Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and his Democratic opponent Beto O’Rourke raised a combined $50 million in the final stretch of Texas’s gubernatorial election.
The candidates each brought in $25 million in the third quarter of the year, which ran from July through September, according to each campaign. The huge haul will fuel the final push of TV ads, in-person rallies, and travel across the Lone Star State.
O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully ran for a Texas U.S. Senate seat in 2018 and president in 2020, outperformed the two-term governor with $25.18 million in receipts, according to the Texas Tribune.
“I’m grateful for everyone who helped raise $25.18 million in just three months as we support the work of our organizers and record-breaking 100,000 volunteers,” O’Rourke said in a statement.
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Abbott reported “almost” $25 million in donations, his campaign announced Tuesday morning.
O’Rourke also edged out Abbott in the second quarter of the year, when he pulled in $27.6 million — an all-time record for a state candidate — to the incumbent’s $24.9 million.
Texans for Greg Abbott Campaign Chairman Gardner Pate said Tuesday that his team has the money it needs to make it through Nov. 8.
“As we move into the home stretch of the campaign, we’re confident we will have the resources we need to ensure all Texans know Governor Abbott’s strong record on job creation, supporting our police, and securing the border,” Pate said in a statement. “The contrast couldn’t be clearer with Beto O’Rourke’s extreme liberal policies like defunding law enforcement, open borders, and supporting radical energy policies that would decimate our oil and gas industry.”
Abbott and O’Rourke have very different amounts of cash on hand and numbers of donors. As of late June, Abbott had nearly twice as much money in the bank — $45.7 million — compared to O’Rourke’s $23.9 million.
O’Rourke, however, received more than 474,000 donations, averaging $53 each, in the third quarter.
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Abbott had less than 10% of that number of supporters — 45,000 — but received far larger sums of money, 81% of which came from in-state donors, during that same period.
“Governor Abbott’s campaign is proud that the vast majority of his support comes from within Texas and not from out-of-state liberals like George Soros or from shady dark-money groups hiding their donors from public disclosure,” said Pate.
A RealClearPolitics average of five statewide polls taken in September put Abbott about 8 percentage points ahead of O’Rourke.
