Gonna need to keep that going.
Colin Allred
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred raised over $9.5 million for his U.S. Senate campaign in this year’s first quarter, surpassing the campaign of his rival Sen. Ted Cruz.
Notably, Allred has also raised more money than Beto O’Rourke did by this point in his own history-making run against Cruz in 2018.
O’Rourke raised over $6.7 million in the first quarter of 2018 against Cruz. The El Paso Democrat’s haul that quarter was the biggest of any Democratic Senate candidate in the country.
Cruz raised over $6.9 million from his official campaign this past quarter, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Still, the conservative senator remains a formidable fundraiser, bringing in over $9.7 million across his fundraising entities. That includes money he has raised for other candidates.
O’Rourke broke new ground for Democrats in Texas with his meteoric rise. His team had to establish new campaign infrastructure where a Democrat hadn’t won state-wide office in over 20 years. Alumni of O’Rourke’s campaign and other Democrats in Texas have credited O’Rourke’s near success for providing a better launching pad for future Democratic candidates.
O’Rourke’s fundraising operation took off exponentially just before the general election in 2018. He broke records for a senate race, raising over $38.1 million in the third quarter — more than twice he had raised in the prior two quarters and more than twice Cruz had raised cumulatively since the start of 2017.
Yeah, the hill gets a lot steeper as we go. That said, adding this quarter’s haul into the previous amount, Allred is approaching $30 million in funds already raised. He should be able to get to Beto’s overall figure of $80 million. Getting a better result for the money, that’s another question. He’ll have what it takes to run the campaign, and that’s a critical start.