State Rep. James Talarico raised nearly $7 million for his U.S. Senate run during the latest fundraising quarter, increasing his total haul to $13 million since launching his bid, his campaign said Friday.
Talarico established himself as a prolific fundraiser after raising $6.2 million in the first three weeks of his campaign, which far outpaced other recent Democrats who sought statewide office. Democrats have not won statewide office in Texas since 1994.
The figure released Friday — $6.8 million worth of contributions — suggests the money momentum continues for Talarico, a former public school teacher who has represented a district that includes North Austin and parts of Pflugerville and Round Rock in the Texas House since 2018. Most of Talarico’s donations — 98% — were for $100 or less and none came from corporate PACs, according to the campaign.
It is not clear how much of the money Talarico has already spent. All candidates for federal office must file a finance update with the election commission by the end of the month.
“With the help of more than 215,000 neighbors, we are building a campaign to win the primary, win the general, and deliver for working people across Texas,” Talarico said in a statement, referring to the number of individual contributors.
His primary opponent U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, said in a statement that every quarter last year was a record one for her as a fundraiser, but did not say how much she had hauled.
“I’ve been in this race for less than a month and had 23 days to raise money in the final quarter during the toughest fundraising period of the year, and will still post another record-breaking quarter,” said Crockett, who entered the race later than Talarico in December.
A poll released last month had Crockett leading Talarico by 8 percentage points.
Talarico’s early cash influx gave him an upper hand over former U.S. Rep. Collin Allred, who took two months to raise as much money during his unsuccessful challenge to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz last cycle. Allred left the Senate race in December and pivoted to run for the Dallas-based 33rd Congressional District.
On the Republican side, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is facing the biggest challenge of his career in a three-way contest to be the GOP nominee as Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, try to unseat the incumbent. As of October, Cornyn carried a big financial advantage over Paxton and Hunt.
