His opponent, Democrat Sam Murphey, has amassed about $115,000.
Sheffield’s single largest donor, San Antonio millionaire Jim Leininger, donated $27,000 to Sheffield’s campaign in April. Leininger has a long history of donating tens of thousands to candidates and political action committees.
“Based on our research over the years, when James Leininger gives you a lot of money, it usually comes with strings. The biggest string is school vouchers,” said Dan Quinn, communications director for the Freedom Network, an activist group that opposes school vouchers.
Sheffield said he would not be obliged to Leininger.
“I’m not going to Austin with strings attached. People donate for a lot of different reasons. Some have deeper pockets than others,” he said.
Regarding school vouchers, Sheffield said he is for “some kind of school reform … but I don’t want to take away any money from public education.”
Although Sheffield has raised considerably larger amounts than Murphey, he has $14,000 less cash on hand than his opponent. He attributes that spending to the spring primary and runoff elections.
“I’ve had two battles. He’s had zero,” Sheffield said, pointing out Murphey has so far run unopposed.
Sheffield also has $90,000 out in loans. Murphey has no loans.
Murphey’s largest contribution - $3,000 -came from Colleen Beck of Austin.
Murphey said he was pleased with raising more than $100,0000, a benchmark he said that would establish him as a viable candidate in a district where a Democrat hasn’t won in more than 20 years.
“My challenge has been laid out for me by the guys who want to help me win,” said Murphey, regarding Democratic boosters. “They told me to raise $100,000, and I raised $115,000.”
Murphey said his fundraising should open some eyes with the state Democratic Party. The Dems are five seats away from winning a majority in the Texas House this fall. Murphey said they were now looking at District 55 as possibly one of those seats.
“Now folks looking for five seats to win are looking to District 55,” Murphey said. “I’ve shown I can stand on my own two feet. The Dems weren’t even interested in January. Now it’s very interesting.”
