Hensarling, Lampson, Cuellar, Edwards Post Top Third Quarter Numbers

Three Democrats and one Republican each reported raising in excess of $300,000 during the third quarter reporting period with the Federal Election Commission ending September 30.

Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-Dallas), was the state’s top raising Congressman, posting a third quarter total of $348,765. Hensarling, chair of the ultra-conservative congressional Republican Study Club, will likely use much of his campaign warchest to assist congressional Republicans across the nation during the next election cycle as he continues his attempt to climb the GOP leadership ladder on Capitol Hill.

Coming in second was Nick Lampson (D-Stafford), who won indicted former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s seat last November after besting write-in candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs in one of the most expensive contests in the nation. While Lampson’s seat is heavily Republican, his continued holding of the seat becomes less and less of an improbability as he continues to post significant fundraising numbers.

Former Texas Secretary of State Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo), representing Texas’ 28th Congressional District, was a surprise this quarter coming in third and posting $320,963.48 in fundraising for the third quarter. It’s likely Cuellar is preparing for another aggressive primary contest this spring, following a bruising rematch against Ciro Rodriguez in CD 28 last year (Rodriguez, of course, went on to regain a seat in Congress by defeating Henry Bonillia (R-San Antonio) in a special election last winter). Whether Cuellar will see a serious primary challenger remains to be seen, however, as his Laredo political machine has proved almost impossible to beat.

Congressman Chet Edwards (D-Waco), who slaughtered challenger Van Taylor last fall after an expensive contest is clearly preparing for another well-funded GOP challenger next fall, as he posted $301,930.48 for the third quarter.

Among other interesting figures nestled in third quarter numbers is a fairly slow fund-raising effort by Congressman Ralph Hall (R-Rockwall). Hall, who will face at least four and as many as nine challengers in the GOP primary next spring, reported raising a mere $83,224. Even though it’s at least three times more than the $15,000 raised by Frisco mayor Kathy Seei, his principal opponent, Hall will likely have to raise a considerable amount more during the fourth quarter should his GOP Primary opponents enjoy any significant success in fundraising.

A complete ranking of third quarter fund-raising is below.

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