Abbott Took About $9 Million From Data Center-Linked Donors While Calling for a Crackdown, Tribune Analysis Finds

Gov. Greg Abbott has spent the year telling data centers to pay their own way. The industry and people tied to it have spent the same months writing checks to his campaign.

A Texas Tribune analysis published Monday found that Abbott has raised about $9 million from data center-related donors since July 2025. That is about 13 percent of the money he has taken in over that time.

The timeline

On June 10, Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to make data centers fully fund the electric infrastructure they need. He also pledged to work with lawmakers to "phase out outdated tax incentives" for the facilities. That same month, data center-related donors gave his campaign $1.5 million, the Tribune found.

In August, Abbott paused approvals for data centers seeking to connect to the grid until a statewide audit is done. He told ABC that data centers "dug their own grave." After the pause, the Tribune reported, he took in another $2.8 million from data center-related donors, his biggest monthly haul from the industry this cycle.

On Sept. 21, he went further and directed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to halt data center permits until ERCOT finishes its audit. We covered that permit freeze last week.

Who gave

The Tribune looked at every donor who gave at least $25,000 to Abbott or his Democratic opponent, Gina Hinojosa, since July 2025. It sorted them into two groups.

About $4.9 million came from people or companies that develop, own or operate data centers. That group includes Rhett Bennett, CEO of Fort Worth-based Black Mountain, who with his company gave $1 million. It also includes Toby Neugebauer, former CEO of Fermi America, the company behind the Project Matador campus in the Panhandle, who gave $100,000.

The other $4.1 million came from donors with indirect ties: investors, AI companies and businesses that serve data centers. That includes GOP megadonor Jeff Yass, whose firm holds stakes in companies such as Alphabet and Broadcom, and real estate developer Edward Roski Jr. Each gave $1 million. Airbnb co-founder and Tesla board member Joe Gebbia, Abbott’s largest donor on the list, gave $1.5 million. Elon Musk gave $500,000. Harlan Crow, whose family company announced a Dallas data center campus in January, gave $250,000.

The Tribune itself calls the sorting "imperfect," because many of these donors have other business interests and long political histories. Crow’s office noted he has backed Abbott "dating back well over a decade."

What the campaigns say

"Governor Abbott has made his position on data centers clear. Data centers must pay their own way, protect Texas’ electric grid, bring their own water, and not to disturb the communities where they operate." — Abbott campaign spokesman Eduardo Leal, to the Tribune

Leal called the reporting a "disingenuous attempt to manufacture controversy out of information that is not new."

Hinojosa has made the issue central to her campaign. "Greg Abbott invited data centers into Texas with the richest tax breaks in the country, took millions of dollars in donations from the data center interests, and has spent months lying to Texans about his record to save his political career," she said.

Fairness cuts both ways here. A Hinojosa ad claims Abbott took $20 million from "data center executives and companies." The Tribune found her list counts companies that merely lease data center space, from Netflix to CVS, and energy companies too. That is a looser standard than the Tribune used. By the Tribune’s count, Hinojosa received one data center-related donation, $25,000 from a T-Mobile executive.

Down the ballot

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick received more than $1.6 million from data center-related donors, mostly with indirect ties, the Tribune found. His spokesman, Steve Aranyi, said the method was like "counting every donor who has ever run a Google AI search on their iPhone." Comptroller Don Huffines, whose office reviews data center tax exemptions, received about $1 million, all from donors with indirect links. His campaign said the donations have no impact on the office’s decisions. The comptroller race is on the ballot too.

Why it matters

Jim Henson of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin told the Tribune the industry expects "something akin to a negotiated settlement" next session. "Nobody wants to be left out of the discussions," he said.

That is the honest worry. Giving money is legal, and a donation is not a bribe. Abbott’s public moves this year have aimed to restrain the industry, not reward it. But Scripture warns that "a gift destroyeth the heart" (Ecclesiastes 7:7), and voters are right to watch whether the final rules match the speeches.

The real test comes in January, when the Legislature writes the rules. Who pays for the power lines, the water and the tax breaks is the question we raised in who should pay for data centers. If the answer protects ratepayers and rural water, the donations will have bought access and nothing more. If not, Texans will know why. The governor’s race is close enough that the question matters now.