Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the El Paso Democrat challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz had the single largest fundraising quarter in a Senate race ever, his campaign said Friday.
O'Rourke raised more than $38 million in the third quarter of 2018 from 802,836 individual contributions. Not only did the haul break previous records for Senate candidates, it also outpaced previous quarters where he raised more money than Cruz.
“The people of Texas in all 254 counties are proving that when we reject PACs and come together not as Republicans or Democrats but as Texans and Americans, there’s no stopping us,” O'Rourke said in a statement. “This is a historic campaign of people: all people, all the time, everywhere, every single day -- that’s how we’re going to win this election and do something incredible for Texas and our country at this critical moment.”
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O'Rourke's campaign also said it plans this weekend to meet a two-day goal of knocking 102,733 doors and making 102,733 phone calls.
While his energetic and tireless campaign has posed a threat to Cruz and invigorated Texans, recent poll numbers suggest that O’Rourke is not poised to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Texas since 1994. The Real Clear Politics average has Cruz leading by seven points.
O'Rourke's fundraising boons have come, in part, from his campaign's efforts to essentially broadcast the congressman’s every move around Texas, including his early morning runs and skateboarding in the parking lot of Whataburger.
Prior to this record haul, Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott raised a massive $22 million earlier this year for his Senate race, though $14 million came from his personal funds. In 2000, former Rep. Rick Lazio (R-NY) raised $22 million in a quarter for his Senate bid against Hillary Clinton. In 2012, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was known as the fundraising juggernaut with a $12.1 million quarter.
