Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke continue to shatter fundraising records in Texas with over $200 million that is funding a statewide ad war as the state’s most competitive governor’s race in decades heads into its final four weeks.
Both candidates reported raising another $25 million over the last three months of the campaign, adding to the combined $150 million they had previously reported raising.
O’Rourke now has raised $66 million for his campaign — a record for any Democratic candidate for governor in Texas. That tops the more than $40 million Democrat Wendy Davis raised in 2014 against Abbott. In 2002, Laredo Democrat Tony Sanchez spent $76 million in his failed bid against Republican Rick Perry, but more than $60 million of that came from the billionaire’s own fortune.
“I’m grateful for everyone who helped raise $25.18 million in just three months as we support the work of our organizers and record-breaking 100,000 volunteers,” O’Rourke said.
O’Rourke is still far behind Abbott, who reported raising $25 million over the last three months and now has raised $134 million since he began collecting donations for his re-election in 2019. No candidate for governor in Texas history has raised more.
Abbott’s cash on hand advantage is also gone, though that may depend on when they did some spending. It’s complicated. Look, the bottom line is that Beto raised a ton of money and was basically even or a bit ahead of Abbott on that score over most of this year. Whatever happens, that’s pretty good. The Observer has more.