C&E Reports -- A Look Across the State

by: Phillip Martin, Progress Texas

Mon Jul 17, 2006 at 01:18 PM CDT

HD 48 -- Rep. Donna Howard vs. Ben Bentzin
Ben Bentzin, the purported challenger to Rep. Donna Howard in HD-48 right here in Austin, TX, has $20.33 on hand. Howard, meanwhile, has nearly $65,000 cash-on-hand. Remember -- she didn't accept any money during the special session and her report covered a shorter period of time, due to the primary.

CD 17 -- Congressman Chet Edwards vs. Van Taylor

Edwards reported $1.576 million cash-on-hand. Taylor, meanwhile, is well over a million dollars behind Edwards, and despite an in-district visit from VP Cheney, Taylor only garnered $21,000 from inside the district.

Most of our statewides are running campaigns out of their own pocketbooks, and it shows in their latest C&E reports. Here are the totals from those who reported their dollars online:

David Van Os -- over $50,000 raised, with $ 3,241.77 cash-on-hand.

Fred Head -- has spent $18,658.32 so far this campaign. No money reported cash-on-hand.

Hank Gilbert -- over $31,000 raised, with over $10,000 cash-on-hand.

Dale Henry -- raised and retained $1,100 cash-on-hand, and reported spending over $23,000.

We hope to get the rest of our statewide totals soon -- but remember, elections are won at the polling booths, not at the banks. In the coming weeks, look for some features on our statewide candidates in our 40/40 series.

HD 134 -- Ellen Cohen vs. Rep. Martha Wong

Last week, we reported that Cohen raised $372,238.52 the last filing period, and has over $216,000 cash-on-hand. Her opponent, Rep. Martha Wong, only raised $98,000 during the last filing period -- four times less than Cohen! Of course, Wong has nearly a half-million on hand from previous races, so I'm sure she wasn't pushing as hard for money. But this just goes to show that HD 134 is going to be a serious race -- and Cohen stands an excellent chance of turning that seat back to the Democrats.

HD 149 -- Rep. Hubert Vo vs. Talmadge Heflin

In what many are expecting to be a high-profile race, the money isn't showing up yet. Rep. Vo reported over $16,000 COH, while former state representative Heflin reported about $6,000 COH.