Leigh Wambsganss (R) $2,845,923 $200,000 $96,426 Taylor Rehmet (D) $556,658 $0 $114,335

Republicans Swap Insults in China Ties Ads
as Wambsganss Widens Money Lead for OT

Texas House Incumbent Fundraising - Texas House Open Races Cash

Capitol Inside
January 24, 2026

As Texas Republicans braced for the final week of a special Texas Senate election runoff that some in Tarrant County fear a Democrat could win, a GOP primary fight for an East Texas seat turned nasty on Friday when the candidates sought to tie the other to the communists in China.

The special contest in Senate District 9 entered the seven-day stretch before the overtime vote after Southlake Republican Leigh Wambsganss expanded a huge lead in the fundraising competition with a campaign cash infusion of $365,000 that she reported raising during the first three weeks of January.

But Democrat Taylor Rehmet rounded up nearly $223,000 in the same time span to keep his runoff foe's advantage in the cash chase to a respectable minimum as a cinderella candidate who finished first in the special election in November and is running now in overtime as the underdog based on the SD 9 voting history. Rehmet advanced to the runoff with over 47 percent of the initial vote in Senate District 9 when Republicans split their votes between Wambsganss and GOP rival John Huffman. Wambsganss and Huffman scored 36 percent and 17 percernt of the November vote respectively.

Republicans have been increasingly concerned about the prospects for a Rehmet victory in OT at the polls in SD 9 a week from today. Wambsganss would have a shot to claim the Senate seat for a full term in a rematch with Rehmet in the general election if he pulls off an upset in the primary's second round in a district that President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz won in 2024 by 17 points and 12 points respectively.

But Trump could be a liability for the Republican in the SD 9 special vote on January 31 at a time when his approval marks have fallen to record low and the nation is on edge over the economy and immigration policies that have turned Minneapolis into a war zone where ICE agents shot and killed another protester who was an American citizen on Saturday. Trump's power play on Greenland could make it even harder for the GOP's candidates to prevail in swing districts and others that may be in the Democrats' reach in 2026 barring a sharp turnabout in the president's popularity.

Wambsganss has been the frontrunner in the special Senate contest since Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick annoited her as his personal choice for the opening that Republican Kelly Hancock created last year when he resigned to take an appointment from Governor Greg Abbott as the state comptroller. She'd raised almost $2.65 millon from donors to go with a loan of $200,00 to her campaign. But Rehmet fared better in the fundraising competition than Democrats envisioned with contributions of nearly $557,000 in the past eight months. Rehmet had more in reserves for the final week of the runoff with $114,335 in cash on hand on January 21 compared to $96.426 for Wambsganss.

The GOP primary in an open Senate District 3 race has deginerated in the meantime into a bloodbath of accusations and insults over which of two Republicans despise Chinese communists the most. Nacogdoches Republican Rhonda Ward struck first on Friday with the release of a new ad that appeared to be a proactive move based on information she expected State Rep. Trent Ashby of Lufkin to hit her with in the anti-China wrangling in a fight for a seat that State Senator Robert Nichols is giving up.

Ward touted herself as a "Trump Republican" in the 30-second spot that claims she she "understands the threat China poses to our security and our way of life." But the new Ward commercial segues into an attack aimed at Ashby with the assertion that the House member "did not vote to stop communist China from receiving your tax dollars to build and own broadband in Texas."

Ward did not elaborate on the source for such an allegation - leaving it to the imagination of viewers who see the new ad. It's conceivable that she was referring to a measure that GOP State Rep. Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City filed in 2025 in a move that would have prohibited "the use of Chinese technology to collect, process, transfer, or store biometric, genetic, or medical data" in the Lone Star State. But no one voted for the Guillen proposal in House Bill 4516 as a measure that died in the State Affairs Committee without a hearing or vote in the regular session last year.

Ashby countered the Ward ad's insinuations with an advertisement that accuses his GOP foe of taking 95 percent of the funds she's raised for the Senate contest from a "big tech donor" whose company is headquartered in China. The Ashby ad is referring to Jim Moyer, who's listed on Ward's report to the state as a retired resident of the East Texas town of Hemphill.

Moyer - a developer in Sabine County - actually accounted for 92 percent of the money that Ward rounded up from supporters for the Senate battle with contrtibutions of 1.96 million to her campaign in SB 3. But the Moyer share of the total dips to 89 percent when 75,000 of loans for her campaign are taken into account.

Ward leads the veteran representative in total fundraising for the Senate competition with 2.2 million compared to Ashby's $2.1 million. But the amounts that came from contributors are nearly identical for Ashby and Ward.

Ward got a break when Patrick opted to stay out of the primary warring in SD 3. The lieutenant governor wasted no time with endorsements last year for a pair of Ashby colleagues in open Senate races in State Reps. David Cook of Mansfield and Dennis Paul of Houston.

more to come ...