Dem challenging Cruz in Texas brings in $6.7M in first quarter

Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) reportedly brought in more than $6 million during the first quarter of the year in his bid to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

The Texas Tribune reported that O’Rourke raised $6.7 million in the first three months of 2018.

O’Rourke’s fundraising haul was far higher than the amount he had raised during previous quarters, according to the Tribune, when he raised between $1.7 million and $2.4 million.

His campaign told the newspaper that his fundraising haul was higher than that of any Democratic Senate candidate across the country.

“Campaigning in a grassroots fashion while raising more than $6.7 million from 141,000 contributions, we are the story of a campaign powered by people who are standing up to special interests, proving that we are more than a match and making it clear that Texans are willing to do exactly what our state and country need of us at this critical time,” O’Rourke said in a statement. 

O’Rourke has in past quarters outraised Cruz, whose campaign has not yet released its fundraising numbers for the first quarter of 2018.

In the first six weeks of 2018, O’Rourke raised $2.3 million, compared to Cruz’s $800,000.

O’Rourke’s candidacy comes as Democrats are hoping to target a number of Republican-held seats in the House and the Senate.

Cruz won his Senate seat by nearly 16 points in 2012 against Democrat Paul Sadler. President Trump won Texas by 9 points in 2016.