So far this election cycle our list of top donors is populated with names familiar to anyone following Texas politics — Ross Perot, Jr., Dick Weekley, and Mary and Michael Porter, to name a few. 

But long-time Texas followers will notice a new name topping the list with $6.6 million in donations: Aggregated Unitemized Contributions (AUC). While we’ve already been displaying AUC for other states on Transparency USA, it’s a new feature on our Texas page. 

AUC is not a single entity, but instead represents the total of all donations of $90 or less (per candidate, per reporting period). Candidates and PACs only have to report detailed information (name, address, date, occupation, etc.) for amounts above the $90 threshold in Texas. 

This feature allows readers to quickly quantify and compare the cumulative value of small-dollar donations to candidates and PACs.