The leading Democratic candidate hoping to unseat Texas Senator Ted Cruz outraised the Republican in campaign contributions by nearly $2 million during the last quarter.
Texas Congressman Colin Allred, seen as the frontrunner to win the Democratic nomination to try and replace Cruz for the state’s U.S. Senate seat next November, raised more than 4.7 million in the previous three months, with Cruz raising just over $3 million during the same period, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Allred’s funding is potentially foreshadowing the Texas Senate race becoming another hotly watched election. In 2018, former Democratic Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke ran a fiercely competitive Senate race against the incumbent Cruz, eventually losing to the Republican by 2.6 points in the historically Red state.
Allred, who announced he was running for the Texas Senate seat in May, already has more on-hand cash for his campaign ($7.9 million) than Cruz ($5.7 million).
Allred’s third-quarter fundraising figures were previously reported by The Texas Tribune.
“Texans’ enthusiasm to retire Ted Cruz—and to elect Colin Allred to the Senate—is reflected in this quarter’s amazing outpouring of grassroots support,” Allred’s campaign manager, Paige Hutchinson, said in a statement.
On October 9, Cruz told Fox News that he brought in $5.4 million during the July-September third quarter period. However, that figure includes donations to both his Senate campaign and two joint fundraising committees.
“The momentum and excitement to re-elect Senator Ted Cruz could not be more tangible. With $5.4 million raised in Q3, we are seeing more and more Texans animated to re-elect Ted Cruz and ensure that Texas remains the nation’s model state for conservative values and ideas,” Cruz spokesperson Nick Maddux said in a statement to the network. “Democrats better gear up, because Senator Cruz is ready for a hell of a fight to keep Texas, Texas.”
Newsweek reached out to Cruz and Allred’s offices via email for comment.
This is the second quarter in a row that Allred has outraised Cruz in campaign money. The Democrat raised nearly $6.2 million through the end of the second quarter in June, with Cruz raising $3.4 million during the same period.
Cruz is currently the favorite to again win the Texas Senate seat despite being behind in terms of campaign funds.
According to forecasters Race to the White House, Cruz has a 70 percent chance of winning the Texas senate race next November. In May, a University of Texas at Tyler poll revealed Cruz had a five-point lead over Allred (42-37 percent) in a hypothetical head-to-head Senate race.