Rep. Beto O’Rourke, the Democrat from El Paso, has raised an eye-popping $6.7 million plus in the first quarter of 2018, his Senate campaign announced early Tuesday.
First reported by The Texas Tribune, the cumulative total came from more than 141,000 contributions as O’Rourke mounts an aggressive campaign against incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
“We’re absolutely running this race the right way—not taking any PAC money, going to every single county and holding town halls across Texas where anyone can ask any question,” O’Rourke said in a statement provided to The Daily Beast. “Campaigning in a grassroots fashion while raising more than $6.7 million from 141,000 contributions, we are the story of a campaign powered by people who are standing up to special interests, proving that we are more than a match and making it clear that Texans are willing to do exactly what our state and country need of us at this critical time.”
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It is the biggest fundraising haul the campaign has had since O’Rourke entered the race and the largest amount any Democratic Senate candidate brought in for last quarter.
In three of the four Federal Election Commission reporting periods so far, O’Rourke has outraised Cruz cumulatively, the campaign said. Cruz has not yet released figures for this particular quarter prior to the April 15 reporting deadline to the FEC.
