New Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan raises $4.5 million

TX – Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan raised $4.5 million in the last fundraising period, a record-breaking amount for an incoming speaker, his team announced Friday.

Phelan’s team said he raised nearly $4.4 million in monetary contributions and $100,000 in in-kind contributions. Phelan maintained $4.8 million cash on hand.

“I am honored that so many Texans support our vision of responsible government and getting Texas back to work,” Phelan said in a statement. “The Texas House is laser-focused on recovery from the effects of COVID-19 on our public health, our students, and our economy. At this critical moment in our state’s history, I appreciate the backing of Texans in my district and across the state.”

Phelan, a four-term Republican from Beaumont, announced in November that he had enough support to become the next speaker of the House after his predecessor Dennis Bonnen retired following revelations he targeted fellow Republicans in primary elections. He was elected speaker of the House on Tuesday.

Phelan raised his millions in the roughly month and a half period between Oct. 25, the last time lawmakers had to report financial contributions, and Dec. 12, when the moratorium on financial contributions around the legislative session kicked in.

Bonnen raised nearly $4 million as the incoming speaker in late 2018.

Further details on Phelan’s contributions are not publicly available yet. Lawmakers faced a reporting deadline Friday for all their political contributions.