Now that lawmakers have convened in Austin, private citizens and PACs are no longer able to make political contributions, so the sole financial influence on lawmakers during the legislative session comes from lobbyists. In fact, in session and out, lobbying is by far the biggest source of money in Texas politics — and taxpayers are footing the bill for a lot of it. This look at the City of Houston is the first installment in our series analyzing the top taxpayer-funded entities in Texas.

The most closely watched battle in Texas state-level politics is the effort by Democrats to flip the Texas House to blue this November. If Democrats can hold the 12 seats they gained in 2018 and take nine more, they will control the Texas House for the first time in more than two decades. The upcoming redistricting process, set to happen in 2021, redraws the legislative maps for both state and federal legislatures and makes this election even more consequential.

1.  Governor Greg Abbott ($10,091,875) had quite the haul, raking in more than $10 million in campaign contributions in just twelve days, despite the fact that he has no likely Republican primary challenger or significant Democrat opponent in sight. And he certainly didn’t need the cash – Governor Abbott’s war chest was already one of the largest in the nation; it now registers over $41 million, more than double what he had when he first ran for governor in 2013.