In the 10-day sprint to determine retired state Sen. Kip Averitt’s successor, his predecessor, David Sibley, appears to be the front-runner, with a string of prominent endorsements and considerable financial backing.

Sibley, a former Waco mayor, is facing two fellow GOP candidates in Brian Birdwell and Darren Yancy, as well as Woodway Democrat Gayle Avant.

Sibley has quickly racked up a series of big-name endorsements across the district. They include sitting state representatives from Corsicana and Waxahachie; former President George W. Bush; and powerful political action committees, including those of the Texas Farm Bureau and the Texas Association of Realtors.

David Sibley, left, with Texas Farm Bureau executive director Vernie Glasson on Monday after the TFB endorsed Sibley for state senate.
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald

He also has raised more than $260,000, with a big chunk of that total coming from a luncheon featuring Bush, whose voting address is his ranch near Crawford.

Andrew Wheat, of Texans for Public Justice, which tracks fundraising in state legislative races, called Sibley’s haul “an awful lot of money for one Senate candidate to raise in just five weeks.”

He suggested the amount might send a message to opponents that mounting a competitive campaign will be costly.

Avant reported having about $5,000 a few days after launching his campaign, and Birdwell and Yancy have not yet submitted reports.

There are indications, however, that Birdwell has had at least some fundraising success, including yard signs at early-voting locations in the Waco area and a $1,400 radio ad his campaign placed in Waco last week.

But several of Sibley’s opponents already have tried to turn his fundraising prowess against him.

Avant and Birdwell both point to the fact that some of Sibley’s contributions came from political action committees and lobbying shops in Austin, where Sibley himself worked as a lobbyist after leaving the Senate.

A Tribune-Herald review of Sibley’s initial fundraising report, detailing the first $121,000 he received, showed that the bulk of his contributions came from individuals and businesses in the district, including $5,000 from Averitt. But Sibley also received $30,500 from lobbyists and PACs.

A portion of that amount came from the PACs of business groups Sibley once lobbied for or who belonged to trade associations Sibley has represented.

The Wholesale Beer Distributors of Texas PAC and Waco commercial developer Rick Sheldon, both former clients, gave Sibley $3,000 and $10,000, respectively.

PACs for three engineering firms and a power company that donated a combined $3,500 were members of trade associations Sibley has represented.

“Wacoans should be concerned when a candidate has such extensive support from Austin and, in particular, from groups he represented as a lobbyist,” said Avant, who works as a political science professor at Baylor University.

Avant has taken direct aim at Sibley’s lobbying activities, noting that he wrote legislation deregulating the retail electricity market and went on to represent utility companies in Austin.

Sibley’s spokeswoman, Kirsten Voinis, said Monday, “We are proud that the majority of our campaign contributions have come from hardworking individuals in (Senate) District 22, and trust that David will fight to represent their conservative values.”

In a phone interview shortly after he announced his candidacy, Sibley said voters would understand that he is out of the business of lobbying and is running to represent the interests of the district.

“In a lot of ways,” Sibley said, his lobbying background “could be an advantage, because I’ve stayed in touch with things down there, and I know how it works.”

In a recent meeting with the Tribune-Herald editorial board, he said that if elected, he would not return to lobbying.

Because Birdwell and Yancy haven’t submitted reports, there’s still an element of mystery when it comes to the fundraising battle and which campaigns will be able to afford to advertise extensively in the Senate district.

Birdwell and Yancy launched their campaigns after Sibley and therefore were not required to file standard reports Texas requires 30 days before elections.

Yancy said Monday he isn’t fundraising in this race.

“The taxpayers are already taking a beating on the cost of this special election, and I do not have the gumption to add insult to injury,” he said.

But Birdwell spokeswoman Maggie Moran was not as forthcoming, declining to comment on how the campaign’s finances were looking.

“Our fundraising success is strategic information, which would give others an insight into our budget,” she said.

All four candidates will have to file fundraising reports Friday.

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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