Texas Democrat Allred raises $4.7 million in third quarter to challenge Cruz

Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) raised about $4.7 million during the third quarter of this year, his Senate campaign announced Wednesday.

The Dallas Democrat is the leading candidate aiming to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) next November.

Allred gathered funds from more than 80,000 individual donors at an average of $29.87 per donation, the campaign said. About 95 percent of those donations were less than $100.

Comparatively, Cruz claimed on Fox News on Monday that his campaign took in $5.4 million in the same period, coming from about 34,000 donors with an average donation of $40.30.

Neither claim can be confirmed yet, as third-quarter fundraising information is due to the Federal Election Commission on Sunday.

“Beyond grateful for this immense showing of grassroots support,” Allred said Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Team Allred is powered by folks who know we don’t have to be embarrassed by our Senator — we can get a new one. Let’s keep this momentum going to retire Ted Cruz and bring new leadership to the Senate!”

Allred significantly outraised Cruz in the second quarter, the first two months of his campaign. He raised $6.4 million up to June 30, compared with Cruz’s $3.4 million during the same period, according to campaign finance documents.

Cruz narrowly won reelection in 2018 against former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), winning by about 2.6 percent. The Cook Political Report has marked the 2024 race as “Likely R,” but Democrats are putting pressure on Cruz as one of the party’s few targets to flip a Senate seat.