TX-SEN: Beto O'Rourke raised $10 million in last 3 months
WASHINGTON -- Democrat Beto O'Rourke raised an eye-popping $10.4 million in the last three months -- catching up to Sen. Ted Cruz's six-year haul in just over 15 months as he seeks to topple the Republican darling.
The El Paso congressman's ability to vastly outpace the incumbent is no longer in doubt. Cruz collected about $4 million during the same period, and O'Rourke has extended his streak of raising more than the incumbent in one of the nation's costliest races.
"It's a very positive sign for us that people in Texas believe in this campaign and are making it possible," O'Rourke said in an interview Wednesday. "At this pace we're raising more than we assumed, maybe even more than we imagined."
The latest three-month haul leaves O'Rourke with $14 million for the last four months before Election Day. His fund-raising total now tops $23 million -- almost exactly the sum Cruz has raised for his Senate campaign account since winning the seat in 2012.
Bragging rights will have to wait a few days, until each campaign files its latest quarterly reports. The deadline is Sunday.
Democrats have been gunning for years to end a generation of GOP dominance in Texas.
O'Rourke's torrid fund-raising reflects that and other factors: backlash against an ambitious senator who engineered a government shutdown and alienated many colleagues in his initial years in office, Texas' shifting demographics, Democrats' itch to bloody President Donald Trump and his allies, and O'Rourke's formidable charm and tireless approach to the effort.
In late July he'll embark on a 34-day driving tour of the state.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2018/07/11/beto-orourkes-torrid-fundraising-leaves-ted-cruz-dust-another-10-million-last-3-months
= new reply since forum marked as read
