WASHINGTON — Texans should brace themselves for an intense bombardment of U.S. Senate campaign advertising ahead of the March primary based on the contributions candidates from both parties collected during the last reporting period.
Incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s principal campaign committee raised a little more than $910,000 for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, finishing with just over $6 million cash on hand.
How much money candidates raise in advance of elections can signal their strength and the intensity of the race.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has launched a primary challenge to Cornyn, raised $1.3 million through his principal committee, with a closing balance of nearly $3.2 million.
U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, jumped into the Senate race earlier this month, after the reporting period had closed.
Political Points
His principal campaign committee raised $366,000 during the quarter, including transfers from other committees, and spent about $1.9 million, ending the period with $1.5 million cash on hand.
Two prominent Democrats seeking the seat raised significantly more than the Republicans for the quarter.
State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, raised nearly $6.3 million in the first three weeks of his campaign, which he launched last month, and finished with almost $5 million in the bank.
Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, reported receipts topping $4.1 million after launching his campaign in early July. He ended the quarter with about $1.8 million.
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, who has demonstrated his fundraising prowess in past statewide runs, hasn’t ruled out another campaign for U.S. Senate. He lost to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in 2018 by about 2.6 percentage points.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, also has not announced a Senate campaign. Her national profile has helped turn her into a fundraising behemoth and she would have significant financial resources should she jump into the race.
Crockett’s congressional campaign committee raised $2.7 million in the quarter, ending with a $4.6 million balance.
Cornyn is seeking a fifth six-year term. He and his allies spent heavily attacking Paxton over the summer, painting him as unfit for office as they highlighted issues at the heart of his 2023 impeachment and more recent allegations of inaccuracies in his mortgage papers.
Paxton has pushed back on those allegations.
Early public polling showed Paxton with an advantage in the race but the millions the Cornyn camp spent over the summer has closed the gap based on recent surveys.
“Senator Cornyn is soaring in all available public polling after Ken Paxton’s summer from Hell,” Cornyn campaign manager Andy Hemming said in a statement.
Paxton said the more than 13,600 donors to his campaign highlight widespread dissatisfaction with Cornyn, who he has criticized as being a Republican in name only.
“This campaign continues to be powered by grassroots supporters and a growing movement across the state ready for change,” Paxton said in a statement.
He said big spending on campaign ads won’t make Texans forget Cornyn’s record, including his “betrayal of our 2nd Amendment rights.”
Texas voters are tired of career politicians treating seats in Washington as lifetime appointments, Paxton said.
“I’m running to take a sledgehammer to the establishment and make a difference for our state — just like I’ve always done as Attorney General,” he said.
The fundraising totals for principal campaign committees exclude money raised by joint fundraising committees and various super PACs.
The Cornyn campaign announced earlier this month its total haul for the quarter was $3.4 million, when including a couple of affiliated joint fundraising committees. Paxton accused Cornyn of misrepresenting his fundraising haul by including the joint committee figures.
Money raised by the joint committees can also end up with the National Republican Senatorial Committee and other entities.
Hunt’s entry has complicated the GOP primary as he pitches himself as reliably dedicated to the conservative movement and lacking Paxton’s baggage.
Hunt and his allies have been running ads in the Dallas area and elsewhere in the state in an effort to increase his name ID outside of the Houston-area district he’s represented since January 2023.