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Less than two weeks to go before the November election, Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred have collectively raised about $160 million for the U.S. Senate race.
The Texas Tribune has been tracking contributions and cash on hand for both candidates since January 1, 2023. The data from the Federal Ethics Commission is as of October 16, 2024.
How much have the candidates raised?
Between Jan. 1, 2023 and October 16, 2024, Allred raised about $14.6 million more than Cruz, according to a Tribune analysis of the candidates' main campaign accounts and other entities that are part of their fundraising networks.
About $50 million of the money that Cruz raised was through Ted Cruz for Senate, his main reelection campaign committee. He also raised about $22.7 through his two joint fundraising committees, Ted Cruz Victory Committee and Ted Cruz Victory Fund, along with his leadership PAC, Jobs, Freedom, and Security.
Meanwhile, Colin Allred has raised most of his $87 million through his main campaign account, Colin Allred for Senate, with about $8.9 million coming from his joint fundraising committee, Colin Allred Victory Fund.
However, Cruz has more cash on hand with a combined total of $12.9 million among all of his fundraising entities. Allred has $3.1 million.
Donations to federal campaign accounts are limited by law to $3,300 per individual per election. By using joint fundraising committees, federal candidates can increase that limit to the combined maximum for each group, allowing individual donors to cut bigger checks. However, some of money raised by these committees is spent on behalf of other candidates. Joint fundraising committees have gained popularity in recent years.
Since January 2023, Allred had raised only slightly more than Cruz. But a few months ago, he started outraising the incumbent Senator by an increasing amount. Allred announced his candidacy back in May 2023 and won his primary against eight other Democrats last March.
How is fundraising going compared to 2018?
Six years ago, Cruz was in a very close reelection race with former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who proved to be a masterful fundraiser. This election cycle, Cruz has been ahead in fundraising compared to 2018.
As of October 2024, Cruz and his joint fundraising committees have raised a total of $72.7 million in the 2024 election cycle. This is nearly twice the amount he raised during the same period during his 2018 Senate reelection bid after adjusting for 2024 inflation. In total, Ted Cruz raised $48.8 million during the 2018 election cycle.
In the latter half of 2018, O'Rourke pulled in a historical amount of cash. Allred has now raised slightly higher than that amount.
As of October 2024, Allred and his joint fundraising committee have raised a total of $87.3 million in the 2024 election cycle. This is only about $100,000 more than O’Rourke raised during the same time period during his 2018 bid for Senate after adjusting for 2024 inflation.
O’Rourke’s fundraising skyrocketed halfway through 2018 – raising a record-smashing $38.1 million from July to September. In total, Beto O’Rourke raised $100.7 million during the 2018 election cycle.
How about small or out-of-state donors?
It’s difficult to compare which candidate had more small donations or out-of-state donors because federal law doesn't require candidates to disclose donors who give less than $200. This does not apply to donors who give through conduit fundraising platforms like WinRed or ActBlue.
Still, this means that Allred and Cruz have received over $34.6 million and $19.6 million, respectively, in contributions from donors who don’t have to disclose the amount they gave or where they reside.