Ever since Donald Trump skewered him during the Republican primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) hasn’t been having the best of times. In fact, from the incredibly sad (and viral) image of him running a Trump phone bank to his official Twitter account’s liking a pornography tweet, it’s safe to say that Cruz’s post-presidential campaign political career has been rather lackluster. Of course, much of the senator’s downfalls have occurred on the national stage, but judging by the repeated successes of his Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, it seems Cruz isn’t having a great time in Texas either.
According to CNN, the former punk rocker-turned U.S. Senate candidate announced that his campaign had fundraised a whopping $6.7 million during the first three months of 2018. O’Rourke shared the news on Twitter, adding his campaign’s oft-repeated sentiment that they raised the money from individuals instead of special interest groups. “No PACs, no special interests. Just people. More than 141,000 grassroots contributions,” he claimed. “Grateful to all of you.”
BREAKING: We raised $6.7 million in the first 3 months of 2018. No PACs, no special interests. Just people. More than 141,000 grassroots contributions. Grateful to all of you. RT to share our news. pic.twitter.com/vt0h5Dpg9Q
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) April 3, 2018
Even so, as CNN notes, “pre-primary filings [indicate] O’Rourke had $4.9 million on hand to Cruz’s $6 million” when it comes to totals for spending and available cash. What’s more, a Democratic politician has not held a major statewide office in the state of Texas since 1994, the final full year of Ann Richards’s governorship. (The filibuster-famous Wendy Davis tried to unseat Greg Abbott in 2014 but failed to secure enough votes.) So will the fact that O’Rourke’s is seemingly outpacing Cruz matter? Only time will tell… if you ignore the fact that Hillary Clinton nearly doubled Donald Trump’s numbers in 2016.
(Via CNN)