Congressional candidates on the general election ballot raised more than $60M during the third quarter of 2020. In a number of races – the U.S. Senate race an exception – the candidates’ fundraising totals exceeded the same period in 2018.

SEN (Lean Republican): Democratic challenger M.J. Hegar doubled up U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R), outraising him $13.9M to $6.9M. The incumbent outspent Hegar, $13.7M to $6.3M. Each has more than $8M in the bank. Hegar has the narrow advantage in cash on hand, $8.5M to $8M. Hegar has made up most of the fundraising gap against Cornyn, who has out-raised her, $23.0M to $20.4M, over the 2019-20 election cycle.

In 2018, then-U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso) out-raised U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R), $37.4M to $10.5M, and the challenger held a $22.9M to $11.3M advantage in cash on hand. O’Rourke’s haul was the largest in the nation during that quarter.

CD2 (Lean Republican): Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Houston) out-raised Democratic challenger Sima Ladjevardian, $5.5M to $1.4M, and outspent her, $5.6M to $1.2M. He has a nearly $3M advantage in cash on hand. Crenshaw has raised nearly $15M for his re-election bid since January 2019.

During this quarter in 2018, Crenshaw raised $519K – not even one tenth the amount he raised during the third quarter this year.

CD3 (Lean Republican): Democratic challenger Lulu Seikaly out-raised Rep. Van Taylor (R-Plano), $724K to $555K, but was outspent by the incumbent, $281K to $201K. Taylor has a better than 2-to-1 advantage in cash on hand, $1.2M to $563K.

CD6 (Lean Republican): Democratic challenger Stephen Daniel out-raised Rep. Ron Wright (R-Arlington), $230K to $207K, and outspent the incumbent, $153K to $74K. Wright has a $238K to $162K advantage in cash on hand.

CD7 (Lean Democratic): Republican challenger Wesley Hunt out-raised Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Houston), $2.8M to $1.3M, but was outspent by the incumbent, $3.1M to $2.4M. Fletcher has a narrow lead in cash on hand, $1.6M to $1.4M. For the 2019-20 election cycle, Hunt has narrowly out-raised Fletcher, $5.9M to $5.6M.

Fletcher raised $1.9M during the third quarter in 2018 when she was challenging then-U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Houston).

CD10 (Toss Up): Democratic challenger Mike Siegel out-raised U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Austin), $1.1M to $874K, but was narrowly outspent by the incumbent, $1.0M to $946K. McCaul has a better than 4-to-1 advantage in cash on hand, $1.2M to $285K.

During the third quarter of 2018, McCaul out-raised Siegel, $175K to $171K, and outspent the challenger, $360K to $139K.

CD21 (Toss Up): Democratic challenger Wendy Davis more than doubled up U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Austin), out-raising him $3.4M to $1.6M. She outspent him nearly 5-to-1 ($4.4M to $915K). Roy has a $2.4M to $1.9M advantage in cash on hand. Davis has out-raised Roy, $7.8M to $4.2M, over the election cycle.

In 2018, Roy was out-raised during the third quarter by Democratic rival Joseph Kopser, $893K to $642K, and Roy had been out-raised for the cycle to date, $2.3M to $1.6M.

CD22 open (Toss Up): Democratic nominee Sri Preston Kulkarni out-raised Fort Bend Co. Sheriff Troy Nehls (R), $2.1M to $834K, and outspent him $1.6M to $504K. Kulkarni has a $1.7M to $360K advantage in cash on hand. Nehls – no stranger to being badly outspent – raised $330K more this quarter than the total amount he had raised up until then.

During the third quarter of 2018, Kulkarni raised $569K, which was $250K more than U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land), who did not seek re-election this year.

CD23 open (Lean Democratic): Democratic nominee Gina Ortiz Jones out-raised Republican rival Tony Gonzales II, $1.7M to $912K, and outspent him, $2.6M to $678K. She has a $2.1M to $624K advantage in cash on hand.

In 2018, Ortiz Jones raised $2.2M during this quarter, out-raising U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-San Antonio) by $1.2M. She had $1.2M on hand at that time.

CD24 open (Toss Up): Democratic nominee Candace Valenzuela doubled up Republican opponent Beth Van Duyne, out-raising her $2.4K to $1.2M. Valenzuela outspent Van Duyne, $1.6M to $910K, and the Democrat holds a $987K to $789K advantage in cash on hand.

CD25 (Lean Republican): Democratic challenger Julie Oliver out-raised U.S. Rep. Roger Williams (R-Austin), $904K to $571K, and outspent him, $485K to $391K. Williams has a $617K to $497K advantage in cash on hand. Nearly a third of Williams’s contribution total consisted of transfers from his victory committee.

In the third quarter of 2018, Oliver out-raised Williams, $328K to $158K.

CD31 (Lean Republican): U.S. Rep. John Carter (R-Round Rock) raised $402K and has just over $1M on hand. The report from Democratic challenger Donna Imam was not available as of press time.

CD32 (Lean Democratic): U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Dallas) narrowly out-raised Republican challenger Genevieve Collins, $1.23M to $1.19M, and outspent her, $2.5M to $2.1M. He holds a $1.7M to $1.0M advantage in cash on hand.

In 2018, Allred out-raised then-U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Dallas), $2.0M to $1.3M, and outspent the incumbent, $1.3M to $0.5M.

Elsewhere

In CD1 (Safe Republican), Democratic challenger Hank Gilbert out-raised Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler), $351K to $65K, and outspent him, $225K to $48K. Gilbert has a nearly $200K advantage in cash on hand, $275K to $79K. In CD18 (Safe Democratic), Republican challenger Wendell Champion came within $1K of out-raising U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston). In CD30 (Safe Democratic), Republican challenger Tre Pennie out-raosed U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Dallas), $170K to $79K, and outspent the incumbent, $120K to $12K. Johnson has a $400K advantage in cash on hand.

And in the “every dollar counts” category, CD5 (Safe Republican) challenger Carolyn Salter outspent U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Terrell) by $9, as in nine dollars, $76.877 to $76,868.

©2020 Texas Election Source LLC