Amarillo businessman and GOP megadonor Alex Fairly has injected a last-minute $2.75 million into Chip Roy's campaign for attorney general, giving the Republican congressman a huge financial boost against Mayes Middleton in the final stretch before the May 26 runoff election. Texas Tribune first reported Fairly's donations to Roy.
The bulk of the donations showed up the campaign finance report filed this week with the Texas Ethics Commission and came in installments totaling $1.75 million from Fairly's Texas Leadership Fund. The rest was a forgiven loan made earlier in the campaign cycle.
Roy, a four-term U.S. representative from Austin, and Middleton, a first-term state senator from Galveston, are battling for the right to represent the party in the race to replace Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a runoff for U.S. Senate.
Fairly told the Texas Tribune that he believes Roy is the candidate best suited to serve as the state's top lawyer. Roy previously worked at the AG's office as Paxton's deputy and has been an aide to U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
In a post on X about Farly's donations, Roy said he "humbled" by the support.
"Turns out there are a lot of folks who want a qualified attorney as Attorney General of Texas," he said in the post.
Middleton has not commented on the donation but has defended his qualifications even though he is not a practicing lawyer.