Democrat U.S. Senate candidate MJ Hegar announced Monday her campaign raised $13.5 million in the latest fundraising quarter.
The figure is the campaign’s best fundraising quarter to date, raising eight times the $1.7 million that was raised in the previous quarter, which ended in June.
Hegar’s opponent, Republican Sen. John Cornyn, has yet to release his latest fundraising haul.
The incumbent senator raised $3.5 million in the second quarter and has so far maintained a steady cash lead over Hegar — but that could change if Hegar’s strong fundraising continues into November.
Both candidates are set to debate Oct. 9 in Austin. Only one debate has been agreed to so far, although the Hegar campaign is pressuring the Cornyn camp for more. (Cornyn has proven to be difficult in this regard; he recently refused to be interviewed with Hegar during an Austin American-Statesman Editorial Board interview).
Aggregate polling for the race shows Cornyn ahead by several percentage points. On the presidential level, which will affect the down-ballot performance of both party’s candidates, aggregate polling shows President Trump ahead of Vice President Joe Biden by an average of three percentage points.
Photo: MJ for Texas
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
