FIRST ON FOX Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas upped his fundraising game the past three months as he faces a bruising re-election race this year for a third six-year term in the Senate.
The conservative firebrand lawmaker brought in over $9.7 million during the January-March first quarter of 2024 fundraising, according to figures shared first with Fox News on Wednesday.
Cruz's haul from his three fundraising committees is nearly double the $5.5 million he brought in the previous three months. The senator raised $1.8 million, $4.4 million, and $5.4 million during the first, second and third quarters of last year.
The money Cruz brought in the past three months is also over $2.7 million more than he raised during the first two quarters of 2018, when he was last up for re-election.
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The senator's political team says as of the end of March, the senator had $15.1 million cash-on-hand from his three fundraising committees. They note that figure includes the amounts he has fundraised into the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) - which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP - and the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) that are dedicated to his race.
The cash-on-hand total is more than double what was in Cruz's coffers at the end of 2023.
According to his team, Cruz the past three months had over 179,000 unique contributions with an average contribution of $35.73, and that he's received contributions from all 254 Texas counties and from supporters in all 50 states.
Cruz spokesperson Nick Maddux told Fox News that the senator "is off to a very strong start this year as the momentum to get him across the finish line in November continues to increase across the entire Lone Star State.
"His quarter-one fundraising numbers reflect Texans' urgency for victory as Democrats threaten to strip away our common-sense way of life.," Maddux argued. "Senator Cruz will continue to pound the pavement day in and day out, meeting and talking to Texans in every corner of the state to keep Texas, Texas, and ensure that we remain the nation's bastion of liberty."
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Rep. Colin Allred, Cruz's Democratic challenger, has yet to announce his first quarter fundraising figures.
Allred, a former professional football player in the NFL and a three-term congressman representing a suburban Dallas district, brought in $4.8 million in the fourth quarter of last year.
Cruz, who narrowly defeated then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke in a hard-fought 2018 Senate battle, touted in a Fox News Digital interview last year that after former President Trump, "there is no Republican in the country that Democrats hate more than me."
The senator was significantly outraised by O'Rourke in a high profile race which grabbed plenty of national attention.
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In an interview last week on Fox News' "Hannity," Cruz argued that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the chamber, "has been explicit. He's coming after Texas. I am his number on target in the entire country."
Cruz argued that the Democrats "are going to spend more than $100 million this year... they're flooding millions of dollars into Texas."
But he touted that his campaign is "supported by millions of Americans, millions of conservatives all across the country that go to our website."
Democrats hold a slim 51-49 majority in the chamber, which includes three independent senators who caucus with the Democratic conference.
That means Republicans need a net gain of either one or two seats to win back the majority – depending on which party controls the White House after this year's presidential election.
The math and the map favor the GOP in 2024. Democrats are defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs. Three of those seats are in red states that Trump carried in 2020 – West Virginia, Montana and Ohio.
Additionally, Democrats are defending an open seat in West Virginia after Sen. Joe Manchin announced late last year that he would not seek re-election.
Five other blue-held seats are in key swing states narrowly carried by President Biden in 2020 – Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In blue-state Maryland, Senate Republicans scored a recruiting success with popular former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan.
Texas and Florida, where incumbent Sen. Rick Scott is seeking re-election, appear to be the only competitive GOP-held seats up for grabs this November.
