Midlanders look dead serious about sending native son Kevin Sparks to the Texas Senate in Austin, having given most of the $297,060 that Sparks has reported collecting to the Texas Ethics Commission.
Running against Amarilloans Jesse Quackenbush and Tim Reid and Stormy Bradley of Big Spring in the March 1 Republican Primary, Sparks is also enjoying his family’s full-bore backing with $50,000 each from his father Don, who ran unsuccessfully for the post in 2004, and his brother Jeff through the Nov. 18 deadline.
There’s no Democrat in the race, so winning the Republican nomination appears tatamount to victory in the Nov. 8 general election, although a May 24 runoff will be held if no one gets at least 50.01 percent of the March 1 vote.
More money will be reported by the four senate candidates and by Republican State Rep. Brooks Landgraf of Odessa and his opponent, Casey Gray, to meet the midnight Tuesday deadline for contributions accepted through Dec. 31, none of which had been posted by the TEC at mid-afternoon Tuesday.
Other top Sparks backers so far include Midlanders Ernest Angelo, $5,000; Gerald and Cremer Davis, $5,000; Fasken Management, $5,000; Bill Holmes, $10,000; Jim Henry, $5,000; Dennis Johnson, $10,000. Dr. Chris Oldham, $5,000; Monroe Rathbone, $12,500; John Sparks, $5,000; Kyle Stallings, $50,000; Carroll Thomas, $15,000; Darla Taylor, $5,000; Don Tomlin, $5,000; and Denzil West, $5,000. Don Dyer of Austin gave $25,000.
Other Sparks contributors are Jean Ashlock of Heath, east of Dallas, $100; Ben Baucum, Big Spring, $100; James Beauchamp, Midland, $500; Bruce Brady, Midland, $500; Tom Cambridge, Amarillo, $200; Roy Cohee, Casper, Wyo., $250; Roger Cymbaluk, Williston, N.D., $200; Greg Daman, Midland, $500; Ferrell Davis, Midland, $1,000; John Denton, Amarillo, $50; Kari Dingler, Midland, $750; Kevin Doan, Midland, $1,000; Charles Dobey, Midland, $100; Dalton Donaldson, Midland, $250.
Also, Robert Donnelly, Midland, $250; John Echols, Midland, $500; Dennis Fernandez, Las Cruces, N.M., $10; Ernest Gilkerson, Midland, $150; Gary Glasscock, Midland, $1,500; Jade Green, Midland, $25; Alan Hale, Midland, $250; James Hammett, Lampasas, $250; Lisa Holifield, Midland, $1,000; Chris Holtzgraf, San Angelo, $1,000; Neal Howard, Katy, $1,000;
Also, Paula Johnson, Midland, $250; Mark Landrum, Amarillo, $300; Jerry Larned, Abilene, $500; Huang Lyon, Columbia, Md., $25; Dr. James McCown, Amarillo, $500; John McDuffey, Midland, $100; Delinda McLaughlin, Spearman, $50; Gaines Myer, Midland, $500; Stacy Nelson, Midland, $50; Vincent O’Donnell, Midland, $100; Ronnie Platt, The Hills, $1,000; David Poole, Midland, $250; Glenn Prescott, Midland, $500; Margaret Purvis, Midland, $2,500;
Also, Tom Scherlen, Amarillo, $100; Frank Sitton, Lubbock, $1,000; David Smith, Midland, $1,000; Nancy Spear, Midland, $2,500; Angela Spencer, Midland, $500; Stephen Castle, Midland, $100; Vernon Stokes, Midland, $100; Keith Stretcher, Midland, $1,000; Tommy Taylor, Midland, $1,000; Toby Todd, Plano, $500.
Also, Bruno Tomesch, Andrews, $100; Alex Travelstead, Midland, $100; Diemer True, Casper, Wyo., $1,000; Cody Vogler, Midland, $250; Herman Walker, Midland, $250; Judy Whiteley, Amarillo, $100; Derek Whiting, Midland, $100; William Bateman, Midland, $500; Dr. Chris Wilson, Midland, $1,000; Rex Wilt, Amarillo, $200; and Thomas Ziemnick, Purcellville, Va., $100.
