TX-SEN: Beto ORourke nearly triples Ted Cruz fundraising in 2018

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke has raised nearly three times as much money as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018.

O’Rourke, a third-term Democratic congressman from El Paso, has raised $2.3 million through Feb. 14 toward his U.S. Senate campaign. Cruz, a Houston Republican seeking his second term, raised $800,000.

While O’Rourke touted his bounty as soon as the fundraising reporting period closed on Feb. 14, Cruz has not yet announced the numbers in his fundraising report, which was due, on paper, with the secretary of the Senate at the end of last week. An electronic copy won’t be available for a few days. But The Dallas Morning News reported the figures contained in the report Friday.

Cruz continues to have a cash advantage over O’Rourke — $6 million to $4.9 million — but O’Rourke has been closing the gap.

According to O’Rourke’s campaign, the latest totals came from more than 43,000 contributions.

Asked about O’Rourke’s fundraising momentum at a recent campaign stop in New Braunfels on behalf of Republican congressional candidate Chip Roy, Cruz told reporters he does not underestimate the passion on the left.

“They’re angry, they hate the president,” Cruz said. “We’ve seen all across the country the Democrats’ fundraising numbers are through the roof because their base is so energized.”

“This is a volatile political time,” Cruz said. “That energy on the hard left is dangerous … if conservatives are complacent, if conservatives stay home. I hope that doesn’t happen.


http://www.mystatesman.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/beto-rourke-nearly-triples-ted-cruz-fundraising-2018/9gnJNWTwuYQUXD2bW8R40L/