AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Texas House Speaker Joe Straus says he has about $3 million in campaign cash and has raised more than $650,000 from late February through June.
The figures show that he’s given almost $260,000 to GOP House candidates and $15,000 to the debt-ridden Republican Party of Texas.
In addition to his own accounts _ which grew by almost $470,000_ Straus reports having raised $183,852 for the Texas House Leadership Fund to support the GOP House majority. That fund has a balance of about $206,000.
Straus says he’s giving money to GOP candidates earlier than usual for the November election and will continue to do so because “the stakes are very high for us this fall.”
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