Election Day is just around the corner and Texas is home to one of the most watched races in the country; the matchup between Sen. Ted Cruz and Congressman Beto O’Rourke.
O’Rourke has raised a record breaking amount of money totaling $60,773,550. Cruz has raised $34,963,053.
Who is donating to these campaigns and how is the money being spent?
The money is raised through small individual contributions, which means less than $200, large individual contributions and political action committees (PACs).
Forty-four percent of O’Rourke’s money and 29.9 percent of Cruz’s came from small individual contributions.
Fifty-five percent of O’Rourke’s and 40 percent of Cruz’s came from large individual contributions.
PACs make up .12 percent of O’Rourke’s funds and 3.6 percent of Cruz’s.
Out of the money, 61 percent of O’Rourke’s is coming from Texans compared to 43 percent of Cruz’s.
The O’Rourke campaign has spent $38,270,222 so far and still has $22,902,188 on hand.
The Cruz campaign has spent $24,179,858 and still has $11,262,608 on hand.
KHOU political analyst Bob Stein says both campaigns have different strategies as to how they spend the money.
“Ted Cruz has no choice but to play to the base and play to the past, which is essentially ‘old Texas’,” said Stein.
Which means Cruz is spending more money on TV ads and mailers.
“O’Rourke’s base is decidedly a younger voter but also an infrequent voter,” said Stein. “Who shows up in presidential [elections] at a 60 percent turnout rate, but then just disappears for the midterm”
Which means O’Rourke’s likely to spend more money in this final push to Election Day on things like phone banks and free rides to the polls. As both candidates trying to ensure that their supporters turn up Nov. 6.
“I would expect to see a much higher turnout than we've seen since probably the turn of the century for mid-term elections,” Stein said.