Democrat Beto O'Rourke is raking in the dough when it comes to campaign donations, but will it translate into an upset victory over Sen. Ted Cruz this fall?
The O'Rourke campaign says it raised $10.4 million over the past three months, compared to Cruz's $4.6 million. But Cruz still holds a five to 10 point lead in recent polling.
“O'Rourke's campaign is really based on Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer sitting in D.C. rubbing their hands together thinking they can put our state in play,” says Matthew Langston, vice president of Austin-based Axiom Strategies. “The news media, they want you to believe, they want you to think that this is real race here.”
“The idea that money can buy a race is just not true,” he says. “It really is a pipe dream out of D.C. they can turn this state into a blue state for Democrats.”
Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide since 1994.
“The math just is not there for somebody like O'Rourke to win as a Democrat in the state of Texas, it's too big of a hill to climb and there's not enough money in the world to sell bad ideas,' says Langston.