Cornyn outraises MJ Hegar in second quarter

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, outraised his high-profile Democratic challenger MJ Hegar by roughly $1.5 million in the second quarter, hauling in $2.5 million.

That leaves the senator with $9 million in cash on hand, according to his campaign. Hegar, a retired Air Force helicopter pilot who is the most formidable Democrat running for Cornyn's seat next year, has about $600,000 in cash on hand.

Monday was the Federal Election Commission filing deadline for candidates to report their April, May and June campaign finance information.

“Over the last three months we’ve seen a massive surge in enthusiasm and grassroots support for the campaign,” John Jackson, Cornyn’s campaign manager, said in a written statement Monday.

Hegar previously announced that she had raised more than $1 million in the period between April 23, when she began her run, and June 30, the end of the second quarter.

Hegar proved to be a strong fundraiser last year when she raised more money than U.S. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, and came within 3 percentage points of unseating him in a district once considered to be a GOP stronghold.

"This is just the start,” Hegar said in a written statement Monday. “It is clear that Texans are ready to have someone working for them, not someone bought and paid for by corporate PACs.”

Cornyn’s campaign said that roughly 80% of its second-quarter donations came from Texas and almost 90% were under $200. Meanwhile, nearly 60% of Hegar’s contributions came from Texas, with 90% under $100, according to her campaign.

The Democratic primary could prove to be crowded. Former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston, launched his candidacy this month, and state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, also is expected to announce he's running at a July 22 news conference.

National Democrats — with flashbacks to last year when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, narrowly defeated Democrat Beto O’Rourke by 2.6 percentage points — are looking to flip Cornyn’s seat. They’re encouraged by small signs that Texas could be turning purple, such as recent polling showing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden beating President Donald Trump in Texas and a recent Roll Call rating which downgraded Cornyn’s seat from “solid Republican” to “likely Republican.”

The Texas Democratic Party also have been aggressively targeting Cornyn, launching in April its “War Room,” a multimillion-dollar effort to unseat the senator.