O'Rourke Spends $1.27 Million on Statewide Media Buy

EL PASO, TX -- After raising $1.27 million during a single weekend in direct response to negative attack ads launched by the Ted Cruz campaign, Beto O’Rourke told supporters today that his grassroots campaign will use all $1.27 million on a statewide media buy this week. This includes running positive TV ads in each of Texas's 20 media markets.

According to a press release from the campaign, “Texans in all 254 counties of our state are proving that together, we will be the big, bold, confident answer to the small, petty, negative attacks that are coming our way,” said Congressman O’Rourke. “We are going to continue running this campaign the right way -- showing up in every community to listen to and learn from those we want to serve and represent, regardless of party or geography or any small differences that might otherwise divide us.”

Only hours after a Texas Lyceum poll found O’Rourke within two points, the Cruz campaign launched a series of attack ads in markets across the state. In response, O’Rourke’s campaign set an ambitious goal to raise $1 million within the next 72 hours. Without a dime from PACs, his people-powered campaign surpassed their goal, raising a staggering $1,274,528 from 39,000 contributions. The average gift was just $32.

Today’s announcement comes 15 days into O’Rourke’s 34-day drive across Texas as he continues to have open dialogues with Republicans, Democrats, independents and non-voters alike in communities throughout the state. He has already logged more than 3,200 miles as he’s crossed Texas from El Paso to Longview. The road trip will ultimately feature nearly 100 events in more than 50 cities.

The drive follows O’Rourke’s announcement that his grassroots campaign raised more than $10.4 million during the second quarter of 2018 without taking money from PACs or special interests. This was more than two times what Ted Cruz raised in the same period. While bringing in 215,714 contributions during the three month period, O’Rourke has now outraised Cruz in five FEC reporting periods.