Before I list the donors who gave at least $25,000 to the Carole Keeton Strayhorn campaign, permit me to tell you a story. Before the 1998 governor’s race, I wrote about the contributors to George W. Bush’s and Garry Mauro’s campaigns. One of Mauro’s contributors was Larry Gatlin of Abilene. I duly reported that singer Larry Gatlin had contributed whatever amount it was to Mauro. It turned out to be the wrong Larry Gatlin from Abilene, and that the right Larry Gatlin was, in fact, a staunch Bush supporter.

I have done my best here to avoid such mistakes, but the list is very long and my Google skills are — surprise! — erratic, so some errors may have slipped in. I apologize for them in advance. Finally, when I write “occupation unknown,” it means I couldn’t find any information about the giver.

*Walter Umphrey, trial lawyer, Beaumont, $250,000
*John Eddie Williams, trial lawyer, Houston, $250,000
*David Alameel, dentist, Dallas, $250,000
*Amanda Ryan, Dallas, $150,000. (ay be connected with Ryan & Co., which has represented tax clients at the state comptroller’s office and is now John Sharp’s employer)
*Jamail & Kolius, trial lawyers, Houston, $100,000
*Kenneth Banks, rancher, Schulenberg, $100,000
*Joseph Phillips, investor, McAllen, $50,000
*Ryan & Co., Dallas, $50,000
*Gerald Ridgely, Ryan & Co., Dallas, $50,000
*James Trester, Ryan & Co., Plano, $50,000
*Richard Thompson, occupation unknown, Lucas, $50,000
*Joyce Covington, rancher, Brenham, $40,000 (two separate contributions: $25,000 and $15,000)
*Linda McIngvale, philanthropist, Houston, $35,000. (Wife of Jim “Mattress Mac” McIngvale)
*Ramsay Gillman, automobile dealer, Houston, $30,000 (The Texas Association of Automobile Dealers and Governor Perry have not been the best of friends. Other automobile dealers among Strayhorn’s contributors were Ernesto Ancira, Chuck Nash, and Roger Beasley. There could be others whom I did not recognize.)
*J. L. Davis, oilman, Midland, $25,000
*Fleming & Associates, trial lawyers, Houston, $25,000
*Gerald Ford, banker, Dallas, $25,000 (former chairman of the board at SMU)
*Len Mertz, rancher, San Angelo $25,000
*Antonio Sanchez Jr., Laredo, $25,000 (Yes, that Tony Sanchez — the 2002 Democratic nominee for governor)
*Fayez Sarofim, investor, Houston, $25,000
*Meredith Long, art gallery owner, Houston, $25,000
*Teresa Donald, occupation unknown, Highland (Highland Park?), $25,000
*Stephen Clark, real estate, Austin, $25,000
*Ben Barnes, political consultant, Austin, $25,000. (The former lieutenant governor’s wife, Melanie, also gave $25,000.)
*Bill Orr, Austin, occupation unknown, $25,000
*Charles Joekel, business owner, Houston, $25,000