In a notable shift within the Texas political landscape, U.S. Rep. Colin Allred has continued his fundraising supremacy in the Senate race, amassing $30.3 million in the third quarter of 2024. Allred's Democratic campaign is proving to be a formidable challenge to incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who raised more than $21 million in the same period, as reported by The Texas Tribune.
Cruz's fundraising efforts include contributions to his three accounts, among which is a leadership PAC that does not contribute directly to his reelection efforts, and a joint fundraising committee, yet the Republican senator is trailing his Democratic counterpart, Allred, in the financial arms race. Allred's $30 million tally did not quite reach the $38 million record set by Beto O'Rourke in the third quarter of 2018, however, his campaign has collected nearly $69 million since its commencement — outstripping O'Rourke's $61 million benchmark from the same timeline.
The financial advantage may be indicative of a changing tide in the race. Allred has closed the gap on Cruz, who had been leading initially, polling within the margin of error according to WFAA. Addressing the trend, national Democrats have taken notice and included Texas in a significant ad buy, indicating a surge of support, as forecasters recently adjusted their predictions from "Likely Republican" to "Lean Republican."
Together, Cruz and Allred's campaigns have raised an astronomical sum, with at least $132 million accrued since the beginning of the race, shattering the records set in the Cruz versus O'Rourke showdown in 2018. Cruz, who previously secured his seat by a narrow margin of less than 3 percentage points, finds himself bracing against a fundraising undercurrent this election cycle. Despite closing out the quarter with $16.2 million in cash on hand, Cruz has yet to match the financial momentum carried by Allred, whose campaign has yet to disclose its current cash reserves.
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