Robert O’Rourke, the Democrat Texas senate candidate, raised $38 million in the third quarter, which is the most ever by a senate candidate. Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz only raised $12 million in this quarter.
However, the polls still have Cruz in the lead.
From Dallas News:
“The people of Texas in all 254 counties are proving that when we reject PACs and come together not as Republicans or Democrats but as Texans and Americans, there’s no stopping us,” O’Rourke said.Fundraising at this pace is typically reserved only for presidential campaigns. And it shows the collective power of many relatively modest donations. ActBlue, the online Democratic fund-raising platform, makes it easier than ever for candidates to collect small sums from many people, and to prompt supporters for recurring donations. O’Rourke has brought in at least $25 million that way this year, and based on the latest tally, likely far more.
The New York Times poll that ended on Thursday night has Cruz up on O’Rourke by 8 points, 51 – 43. Only 5% of the respondents declined or remain undecided. The two men are pretty much tied with female voters, but Cruz has a lead with men and voters over 45-years-old.
Micah Flippen told The New York Times that “[T]he silent majority will vote for Cruz” because “[N]obody in their right minds think Beto is going to put more money in their pocket except for the abject poor.” He noted that those people will “scream and shout,” but won’t make their way to the polling station.
John Saylor praised O’Rourke’s campaign, but reminded everyone that “this is Texas.” A Democrat has not won a senate seat since 1994.
Earlier this week, Emerson Polling found Cruz with a five point lead as more undecided and independent voters have moved towards the incumbent. It looks like Cruz’s vote for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh helped him. Professor Spencer Kimball of Emerson Polling said:
But I also think that we’re seeing those undecideds moving towards Cruz because of what happened with Justice Kavanaugh. Voters in Texas favored the Kavanaugh nomination 46% to 41%. There is that 5 point magnitude, that difference between Kavanaugh having an in or not. And that’s the same difference we’re seeing between Cruz and O’Rourke, 47-42, that five point difference. So that’s something we have to ask: Is Cruz now peaking? Like what we said in August, was O’Rourke peaking, back in August? And obviously you want to peak on election day, get the most buzz at that point.
A recent CBS News/YouGov Poll showed 50% of the respondents chose Cruz while only 44% chose O’Rourke.
RealClearPolitics moved Texas from Toss-Up to Lean Republican.
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