The weeks following her headline-grabbing 13-hour filibuster, which temporarily block abortion-restricting legislation, Texas Democratic State Sen. Wendy Davis was able to raise just over $1 million.
Davis, who has been touted as a possible Democratic candidate for Texas governor, was been able to raise $1.2 million in the six weeks following her filibuster, according to The Dallas Morning News.
From June 25 through July Davis pulled in $793,800 from Texas donors and $470,000 from outside the Lone Star State. The states from which she received the greatest support from donors were California with $103,694 in contributions, New York with $68,764, and the Washington, D.C. area, which offered up $59,000.
Her largest out-of-state donors were labor unions and Planned Parenthood. However, many of the contributions came from small donations, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Davis, who recently announced she would be delaying making a decision on her future political plans due to her father’s health issues, has indicated that she might run for governor of Texas.
“I can say with absolute certainty that I will run for one of two offices: Either my state Senate seat or the governor,” she said at the National Press Club earlier this month.
Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, told The Daily Caller that the $1.2 million Davis has been able to raise is a “reasonable” amount, but just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the amount of funding she would need to mount a campaign for Texas governor.
“It’s quite a reasonable sum for a state senator not running for governor, but it’s not impressive for a candidate for governor, or at least a potential candidate for governor,” Jillson said. “To make that gubernatorial race will require somewhere between $20 and $25 million.”
“They can run a credible race for $20 or $25 million but that’s a hell of a long way from $1.2 [million] to $25 [million],” he added.
Some have estimated that Davis could raise upwards of $40 million.
The Dallas Morning News reports that her early funds came in large part from small donors in July during the legislature’s second special session when the abortion-restricting measure finally passed, raising $412,000 during that period.
This story has been updated to accurately reflect Texas’ nickname
