Cruz Raises Over $4 Million for Senate Campaign; Raises $1.1 Million in Q4

By Team Cruz

Cruz Overall Fundraising is Effectively Tied with David Dewhurst

Click here to download this release

AUSTIN—The Ted Cruz for Senate campaign has now raised over $4 million, effectively tying the overall fundraising of the sitting Lieutenant Governor. This remarkable fundraising continues the extraordinary momentum of the Ted Cruz for Senate campaign.

In the fourth fundraising quarter of 2011, Cruz raised $1,093,837. He ended the quarter having raised nearly $4 million overall, and with $2,868,822 cash on hand. As of mid-January, the Cruz campaign has now raised substantially more than $4 million.

To date, Cruz and Dewhurst are effectively tied in fundraising; both have announced overall fundraising of slightly over $4 million in the Senate race.

Cruz’s fundraising has remained steady and strong for five consecutive quarters. In contrast, David Dewhurst’s fundraising dropped precipitously—falling 42%—from Q3 to Q4, just his second quarter of fundraising.

Moreover, there is a substantial difference in the source of funds for both campaigns. The Cruz campaign has been funded by an extraordinary coalition of grassroots donors, all across Texas and the nation. In contrast, the Dewhurst campaign has focused very heavily on donations from professional lobbyists and special interest PACs. Here are the basic numbers:

Thus, Cruz has had 12,450 donors; Dewhurst has reported 823. Cruz’s average donation is $319; Dewhurst’s is $2,286. And yet their overall total raised is the same.

Strikingly, Cruz has had more donors just in the City of Houston (870) than Dewhurst reported in the entire State of Texas (798).

“Texans are tired of timid, career politicians who just go-along-to-get-along. Voters in Texas want our next Senator to be a strong conservative and a fighter, and Ted’s conservative message is resonating throughout Texas,” said campaign spokesman James Bernsen.

“The fact that some candidates in this race have vast personal wealth doesn’t mean that they can simply buy a Senate seat,” Bernsen continued. “No candidate can ignore the grassroots and win, and grassroots voters in Texas are overwhelmingly united behind Ted Cruz.”

In addition, a new independent poll shows Cruz surging. Since the last PPP poll, Dewhurst’s support has dropped from 41% to 36%, while Cruz’s support has increased from 12% to 18%. That’s an 11-point swing in just a few months— and Cruz has yet to spend a penny on paid television or radio ads.

Moreover, Dewhurst still enjoys a significant advantage in name ID. Among voters who have heard Ted’s message, Cruz leads David Dewhurst 34-31. As the independent pollster put it:

“Here’s a finding that signals the potential of this race to get very interesting though: among those 29% familiar with Cruz, whether they like him or not, he leads Dewhurst 34-31. That speaks well to his ability to make things competitive once he becomes better known and really starts spending money.”

Four facts are critical to predicting the outcome in this race: (1) in a run-off, the candidate with greater voter intensity (i.e., Cruz) almost always wins; (2) to avoid a run-off, a candidate needs over 50% of the vote on primary day; (3) not a single third-party poll has ever shown Dewhurst anywhere close to 50%; and (4) current polling puts Dewhurst at 36% and dropping—far short of the threshold needed to avoid a run-off.

“Ted has been working tirelessly to earn the trust of the people of Texas, while his opponent has skipped 20 candidate forums all over the State,” Bernsen said. “It’s no wonder that Texans are embracing Ted’s strong, optimistic, conservative vision, and his proven conservative record. And it’s no surprise, when Dewhurst hides from the voters, that they are rightly skeptical of his claims to be conservative.”

Tweet