Some wealthy candidates can afford to campaign without raising money.

State Senator Mayes Middleton, a multimillionaire, has repeatedly used his personal wealth to finance his campaigns for State Representative, State Senator, and now Attorney General. According to campaign finance reports, he has invested nearly $20 million of his own money in his Attorney General campaign. State Senator Don Huffines, a billionaire, is also self-financing his campaign for Texas Comptroller.

By comparison, at the local level, only 5 of Houston’s 15 City Council members currently have outstanding personal loans to their campaigns. You can see the list below. The Houston Chronicle posted an article concerning paying back personal loans using their donors money:

Previously, the mayor, controller and at-large council members could repay themselves no more than $75,000 and district council members no more than $50,000. The new policy, approved unanimously without discussion during Wednesday’s council meeting, removes the caps.

I find it curious that officials who typically don’t rely on personal loans to finance their campaigns voted to remove the repayment cap of $75,000. If a candidate needs to loan themselves more than $75,000 to win a City Council race, it may be a sign they need to better gauge voter support or improve their fundraising efforts.

There are, of course, exceptions. Running for an open seat created by a vacancy, for example, may require a larger, short-term personal investment due to the compressed campaign timeline.

The policy was introduced by Councilman Edward Pollard, who happens to lead the pack in campaign loans with a staggering $1,040,000—nearly half of his $2,197,573 cash on hand. Pollard easily tops the list of Council Members with the deepest pockets, while few of his colleagues even reach six figures in their accounts. (Notably, Council Member Huffman hasn’t filed a finance report since July 2025.)

We need strict limits on campaign loans, especially personal loans from candidates. Running for City Council should be about pounding the pavement, engaging your district, and earning donations—not writing yourself a massive check. Without these limits, city elections will mirror state politics, pricing out everyday residents and reserving public office strictly for the wealthy.