Senate hopefuls Ted Cruz and Colin Allred receive millions from donors outside Texas
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- With individual donors giving more than $20 million to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and his opponent Colin Allred this election season, an ABC News and ABC Owned Television Stations analysis found nearly half of those donations came from people who don't even live in Texas.
Cruz, who was first elected to the Senate in 2012, is up for re-election and has raised about $9.5 million during the first six months of this year, according to campaign finance data.
He was out-funded by Allred, a Dallas native and fourth-generation Texan who raised $11.5 million in the first six months of this year.
Our analysis found that although Cruz received about $2 million fewer in donations than Allred, the senator had thousands more people donate to his campaign.
Our analysis used Federal Elections Commission campaign contributions data and U.S. Census data to examine individual donations to the Senate race during the first six months of the year. It does not include donations made by non-campaign funding sources like Political Action Committees or loans and payments made by candidates to their own campaigns.
Our analysis found that 22,998 contributors donated an average of $500.25 to the Allred campaign during the first six months of the year.
Although Cruz had smaller donations, he had more donors. There were 29,233 contributors who donated an average of $323.76 to the Cruz campaign.
The Senate seat that Cruz has held over the last decade is one of the few Democrats think they have a shot at flipping this election season. The race has garnered national attention and donations from outside of Texas.
No federal regulations say a candidate can't receive money from outside their district or even their state.
Both Cruz and Allred have received millions in donations from donors outside Texas and even some from outside the U.S.
About $5.2 million, or nearly half of the $11.5 million donated to Allred, came from people outside of Texas. He also received nearly $7,000 in donations from people outside the U.S., in countries including Germany, France, Canada, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
Nearly half of the $9.5 million that donors gave Cruz also came from outside Texas. He received $4.2 million from donors in other states.
Libertarian Theodore E. Brown Jr., who is also running for the Senate seat, received $815 from individual donors in Texas and $250 from donors in other states during the first six months of the year.
13 Investigates looked at the 10 Texas zip codes donating to both campaigns.
Allred received the most donations from a Houston zip code, while Cruz received the most donations from a Dallas zip code.
The 77005 zip code, which includes West University Place and Rice Village, had the most individual donations to Allred, with 163 individual donors making 493 donations totaling $192,973. According to the latest U.S. Census American Community Survey data for 2022, the median age for residents in the 77005 zip code is about 37 years old, and about 68% of the population is voting age.
The 75205 zip code, in Dallas' Highland Park neighborhood, had the most individual donations to Cruz, with 73 individual donors making 159 donations totaling $101,364. Census data shows that the median age for residents in the 75205 zip code is 33 years old, and 75% of the population is of voting age.
Cruz and Allred are set to debate at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Dallas. Election Day is Nov. 5.
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