CAMPAIGN FINANCE

Congressional Republicans’ campaign arm will make another effort to unseat the South Texas Democrat who ran in one of the state’s most competitive races last year.

The Texas Republican’s campaign, which recouped most of the money, has reported the case to the FBI. The Federal Elections Commission is also looking into it.

O’Rourke’s campaign said they gave the money back before the company’s scandals became widely public, because they were taken aback by such a large unsolicited donation.

In the homestretch of the state’s governor race, Beto O’Rourke outraises incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott though he still trails in the polls.

The Democratic challenger ended the latest fundraising period, July 1 through Sept. 29, with slightly more cash on hand than the governor.

Starr County, one of the four counties that make up the Rio Grande Valley, has not been able to produce campaign finance reports that it is required to maintain, according to a GOP group targeting the area.

The pricey fights illustrate how much of the action in Texas politics has shifted back to the primary after redistricting dramatically reduced the number of competitive seats.

Michelle Vallejo faces Ruben Ramirez in a runoff for the Democratic nomination in the 15th Congressional District. A nonprofit that supports Vallejo is accused of breaking campaign finance rules.

The new Texas Sands PAC has already spread over half a million dollars across more than three dozen primaries for the state House and Senate.

The amended report came 13 days after the deadline and as the attorney general nears a hotly contested primary in which his ethics are a top issue.

Paxton’s campaign admitted last week that it was having problems trying to report all his latest donor data and would file an amended report — but as of Tuesday, it had yet to do so.

The Supreme Court next month will hear arguments in his challenge to the law that prevents the repayment, prompting fears among watchdog groups that another rollback of campaign finance regulations might be looming.

Bush started his Paxton challenge with a fundraising lead of $2.3 million to $1.8 million, but Paxton easily maintains the most cash on hand in a primary that also includes Eva Guzman, the former state Supreme Court justice.

The former state Supreme Court justice is one of two Republican primary challengers to Attorney General Ken Paxton, the other being Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

Abbott’s campaign coffers hit the balance after he raised over $18.7 million during the last 10 days of June, his campaign announced Thursday. The campaign said the cash-on-hand total was larger “than any other statewide candidate in Texas history.”