U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz raises $4.4 million in second quarter as he seeks reelection

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, raised more than $4.4 million in the second quarter, his campaign announced Friday, revealing a smaller haul than Democratic opponent Colin Allred recently reported.

The Dallas representative announced earlier this month that he raised $6.2 million in the second quarter, which covered roughly the first two months of his campaign. Cruz’s $4.4 million was from all three months of the quarter.

Cruz’s campaign said his haul represents a “significant quarter that is nearly 60% of the total amount his campaign raised in all of 2017” — the year before he last faced reelection.

“We are excited to see that Texans are eager to re-elect Senator Ted Cruz and to keep Texas, Texas,” Cruz spokesperson Nick Maddux said in a statement.

Cruz’s campaign announced his fundraising as a combined total of money raised across three entities: Ted Cruz for Senate, his reelection campaign committee; Ted Cruz Victory Committee, a joint fundraising committee; and Jobs, Freedom & Security PAC, a leadership political action committee. The leadership PAC cannot spend directly on Cruz’s reelection.

Those groups had a combined $5.4 million cash on hand after the second quarter, according to Cruz’s campaign. Allred did not announce his cash on hand, but it is likely to be higher given that he not only raised more than Cruz but also transferred $2.4 million from his U.S. House campaign account.

Cruz is running for a third six-year term after a closer-than-expected race in 2018 against Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who lost by 3 percentage points. In May, Allred became the first major Democratic candidate to declare against Cruz, while state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio joined the primary Monday.

Cruz is familiar with getting outraised in his campaigns. O’Rourke broke fundraising records at the height of their race, but he also outraised Cruz earlier on, including during their first full quarter as opponents in 2017.

Cruz had more than 34,000 total donors in the second quarter, including 11,000 first-time contributors, according to his campaign. Allred’s campaign previously said it had 97,600 donors in the period.

Cruz’s campaign also said his average contribution size in the second quarter was $40.63. The haul represents donations from 234 out of 254 Texas counties and also from all 50 states, according to his team.

The campaigns have until the end of the day Saturday to file their full second-quarter fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission.

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