Texas Congressional 1Q Fundraising: Will Ralph Hall Retire?

Cross-posted from Burnt Orange Report

So the first quarter of fundraising is over and while the focus was mostly on the presidential candidates, let’s not forget about our incumbent members of Congress. In order to do that, I’ve compiled data for all 32 members in Texas and sorted them in four categories: 1Q Raised, 1Q Spent, Cash on Hand, and their Burn rate (calculated as spent/raised so the higher the number the more spent).

Click on the different tabs below to see the totals. Democrats in bold but all are marked by party. Al Green has not yet filed (not uncommon). If it’s not displaying below, click here.

Glad to see Chet (D), Lampson (D), and Ciro (D) high on that list, though I’m sure Lampson is still going to raise more knowing that he will have the toughest re-election fight in Texas. Six of the seven worst fundraisers were Republicans.

But what is up with Ron Paul (R) and Ralph Hall (R)? I know Paul is running for President (as a Republican, not Libertarian) but Hall pulled in a meager $2000. Hall is old (84) but hasn’t announced any plans to retire. Could this be a sign? He also used to be a Democrat until he switched parties after the DeLay redistricting forced him into a more Republican district. Might be be convinced to switch back? Under House rules he’d retain his seniority and seeing as he’s been in congress since 1981, that’s a lot of rank he could pull.

In terms of Cash on Hand, Austin’s Lloyd Doggett (D) is #1 with $1.95 million. But after that it’s mostly Republican, though some notably lower than 2 years ago like Lamar Smith (R) and Pete Sessions (R). That’s one nice side effect of the campaigns of John Courage and Will Pryor.

As to the burn rate- anything over 1 indicates more money being spent than raised. Texas Democrats did very well in this category holding 10 of the 14 best spots, holding on to their cash and building up their warchests.  Paul (R) is the worst burner but his attention is elsewhere so no surprise. Hall (R) takes the number 2 spot- further hints at potential retirement?

Anything else of note? Add your thoughts and analysis in the comments.