In final days of senate race, Colin Allred bests Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 senate fundraising record

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, left, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, take part in a debate for the U.S. Senate hosted by WFAA on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024, in Dallas, Texas. (Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune via POOL)

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Colin Allred continues to outraise Sen. Ted Cruz in the month before Election Day, bringing in over $11.8 million in the first 16 days of the month. In the same time, Cruz has raised over $9.9 million.

The recent hauls include over $1 million Allred brought in the day after the two candidates debated on Oct. 15. This election cycle so far, Allred has raised over $80 million. Cruz meanwhile has raised over $86.7 million, including money he raised in the years after his 2018 run and before Allred entered the race.

With this latest haul, Allred eclipsed U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 run, which closed out the election cycle having raised over $70 million.

Allred has consistently outraised Cruz each quarter this year. But Cruz remains a formidable fundraiser — one of the most prolific among his Senate Republican peers and a top fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Cruz also has several heavy hitters funding ads benefitting his reelection effort. Truth and Courage PAC, a super PAC dedicated to reelecting Cruz, has spent over $28 million since the start of 2023, including $11 million in television ads this year, according to tracking firm AdImpact. The pro-Republican Win It Back PAC has also spent more than $5 million in TV ads, and both the NRSC and the Republican Party of Texas have each spent more than $2 million on television.

Allred’s campaign has spent over $31 million on television ads this cycle, according to AdImpact. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has invested a further $10 million, according to AdImpact.

The Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC associated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, announced Thursday that it would invest $5 million on television ads in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. It’s the first major television advertisement investment by an outside pro-Democratic group in the Senate race.

The Senate Leadership Fund, the Republican counterpart to the Senate Majority PAC, has not announced any investments to help Cruz in the race.

Television ads have been a key element to Allred’s campaign, which has had to tackle his low name recognition outside of his native Dallas.

Cruz anticipated an influx of fundraising for his challenger early in the cycle. After former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke blasted through fundraising records and came within 3-percentage points of defeating Cruz in 2018, Cruz signaled to Republican donors that no seat is safe, even in a state like Texas where Republicans have controlled all statewide offices for a generation.

Cruz’s campaign has raised more than twice the amount it did in 2018.

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