O'Rourke edges out Abbott in fundraising with $27.6 million, in close Texas governor race

Texas incumbent GOP Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrat challenger Beto O'Rourke on Friday each announced having fundraised over $24 million from late February through June in their highly competitive race for governor.

O’Rourke’s campaign announced having raised $27.6 million, the most money a candidate running for Texas statewide office has ever raised during a campaign finance reporting period, according to the Texas Tribune. 

The campaign said the average donation to O’Rourke was $54. 

Abbott’s reelection campaign said the candidate raised $24.9 million during the same period from about 113,000 contributions. The campaign also said 86% of the donation came from Texas, according to The Hill newspaper. 

The campaign’s cash-on-hand total at the end of the period, from February 20 to June 30, was just under $46 million. 

O’Rourke’s campaign did not say how much cash it had on hand at the end of the reporting period, The Hill also reports. 

The RealClearPolitics.com polls average shows Abbott leading by six points.