Houston's Kathaleen Wall ranks No. 1 by spending $2.7M of own money on House race

United States Congressional District 2 candidate Kathaleen Wall speaks during the Houston Congressional Candidate Forum at Houston's First Baptist Church Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 in Houston. United States Congressional District 2 candidate Kathaleen Wall speaks during the Houston Congressional Candidate Forum at Houston's First Baptist Church Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 in Houston. Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Houston's Kathaleen Wall ranks No. 1 by spending $2.7M of own money on House race 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN -- Houston Republican Kathaleen Wall is spending more of her own money to win a seat in the U.S. House than any candidate in the nation so far.

As of the latest campaign finance filings, Wall had put $2.7 million of her own money into the 2nd Congressional District race. It makes her the top self-funding candidate in the nation so far seeking a U.S. House seat, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign fundraising in politics.

The second biggest self-funder is insurance executive Andy Thornburn, a California Democrat who has put $2.3 million of his own money into his battle to win an open seat.

The only other candidate nationwide to spend more than $2 million of his own money on a race for the U.S. House is David Trone, a Maryland Democrat who is co-owner of Total Wine.

Wall's campaign did not immediately respond to requests to be interviewed for this story.

Wall, an investor and consultant for tech companies, and her husband Holloway Frost have been major GOP donors over the last 10 years. Just since 2009, Wall has donated more than $700,000 to local candidates for U.S. House, to U.S. Senate candidates around the nation and to several presidential campaigns, including at least $77,000 to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Since 2010 the couple has combined to give Abbott, who endorsed the 51-year-old Wall in the race, over $745,000 for this Texas For Greg Abbott, the Republican governor's political action committee

Top self-funders for U.S. House races The five candidates in the U.S. who have spent the most amount of their own money to finance their campaigns for the U.S. House. $2.7 million - Kathaleen Wall, R-TX, 2nd Congressional District

$2.3 million - Andy Thorburn, D-Calif., 39th Congressional District

$2.3 million - David Trone, D-MD, 6th Congressional District

$1.3 million - Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., 39th Congressional District

$1.1 million - Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., 49th Congressional District Source: Center for Responsive Politics

Some of her GOP opponents say they are frustrated with Wall's spending and say she is trying to buy the seat 2nd Congressional District.

"Spending millions of dollars to flood the airwaves and mailboxes of voters does not give an accurate picture of Kathaleen Wall's capabilities to deliver the solutions and representation that is dearly needed for our region," said Republican Kevin Roberts, a Houston state legislator who is one of eight other Republicans in the GOP primary race.

"We're not going to stand by and let people try to buy this election," Kingwood businessman Rick Walker said during a debate last week before the Harris County Republican Party.

Wall isn't the only one spending her own money to win March 6 GOP primary. Federal Election Commission records show Roberts gave his campaign a $270,000 loan. Walker gave his campaign a $300,000 loan. Hospital company CEO David Balat has put in $85,000 of his own money. Attorney Johnny Havens put in $80,000 of his own money into the race. And former surgeon and current lawyer Jon Spiers put in $14,000 of his own money into the race.

The Democrats running for the 2nd Congressional District are also spending their own money, but on a far lesser scale. Todd Litton put in nearly $8,000 of his own money into the race. Democrats Silky Malik put in $7,500 of her own money and Ali Khorasani has put in $2,500 of his own money. There are five Democrats running in the March 6 Primary.

The candidates are battling for a two-year term to represent a district that includes parts of west Houston, wraps around the northern edges of Harris County and includes Humble and Atascocita. In the fall, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R- Houston, announced he would not seek re-election to the $174,000-a-year job.

History shows that big self-funders have traditionally struggled in Texas. Since 2000, 19 candidates have put at least $1 million of their own money into their campaign for either the House or U.S. Senate. Sixteen of those candidates lost. Only three won.

In 2015, Democrat Vinciente Gonzalez of McAllen spent $1.8 million of his own money and won the 15th District, which stretches from San Marcos to the Mexican border. In 2010, Republican Bill Flores of Bryan spent almost $1.5 million to win the 17th Congressional District that runs from Waco to College Station. And in 2004, Republican Mike McCaul spent $1.9 million to win the 10th Congressional District which runs from Austin to Katy.

The three biggest self funders since 2000 have all lost, including David Dewhurst, who spent almost $20 million of his own money in losing the 2012 U.S. Senate GOP primary.

Democrat David Alameel, a Dallas Dentist, spent almost $5.7 million in a losing campaign against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. And he also spent nearly $4.5 million in losing a campaign for the U.S. House in 2012 when Marc Veasey, a Democrat from Forth Worth, beat him out. In 2004, Republican Benjamin Earl Streusand spent $3.5 million in the same primary that McCaul won.

Rookie mistakes

One of the big reasons for that failure rate is that typically the types of candidates who do a lot of self-funding are relatively new to running for office and are hoping their money overcomes some of the rookie mistakes that come with running for office the first time, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

"They usually lack experience," Sabato said.

All the spending in the world can't cover up for a candidate if they don't have a message that appeals to voters, added Republican political strategist Ford O'Connell, who worked on the 2008 McCain-Palin presidential campaign.

"Money is important but it is also useless without a strong campaign message," O'Connell said.

But Sabato cautions that self funding failure rates in the past may not apply anymore. He said President Donald Trump had very little experience in politics, yet was able to self fund his way through a crowded primary and the general election.

"He may have changed that rule in politics along with all the others he's changed," Sabato said.

Jeremy Wallace writes about state politics and government for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter at @JeremySWallace.