O’Rourke doubles Cruz in latest fundraising totals

AUSTIN, Texas – Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says he raised $3.2 million during the first three months of the year — less than half his Democratic opponent’s fundraising haul — and now maintains only a small lead in the overall money race.

Cruz’s campaign announced Friday that it now has a war chest of nearly $8.2 million.

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a onetime punk rocker who’s giving up his seat in El Paso to challenge Cruz, reported collecting $6.7 million in donations through March. His campaign says it now has more than $8 million in cash on hand.

O’Rourke has raised more than Cruz in past quarters, despite shunning money from outside political groups. Cruz has no such prohibition.

A Democrat hasn’t won statewide office in Texas since 1994, the nation’s longest such losing streak.