Andrew White raises $200K, Lupe Valdez at $46K in Dem race Democratic candidates for governor trail GOP incumbent Greg Abbott

﻿One of 10 gubernatorial candidates, Andrew White, left, speaks during ﻿a forum hosted by the Tom Green County Democratic Club on Monday. Each candidate was given five minutes to speak.﻿ ﻿One of 10 gubernatorial candidates, Andrew White, left, speaks during ﻿a forum hosted by the Tom Green County Democratic Club on Monday. Each candidate was given five minutes to speak.﻿ Photo: Ashley Landis, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS Photo: Ashley Landis, THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Andrew White raises $200K, Lupe Valdez at $46K in Dem race 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN -- The top Texas Democrats running for governor on Monday reported raising less than $300,000 combined in their first three weeks of campaigning, significantly less than most statewide political competitors have usually posted just over eight weeks before their primary.

Houston entrepreneur Andrew White disclosed in new state campaign-finance reports that he has raised $219,277 from more than 200 contributors -- including $40,000 from himself -- in the fundraising period that ended Dec. 31, 2017.

Former Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez, who announced her campaign a day before White, reported raising less than a quarter of White's amount: $46,498.

White, son of the late Gov. Mark White, reported he has about $104,000 in the bank as fundraising continues, compared to Valdez' $40,346.

Those amounts pale in comparison to the $43.3 million war chest of incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who has reported raising more than $9 million during the second half of 2017.

They are also far less than other Democrats have raised for other statewide races, though most of them have been candidates longer than White of Valdez.

San Antonio hospice firm owner Tom Wakely reported he has raised $3,281 during the last six months of 2017, and has spent $16,877 -- including $8,813 in loans from his wife.

The other Democrat who is considered a more prominent candidate in the race, Dallas businessman Jeffrey Payne, plans to file his report by a Tuesday deadline, campaign spokesman Hardy Haberman said.

"These are fairly paltry amounts for a governor's race this close to the primary, and if it's a harbinger of things to come for the candidates it means they will have difficulty getting their message out -- especially White, who does not have the potential voter base that Valdez has," said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston who follows campaign fundraising in Texas.

"There's a lot of money that's flowing into other statewide races already. The gubernatorial candidates have some catching up to do."

Last week, Houston attorney Justin Nelson reported he had raised $911,000 to unseat incumbent Republican Ken Paxton, who is facing criminal charges. Retired Kingwood accountant Mike Collier announced he would report raising $500,000 during the second half of 2017. He has been running top unseat incumbent Republican Dan Patrick since March 2017.

In comments to reporters during the past week, both White and Valdez have said they are just getting started with both their campaigns and their fundraising. White earlier said he hoped to raise more than $3 million for the March 6 primary.

"While I'm happy to raise a substantial sum in such a short amount of time, I'm even more thrilled and humbled by the support from Texas teachers, medical professionals, business leaders, homemakers, veterans and community leaders," White said in a statement. "These supporters believe, like I do, that Texas can do better."

He said no single contribution was for more than $15,000. Valdez' largest contribution was $5,000, her campaign finance reports showed.

With just over eight weeks until the Democratic primary, nine candidates who are mostly unknown statewide are scrambling to gain enough voter recognition and raise enough campaign cash to be selected to go up against Abbott in the November general election.

In past years in Texas, that has meant spending millions of dollars on campaigns that usually start well in advance of this year's Democratic gubernatorial race and usually, by this point, have clear leaders.

This time, mostly unknown candidates announced last year with little fanfare and the bigger names waited until much later to enter the race, for a party that has fielded a record number of candidates for statewide, legislative and local races.

Democrats have not won a statewide office in two decades.

Among the other Democrats running for governor, retired Flint educator Grady Yarbrough reported he has not raised or spent any money on his campaign.

Reports for Plano financial consultant Adrian Ocegueda, former Balch Springs Mayor Cedric Davis, Austin businessman James Jolly Clark and Houston businessman Joe Mumbach were not listed on the Texas Ethics Commission website as having been filed.