Now that each party has a presumptive presidential nominee, fundraising for the November election has kicked into high gear. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 not surprising Republican Donald Trump will be in Texas this week for three fundraising events in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. The Lone Star State has always been a reliable ATM for the GOP, but strategists say Trump has a lot to make up for with Republicans here 鈥� and that includes donors.
If you ask Republican strategists, Texas is still in the bag for them this election. They don't worry about winning in November. In fact, Brendan Steinhauser, a strategist who鈥檚 helped a lot of Texas Republicans win statewide races here, doesn鈥檛 see Trump coming here a lot to fight for votes.
鈥淪o, I think that he鈥檒l come in, raise money [and] he鈥檒l create a little of a splash,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure he will say something controversial and get some headlines that make all of our jobs a little difficult. But, you know, if they are smart, they are going to focus on Ohio and Florida.鈥�
Steinhauser says the Texas fundraising ATM isn鈥檛 going to spit out money as easily for Trump as it has for other Republican presidential candidates.
鈥淚 do think a lot of the Republican donors that he is meeting with and raising money from in the next few days are folks who do not share a lot of his positions as stated 鈥� whether it鈥檚 on race, immigration, the border wall,鈥� Steinhauser says.
Matt Mackowiak, another GOP strategist here, agrees. He says Trump鈥檚 recent controversial comments on Judge don鈥檛 help. Last week, Trump questioned Curiel鈥檚 ability to rule on a case involving the now-defunct Trump University, saying .
鈥淭he donor class has been revulsed by the comments he made in the last couple of days about this Hispanic judge,鈥� Mackowiak says. 鈥淪o, I don鈥檛 think he鈥檚 going to raise as much money in Texas as he could."
Here's where Steinhauser and Mackowiak's frustration comes from. The state's Republican donors might be less inclined to fork over cash this year because they鈥檝e spent so much investing in the long term viability of the party 鈥� growing the Republican party in Texas by appealing to Hispanic voters 鈥� everything Trump has not been doing. Mackoviak says this all may seem like small potatoes in the scheme of things, but, for the party, it鈥檚 a big deal.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think Trump looks at Texas as critical. You know he is going to win Texas almost no matter what. Hillary is not really going to contest it or spend money here,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o, politically, Texas doesn鈥檛 matter in the presidential election, but financially it matters to a great extent."
Like a lot of Republicans, both Mackoviak and Steinhauser hope Trump eases off things like personal attacks on Hispanics and focuses more on policy. But, they say, it鈥檚 hard to predict what he鈥檒l do since he hasn鈥檛 really followed a careful strategy so far.
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