The fundraising haul is double what Collier raised during his whole campaign when he challenged Patrick in 2018, per Campaign Manager Ali S. Zaidi.
“With an average donation of $90, unlike Dan Patrick who has spent his tenure collecting checks from lobbyists and corporate interests, the campaign has received nearly 30,000 individual contributions with June 2022 being the strongest fundraising month of the cycle,” Zaidi said, according to the Texas Tribune.
As temperatures cleared 100 degrees Fahrenheit for several days in a row, Collier pointed to the state’s energy grid and highlighted the widespread outages during Winter Storm Uri in February of last year.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has requested that Texans conserve energy, which is routine during sweltering weather.
In a poll conducted in June by the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Politics Project, Patrick received the support of 38 percent of respondents while Collier garnered 26 percent. Libertarian nominee Shanna Steel received 11 percent in the poll.
Collier received 46 percent of the vote in the 2018 general election against Patrick.
He defeated state Rep. Michelle Beckley (D-Carrollton) in this year’s Democratic runoff on May 24 with 55 percent of the vote.
In campaign finance documents filed days before the May 24 runoff, Patrick’s team reported $25 million in cash on hand and $3 million in contributions from February 20 to May 14.
The lieutenant governor easily won the GOP nomination on primary day with 77 percent of the vote.
Semiannual campaign finance reports, which will contain fundraising data for the first six months of this year, are due on Friday, July 15.
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Hayden Sparks
Hayden Sparks is a senior reporter for The Texan and a lifelong resident of the Lone Star State. He has coached competitive speech and debate and has been involved in politics since a young age. One of Hayden's favorite quotes is by Sam Houston: "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
