Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O鈥橰ourke raised a staggering $27.6 million from late February through June, according to his campaign. At least for now, that's the most amount of money a Texan seeking state office has ever raised in a campaign finance reporting period.
O鈥橰ourke and Republican incumbent Gov. are set to formally disclose their latest campaign finances on a report due Friday to the Texas Ethics Commission. It will cover Feb. 20 through June 30.
Abbott has not yet publicly disclosed how much money he raised in that period. But the $27.6 million that O鈥橰ourke raised tops every amount Abbott 鈥� or anyone else 鈥� has previously raised in a single reporting period. And it gives O鈥橰ourke a major boost as he challenges Abbott, who has had a massive financial advantage so far.
O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 haul came from over 511,000 contributions, 98.9% of which came in online, according O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 campaign. The average donation was $54.
As of the last report, though, Abbott had a huge cash-on-hand advantage over O鈥橰ourke: $49.8 million compared to $6.8 million.
O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 campaign did not release his latest cash-on-hand figure.
The most recent fundraising period saw at least two major events that energized Democrats, including the Uvalde school shooting in May and then the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
鈥淲e鈥檙e receiving support from people in every part of Texas who want to work together to ensure our state moves beyond Greg Abbott鈥檚 extremism and finally leads in great jobs, world class schools, the ability to see a doctor, keeping our kids safe and protecting a woman鈥檚 freedom to make her own decisions about her own body, health care and future,鈥� O鈥橰ourke said in a statement.
O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 $27.6 million haul could easily be historic. For comparison, Abbott is the strongest fundraiser the state has seen in modern times, and his best reporting periods have not cracked $20 million in contributions.
Abbott鈥檚 campaign sought to set high expectations for O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 fundraising during a call with reporters Wednesday. Abbott鈥檚 chief strategist, Dave Carney, predicted O鈥橰ourke would report raising $30 million. Carney declined to say if Abbott would top that number, but said $30 million 鈥渨ould be a historic, kick-ass number for Beto.鈥�
Abbott鈥檚 campaign has long made clear it plans to spare no expense on the race, predicting that it will spend over $100 million total. And it recent weeks, it has started flexing its financial prowess, announcing plans to spend an initial sum on advertising that is .
