations, King ranks second overall in fundraising for House races in 2026 so far.

On the bright side for the party that's been out of power in the Capitol's west wing for two dozen years, Democrats rounded up almost $1.7 million between them for defensive stands in seven House districts where GOP contenders have the best chance to pick up seats in the general election this year. The Republican nominees in those particular seven races rounded up slightly more than $230,000 combined - an amount that gave them one dollar for every $7.20 that Democratic foes corralled by the end of June.

But the Republicans have appeared to be concerned almost exclusively with defending the 88 House seats they control now without a concerted effort to go after districts that President Donald Trump carried for the first time in South Texas border areas less than two years ago. The Republicans - as prime examples - failed to even field opponents for Democratic State Reps. Sergio Munoz of Mission and Armando Martinez of Weslaco in districts that Trump won in 2024.

Nine of the 10 highest-ranked Texas House races are taking place in districts where Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz won by less than 10 points and 5 points respectively in 2024. House District 37 in the Rio Grande Valley is the exception as a place where Trump won by 10.9 percentage points two years ago when Cruz beat Democrat Colin Allred there by less than 2 points.

The three top contests are unfolding in South Texas districts where Trump had record support from Hispanic voters in his third race for the White House. Polls show that the president's popularity ratings with Latino voters had gone down considerably in recent months. The races ranked 11th and 12th are actually 16th and 17th in terms of vulnerability on paper. Those two districts where GOP State Reps. Keresa Richardson of McKinney and Jeff Leach of Allen are seeking new terms are included in the races to watch top 12 as a consequence of the fact that both appear on the DLCC target list.

Most if not all of the House races outside of the top 20 would appear to be beyond the Democrats' reach under relatively normal circumstances in an ordinary election year. But 2026 is the antithesis of typical thanks mostly to the president whose policies have fueled a cost-of-living crisis in the U.S. and a war with Iran that's become a quagmire with no end game and a death toll that's spiked to 17 and includes a Texas teenage Latina soldier who wasn't old enough to buy alcoholic beverages here.

While the prospects for a blue wave in November had appeared to subside some, the chances for such a storm could be rising again in correlation with Americans' growing unhappiness with Iran. All of the 30 top-ranked state House races for seats the GOP controls could be in play this fall if Talarico and down-ballot Democrats fare as well or better this time around than they performed in 2018.

But the fundraising facts and figures below paint a picture of Republican dominance through and through on the critical House battlefield until proven otherwise ...

* Democrat Leading Republican in Fundraising for GOP Seat: 0

* Republican Leading Democrat in Fundraising for Dem Seat: 0

* Highest Ranked Republican: HD 121 Marc LaHood (#1) $2,442,578

* Highest Ranked Democrat: HD 42 Richard Raymond (#12) $520,507

* Highest Ranked Non-Incumbent Republican: HD 98 Cheryl Bean (#11) $578,838

* Highest Ranked Non-Incumbent Democrat: HD 118 Kristian Carranza (#18) $428,095

* Lowest Fundraising Incumbent Republican: HD 127 Charles Cunningham $33,580

* Lowest Fundraising R & D Combined: HD 150 Swanson vs. Kellum $44,553

* Top 10 Fundraising: 10 Republicans, 0 Democrats

* Top 10 Cash on Hand: 9 Republicans, 1 Democrats

* Million Dollar Club - Fundraising: 6 Republicans, 0 Democrats

* Million Dollar Club - Cash on Hand: 4 Republicans, 0 Democrats

* Half Million Club - Fundraising: 12 Republicans, 1 Democrat

* Quarter Million Club - Fundraising: 20 Republicans, 6 Democrats

* Donations & Loans over $100,000 - GOP Seats: Republicans 27 of 30, Democrats 8 of 30

* Donations & Loans over $100,000 - Dem Seats: Republicans 1 of 7, Democrats 6 of 7