Former Amarillo City Councilwoman Elaine Hays is making up for a lackluster fundraising total with large personal loans to her campaign to unseat incumbent State Representative Lynn Stucky.

Hays, who moved to the Denton area after leaving Amarillo City Council in 2021, is in a three-way race for the Republican nomination to represent Texas House District 64. The district includes all of Wise County and a portion of western Denton County and has been represented by Stucky, who is seeking reelection, since 2017. Hays is also facing Andy Hopper, a software engineer backed by Ken Paxton who nearly unseated Stucky in 2022.

For the reporting period covering July through December of 2023, Hays reported raising $19,800, with over 80% of that money coming from the Amarillo area. Fellow challenger Hopper reported raising $80,998.89 during the same period, while Stucky raised $241,091.81.

Despite having a relatively low fundraising total, Hays also reported still having $142,700.76 left on hand, nearly matching Stucky’s cash-on-hand total of $179,195.22, largely thanks to personal loans she made to her campaign totaling $150,000. (Stucky did not report any loans made to his campaign, while Hopper reported $28,600 in loans and $53,073.98 left on hand.)

While the loans Hays has made to her campaign have helped to keep her campaign’s finances competitive, she still has ground to make up in terms of spending. During the reporting period, Hays reported spending $27,343.53. In comparison, Stucky has spent $331,134.65 while Hopper has spent $41,776.91.

Whoever wins the Republican Primary is set to face Democrat Angela Brewer, who is uncontested in her party’s primary. Stucky previously defeated Brewer in 2020, earning 55% of the vote to Brewer’s 45%. The most recent finance report available for Brewer on the Texas Ethics Commission website is from 2021.

Early voting in the primary is February 20th to March 1st. Election Day is March 5th. A runoff, if needed, will take place on May 28th.