Of the eight candidates listed on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) “Red to Blue” program, seven outraised their Republican opponents.
The one exception was in Texas’ 2nd Congressional District, where Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-02) vastly outperformed Democratic opponent Sima Ladjevardian, raising $5.5 million to her $1.4 million.
In September, Crenshaw released a viral ad in the vein of a Hollywood blockbuster trailer, which featured five other GOP candidates in the state. The video reportedly brought in just shy of a quarter-million dollars to a joint fundraising committee in the day after its release.
Democrats competed much better in the other seven districts, particularly in the three open seats of Texas’ 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Congressional Districts.
In those districts, the Democratic candidates not only outraised the Republicans, but also spent more and ended the filing period with more cash-on-hand.
The other four Democrats in the DCCC’s program outraised their Republican opponents, but they did not manage to overcome the cash advantage of the GOP incumbents.
Reps. Van Taylor (R-TX-03), Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), and Roger Williams (R-TX-25) were each outraised by their DCCC-backed challenger, but each of the incumbents also spent more on campaigning and still have more cash-on-hand as of the end of September.
In Texas’ 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger Wendy Davis outraised Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21) by $3.5 million to $1.6 million and also outspent him by $4.5 million to $940,000.
But Roy reported a cash advantage of $2.4 million to Davis’ $1.9 million.
In the two congressional races where Republicans are aiming to take back seats that they lost in 2018, the GOP challengers also outraised the incumbents without securing a cash advantage.
Republican Wesley Hunt outraised Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-07) by $2.8 million to $1.3 million, but Fletcher reported spending more and about $250,000 more cash-on-hand.
In Texas’ 32nd Congressional District, Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX-32) reported a cash advantage of $1.7 million to Republican Genevieve Collins’ $1 million.
The GOP challenger reported raising more than Allred, but excluding a $795,000 loan to her own campaign, the two were about evenly matched in fundraising.
A full breakdown of the latest financial reports can be found on The Texan’s War Room.
Details on the financial reports released in the U.S. Senate race between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and MJ Hegar can be found here.
The next federal financial reports are due on October 22.
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Daniel Friend
Daniel Friend is the Marketing and Media Manager for The Texan. After graduating with a double-major in Political Science and Humanities, he wrote for The Texan as a reporter through June 2022. In his spare time, you're likely to find him working on The Testimony of Calvin Lewis, an Abolition of Man-inspired novel and theatrical podcast.
