AGÕæÈ˰ټÒÀÖ

Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Beto O'Rourke Campaign Kicks Off 2018 With A $6.7 Million Fundraising Haul

Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon/KUT News
Rep. Beto O'Rourke

From .

Democrat Beto O’Rourke  so far this year from 141,000 contributions in his race to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. The Cruz camp hasn’t released fresh numbers yet, but a filing deadline is coming up April 15.

°¿â€™R´Ç³Ü°ù°ì±ð’s is expected to help close an earlier fundraising gap with Cruz â€� but in the end, will it make a substantive difference?

, a government professor at the University of Texas in Austin, says °¿â€™R´Ç³Ü°ù°ì±ð’s fundraising boost gives him a louder microphone for his message.

“Perhaps even more important is that he’s getting that from lots of different sources, and a lot of those sources are in Texas,� Theriault says. “So there’s no doubt that those are all really good signs.�

Still, Theriault says, °¿â€™R´Ç³Ü°ù°ì±ð’s fundraising doesn’t mean he’s likely to win.

“To the extent that he is raising money indicates that this could become a competitive race,� he says. “But a lot of things are going to have to break his way over the course of the campaign. So with the war chest tells us � the money war chest � is that there’s enough for us to keep talking about this story. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be covering this as a potentially competitive race.�

Written by Jen Rice.

Related Content