Overview
- The Democrat reported $27 million for the quarter, and his campaign, which announced the figure Wednesday, said more than $10 million came after the March 3 primary.
- His team says it is the largest first-quarter total ever for a U.S. Senate candidate and pushes his haul since September above $40 million from about 540,000 donors across 246 Texas counties.
- The money lets him buy ads across Texas’ 20 media markets, a reach that campaigns say takes unusual sums in a state this large.
- His opponent will come from a May 26 Republican runoff between Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton, a matchup that could change how both parties spend.
- Cornyn reported nearly $9 million for the quarter, Paxton had not filed by Wednesday and has trailed this cycle, and past surges like Beto O’Rourke’s in 2018 show big money can tighten races without guaranteeing a win.