Thursday, October 13, 2011

Third Quarter Numbers Come In for Texans in U.S. Senate Race

The Third Quarter ended on September 30. As the reports are filed to meet the deadline, October 15 for the FEC reports, some numbers are being touted to get out in front of others. The Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate campaign released the following Thursday:

The Ted Cruz for U.S. Senate campaign today announced raising $1,057,953 in the third-quarter fundraising period, more than the campaign has raised in any other previous quarter. The Cruz campaign has now raised over $2.8 million, and has more than $2.4 million cash on hand.

Because of these remarkable fundraising totals:
Cruz has now raised more money for the Senate race than any other candidate in Texas.
Cruz’s strongest financial quarter came after David Dewhurst entered the race.
Cruz has raised more money for the Senate race than the sitting Lt.Governor, despite the fact that virtually every lobbyist in the state is compelled to contribute to his campaign.

To date, the campaign has received contributions from 6,987 total donors, from 459 Texas cities, 166 counties, and all 50 States. The campaign is aggressively raising money across the nation, and sixty-five percent of the total money raised is from Texas.

This follows on the heels of the Dewhurst campaign. Wednesday, the David Dewhurst for U.S. Senate campaign sent this out in an email:

Building off the tremendous grassroots support we have seen from Texans across the state, we raised a record-breaking $2.64 million this fundraising quarter – more than any other U.S. Senate campaign in Texas history!

What the email didn't say, however, was reported in The Texas Tribune. Dewhurst wrote a check for $2 million of his own money for the campaign, too.

David Dewhurst raised $2.6 million for his U.S. Senate race — his campaign says that's a record for one quarter — and kicked in another $2 million of his own money, ending September with "more than $4 million" on in the bank, according to his campaign. The filing deadline comes later in the week, but the lieutenant governor wanted his own spotlight. And he wanted to send a message to announced and potential primary opponents: This is going to be expensive.

So, I asked the Cruz campaign for a response to the number released by the Dewhurst campaign, which was larger in the Third Quarter. This is the response:

"It's surprising that David Dewhurst was only able to raise $2.6 million. Dewhurst was widely expected to have raised $5 million or more; he's the sitting Lieutenant Governor and every lobbyist in the State is compelled to donate to him. Regardless, Dewhurst will have plenty of money--he'll pour millions of his own personal fortune into the race--but he can't win if he keeps hiding from grassroots voters and trying to cover up his liberal tax-and-spend record. No amount of money can help him duck from his true record."

Now we wait for the report that Tom Leppert, former Dallas mayor, files for his Third Quarter numbers.

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