Texas
TikTok billionaire, voucher supporter gave Gov. Abbott $4M ahead of Texas House runoffs
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott received an additional $4 million campaign donation from a prominent school voucher proponent just after the March primary elections, boosting his successful effort to toss out GOP House members who opposed his school choice plans, according to new state ethics reports filed on Monday.
The April 3 donation by TikTok investor Jeff Yass brings the Pennsylvania billionaire megadonor’s contributions to Abbott to more than $10 million since last fall. Yass previously donated $6 million in December, which Abbott described as the largest single donation in Texas campaign history.
Yass has donated more than $200 million in the last decade to federal and state candidates and to groups to promote school choice.
The mandatory campaign finance reports filed Monday by the Republican governor as well as by his campaign at the Texas Ethics Commission offer the first comprehensive look into Abbott’s money machine during two heated election cycles earlier this year.
Abbott and his campaign’s political action committee, Texans for Greg Abbott, were only required to file them in January and July because he wasn’t on the ballot.
An email requesting comment from Abbott’s campaign was not immediately answered early Tuesday. Staff at his Capitol office referred questions to the campaign.
Public education advocates have criticized Yass’ heavy-handed funding of Abbott’s campaign, saying that as an out-of-state activist he has too much influence.
Earlier this year, Yass, through a spokesman, provided a brief statement to The Dallas Morning News on his supporting school choice: “School spending has doubled in real terms over the last 30 years and results have gotten worse, particularly in urban districts. The time for choice and competition is now. I plan to support pro-school choice candidates in any state.”
The Monday reports show Abbott’s officeholder account, which received the Yass donations, spent nearly $12 million during the first six months of the year. Most of that was on travel, events and advertising. More than a quarter of that was spent on advertising, polling and consulting in April and May alone, according to Abbott’s 190-page officeholder report.
Throughout the primary and runoff season,10 mostly rural incumbent House Republicans were fighting off attacks from Abbott and his pro-voucher allies after the lawmakers repeatedly blocked legislation that would have created education savings accounts, or ESAs.
Proponents — including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — argue that public schools in some areas of the state are failing, so parents need help paying for alternatives. The ESAs would allow for taxpayer money to be spent on private schools.
Opponents argue that private schools are unregulated and sometimes exclude students with special needs. They want public schools to be fully funded.
Many rural Republicans argue that ESAs would drain the funding from their schools — the largest employer in many rural counties — and hurt their communities, particularly because many of those areas don’t have private schools.
Before the March primary, Abbott and his campaign gave more than $6 million to House candidates, many of whom were challenging those incumbents. Then he donated another $2.3 million during the next two months for the May runoffs to defeat those who survived in March, according to earlier campaign reports.
Abbott’s well-funded victories in those contests appear to have given him the votes he needs to pass school choice during the next regular session, which starts in January 2025. His candidates must survive the general election in November.
The legislative effort to create the state’s first voucherlike program appears to be already underway.
On Tuesday, Texas House Public Education Committee Chair Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, scheduled a hearing on a range of issues, including the viability of ESAs, for Aug. 12 – the same week many major Texas districts start the new school year.
Meanwhile, the Abbott campaign PAC maintains a healthy war chest of more than $51 million as of June 30, according to the reports. The PAC received nearly $25 million in donations since January.
The political action committee’s 29,292-page report is brimming with donations of $1 and $2, although individual contributions of $110 or less that are not received electronically are not required to be itemized. Online donations must be listed individually even if they are under $1.
Aarón Torres contributed to this report.
Texas
Texas A&M is reportedly close to hiring its new defensive staffer
The staff shake-up continues amid CFP preparation, as Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is reportedly adding another to his staff.
Soon after the news that the Aggies were expecting to hire former Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that former Rutgers co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Zach Sparber would be added to the staff in some capacity. Sparber is very familiar with new Texas A&M DC Lyle Hemphill, having worked with him at JMU and Duke.
It is an interesting hire, as similar to Travis Williams, Sparber is also coming off a defensive staff that was let go after bottom-of-the-conference defensive performances. However, before joining the staff at Rutgers, he helped James Madison’s team rank 21st nationally in scoring defense as the linebackers coach. While his official role has not yet been announced, his experience with Hemphill should help with continuity heading into next season.
No. 7-seed Texas A&M hosts the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (10-2) in a CFP first-round game at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, at Kyle Field. The game can be viewed on ABC/ESPN.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.
Texas
How to get tickets for #7 Texas A&M vs. #10 Miami in College Playoff 1st round
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The 10th-ranked Miami Hurricanes hit the road for College Station for a Saturday afternoon matchup against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The game is scheduled for noon ET (11 a.m. CT) with tickets still available to watch live.
How to get Texas A&M vs. Miami tickets for the best prices: Tickets for the Texas A&M vs. Miami playoff game are available on secondary markets Vivid Seats, StubHub, SeatGeek and Viagogo.
The lowest prices are as follows (as of Dec. 15):
- Vivid Seats starting at $375
- StubHub starting at $388
- SeatGeek starting at $315
- Viagogo starting at $345
The Aggies own the homefield advantage and are listed as 3.5-point betting favorites to play their way into the second round. Texas A&M won its first 11 straight games of the 2025 season before falling to rival No. 16 Texas (27-17) in its regular-season finale. The Aggies were battle-tested in going 7-1 in a Southeastern Conference that put five teams into the College Football Playoff field. They also join Miami as teams to beat Notre Dame this season, winning a 41-40 shootout back in Week 3.
#10 Miami (10-2) at #7 Texas A&M (11-1)
College Football Playoff 1st round
- When: Saturday, Dec. 20 at noon ET (11 a.m. CT)
- Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
- Tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo
- TV channel: ABC/ESPN
- Streaming on: FuboTV (free trial) | DirecTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate)
The Hurricanes’ 27-24 win over then-No. 6 Notre Dame was the best line entry on the team’s résumé as the third-place finisher in the messy Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami rattled off four straight wins to close the season and showed the kind of explosive scoring offense required to stack up with Texas A&M, scoring 34-plus points in each of those four wins. The Canes closed the season with a 38-7 blowout win over then-No. 23 Pitt to strengthen their CFP case.
Texas
14-year-old suspect in deadly North Texas shooting taken into custody in Dallas, police say
The 14-year-old wanted in the deadly shooting of a man in Collin County over the weekend is in custody, police said.
Lavon police said Monday night that the teenage boy was taken into custody in Dallas without incident.
Police say the shooting happened Saturday night, just before 9 p.m. on Wellington Drive in Lavon, when an argument broke out between the 14-year-old suspect and a 24-year-old acquaintance.
Police say that the altercation turned deadly. The teen shot and killed the 24-year-old before fleeing the scene.
“A murder is a very rare thing in our city, so it’s shocking,” said J. Michael Jones, the Lavon Chief of Police. “And it’s even more shocking that this suspect is a 14-year-old.”
Community ISD confirmed the suspect is a student at Community Trails Middle School, where district leaders took extra precautions in case he is still in town.
Earlier Monday, Jones urged the suspect and anyone helping him to turn him in, saying, “I will find you. I will investigate you, and I will put you in jail.”
Lavon police thanked the community and several law enforcement agencies for their help with the investigation, including the Collin County District Attorney’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, the Community Independent School District Police Department, the Lavon Fire Department, and many others.
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