Likely presidential candidates from Texas are going all out as they seek to gain a share of campaign dollars from the Lone Star State where several claim roots,
The Wall Street Journal reports.
From Sen. Ted Cruz, who was raised in Houston, to Jeb Bush, who calls Midland home, to former Gov. Ricky Perry along with Rand Paul, who also was also raised in Texas, possible 2016 contenders will battle it out in Texas for support, the Journal noted.
Even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is holding fundraisers there seeking wealthy donors in the deep-pocketed and deeply red state, the Journal said.
Among those aligned with the Bush campaign efforts are not only former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, but also BP Capital Management founder T. Boone Pickens; Ray Hunt, chairman and chief executive of Hunt Consolidated Inc.; and Trevor Rees-Jones, founder and chief executive of Chief Oil & Gas LLC, the Journal reported, noting a review of the former Florida governor's "Texas Leadership Committee."
Perry, who appears to be testing the waters in a more determined way after a difficult 2012 presidential bid, counts among his supporters San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt; Clear Channel Communications co-founder Red McCombs; John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems Inc. and Patron Spirits Co.; as well as Morris Foster, former president of Exxon Mobil Production Co.,
the Journal said, calling his efforts part of a GOP "turf battle."
Houstonite Cruz, 44,
set the pace early by announcing
via Twitter early Monday morning his decision to make official his presidential campaign, The Associated Press reported, in a move that is seen likely to please conservatives and evangelicals.
Cruz begins his presidential trek in a crowded field.
Noted the Huffington Post: "If he manages to gain his party's nomination, he'll have started with weaker prior-year poll numbers than anyone since 2000. The only recent party nominee who saw numbers as low as Cruz's — whose highest Real Clear Polling polling average so far in 2015 has been 5.5 percent — is John Kerry, in 2003."
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