It's a showdown of the wallets in Texas as Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred battle it out on the fundraising front ahead of the November Senate race. The Texas Tribune reports that the two political contenders have collectively raked in a staggering $81.2 million, with Cruz and Allred pulling impressive individual sums from their war chests.
Since the start of the 2023, Cruz has amassed contributions tallying up to nearly $40 million, including money raised through his joint fundraising committees—Ted Cruz Victory Committee, and Ted Cruz Victory Fund—and his leadership PAC. Allred, who threw his hat into the ring in May 2023, has taken a slight lead, outpacing Cruz by about $1.2 million, with a considerable haul of $41.2 million through his main campaign fund and joint fundraising committee. Despite this, Cruz sits on a larger stockpile of cash, with $14.2 million ready to deploy compared to Allred's $10.5 million.
Comparing to Cruz's last dance with a funding phenom, his 2018 face-off with Beto O'Rourke, Cruz is trending ahead with nearly double the funds he had at the same point during the last election cycle. O'Rourke, who became a fundraising juggernaut midway through 2018, had raised less than Allred's current amount before his surge in contributions. In a show of force, O'Rourke had ultimately amassed over $100 million for his campaign, setting a lofty benchmark for Allred to possibly chase as November approaches.
While big-ticket donations garner the limelight, the underbelly of campaign contributions, those below $200, often go unreported due to federal regulations. These smaller, sometimes out-of-state donations contributed a combined $24.5 million to both campaigns, with Allred and Cruz receiving $15.9 million and, $8.6 million respectively. Such donations can be a barometer of grassroots support, but with the anonymity attached, the exact scales of that support remain obscured.
