Big money and big volume: A look at the donors in Fort Worth area Senate race
Who are the donors behind the candidates? The latest batch of campaign finance reports in the runoff for Senate District 9 offer some insight.
Republican Leigh Wambsganss and Democrat Taylor Rehmet are in a runoff to represent a large portion of Tarrant County in the Texas Senate. The District 9 seat is vacant, after former Sen. Kelly Hancock left the Capitol for the Texas comptroller’s office, where he’s serving as acting Comptroller.
Rehmet and Wambsganss advanced from a November special election as the top two vote-getters, with Rehmet earning the largest share of votes in the historically red district. Early voting in a runoff election for the seat started Wednesday and runs through Jan. 27.
Election Day is Jan. 31.
Here are a few takeaways from the latest batch of campaign finance reports.
Wambsganss has more money, but Rehmet has more contributions
Wambsganss raised more money than Rehmet, according to the candidates’ latest round of campaign finance reports. She collected more than $527,600 between Oct. 26 and Dec. 31, according to paperwork filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.
But Rehmet has 10 times the number of contributions — about $207,000 from 1,754 contributions.
Wambsganss, the chief communications officer for Grapevine-based Patriot Mobile, reports donations from 163 people or groups during the same period.
The first round of voting in the special election was on Nov. 3, which means the report does include some funds that were raised prior to the runoff election.
Rehmet, an aircraft mechanic, veteran and the president of the state and local chapters of the IAM union, raised the least amount of money in the first round of voting, but received the most votes on Election Day.
Did West Texas billionaire donations continue?
The November election drew donations from billionaires who waded into the race through affiliated political action committees to support Wambsganss and former Southlake Mayor John Huffman, a Republican who didn’t advance to the runoff election.
Ahead of the November contest, Texans United for a Conservative Majority donated more than $300,000 to Wambsganss, including in the form of services like campaign text messages and events. The political action committee is largely funded by West Texas oilman Tim Dunn.
But the group hasn’t donated to Wambsganss during the runoff election, at least through the end of the year, according to the candidate’s latest campaign finance report.
Wambsganss’ top donors during the most recent filing period were the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC with a $200,000 contribution and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s Texans Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee that donated $100,000.
Bryan Bradford from Atlanta and Cate Randall from Horseshoe Bay each donated $50,000.
(In a candidate questionnaire submitted to the Star-Telegram, the Wambsganss campaign noted $402,829.50 in donations from Texans United for a Conservative Majority, including $150,000 in “this election.” The campaign said it received $363,250 from Texas for Lawsuit Reform, including $250,000 “this election” and $323,250 from the Texas Senate Leadership Fund. A spokesperson for the campaign did not clarify the discrepancies between the questionnaire responses and what’s been reported to the Texas Ethics Commission in a Tuesday phone call.)
Harris County Democrats, labor money fuel Rehmet’s bid
The Harris County Democratic Party contributed $11,886 to Rehmet’s campaign in staffing. The donation is the largest Rehmet received during the latest campaign finance filing period.
Rehmet has also received donations from several union-affiliated organizations. They include:
- $10,000 from Machinist MNPL
- $5,000 from IBEW OAC Voluntary Fund
- $5,000 from UA Plumbers and Pipefitters No. 20
- $5,000 from UFCW Active Ballot Club General Fund
- $2,500 from Texas State Building Trades COPE
- $1,000 from IBEW Local 60 PAC Voluntary Fund
- $1,000 from Texas AFLCIO COPE
- $1,000 from Texas American Federation of Teachers COPE
- $1,000 from Transport Workers Union PCC
Other notable donations include $10,000 from Danielle Cocanougher from Keller and $5,000 from Rep. James Talarico, who is running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
Spending and cash on hand leading up to Election Day
Wambsganss spent about $300,300 between Oct. 26 and Dec. 31, leaving her with $361,600 on hand headed into the last month of the election.
Rehmet spent $106,700 during the same time period, with $133,000 left on hand.
This story was originally published January 21, 2026 at 11:19 AM.
