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2026 Texas District 23 House Election

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About this race

No current officeholder is running — the seat will have a new winner. Nobody in this race has donations linked to AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, according to available records. The November ballot lists 3 candidates: one Democrat, one Republican and one independent.

Key issues in Texas

Major issues facing Texas, based on 2025–2026 reporting. Compare them with what each candidate says they focus on below.

Candidates & funding

Katy Padilla Stout Democrat Nominee

✓ No AIPAC-linked FEC record
2026 fundraising (FEC)$484,915 raised · $313,542 spent · $171,373 cash on hand through Jun 30, 2026
Focus: Protect public lands, hold polluters accountable, lower cost of living, healthcare, universal pre-K, climate action

Brandon Herrera Republican Nominee

✓ No AIPAC-linked FEC record
2026 fundraising (FEC)$1,937,719 raised · $1,636,736 spent · $309,023 cash on hand through Jun 30, 2026
Focus: Secure border, cut taxes and spending, defend gun rights, improve veterans healthcare, oppose endless wars

Benjamin E. "Ben" Mendoza Independent Nominee

✓ No AIPAC-linked FEC record

Where the money comes from

FEC campaign finance data through Jun 30, 2026. Campaign dollars, by source.

Katy Padilla Stout DBrandon Herrera RBenjamin E. "Ben" Mendoza I
Raised$485K$1.9M—
Individuals$440K91%$85K4%—
PACs & parties$23K5%$62K3%—
Self-funded$10K2%$420K22%—
Other$12K2%$1.4M71%—
AIPAC-linked*———
Outside spending†———

* AIPAC-linked money is already counted in the rows above — it flags the pro-Israel share, not extra money.

† Independent spending on ads for or against a candidate. It never goes to their campaign.

“Individuals” covers both small-dollar (under $200) and large donors.

Who are the biggest donors?

Every donor ranked by how much they gave, from the candidate’s own FEC filings — individuals, PACs, and party committees all in one list. Expand a candidate to see theirs, then tap any name to learn more about the donor.

Why are so many gifts exactly $10,000? That’s the legal maximum a PAC can give one candidate for the whole cycle — $5,000 for the primary plus $5,000 for the general — so many PACs give the max. Individuals can give up to $3,500 per election.

Katy Padilla Stout 281 donors
FINANCIAL POSITION
Campaign raised$485K
Campaign spent$314K
Cash on hand$171K
FEC 2026 through 06/30/2026
CANDIDATE-CONTROLLED MONEY
Individuals91%
PACs / committees5%
Self-funding2%
Share of campaign receipts. FEC 2026.
  • Self-funded$7K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Individual$5K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$3K
  • Individual$3K
  • Individual$3K
  • Individual$3K
  • Individual$3K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Labor PAC$2K
  • Labor PAC$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K

Showing the 50 biggest of 281 donors. The other 231 gave $110K combined.

Plus $195K from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.

See Katy Padilla Stout’s full FEC filings →

Brandon Herrera 72 donors
FINANCIAL POSITION
Campaign raised$1.9M
Campaign spent$1.6M
Cash on hand$309K
FEC 2026 through 06/30/2026
CANDIDATE-CONTROLLED MONEY
Individuals4%
PACs / committees3%
Self-funding22%
Share of campaign receipts. FEC 2026.
  • Leadership PAC$10K
  • Individual$7K
  • Individual$7K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • PAC$5K
  • Leadership PAC$5K
  • Candidate committee$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Individual$4K
  • Leadership PAC$4K
  • Individual$3K
  • Membership PAC$3K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Trade association PAC$2K
  • Leadership PAC$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Leadership PAC$2K
  • Candidate committee$2K
  • Candidate committee$2K
  • Candidate committee$2K
  • Candidate committee$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$2K
  • Individual$1K
  • Individual$1K
  • Individual$1K
  • PAC$1K
  • Candidate committee$1K
  • Trade association PAC$1K
  • Leadership PAC$1K
  • Individual$903
  • Individual$605
  • Individual$600
  • Individual$505
  • Individual$500
  • Individual$500
  • Individual$500

Showing the 50 biggest of 72 donors. The other 22 gave $5K combined.

Plus $17K from small donors giving under $200 each — those aren’t itemized by name.

See Brandon Herrera’s full FEC filings →

These figures come from the candidate’s own itemized FEC reports (2026 cycle, through the coverage date above), with amendments applied and refunds netted. Joint fundraising transfers are left out of the ranking: they’re pass-throughs, and the individual donations behind them are listed above. Bank interest, vendor refunds, and other non-donation receipts are excluded. Donor names are as reported — the same person can appear twice if their name was recorded differently. Independent spending on ads is never included here — see the Outside spending column.

More Texas races

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