It’s been a good few weeks for Sen. Ted Cruz in the presidential stakes that matter now – the money primary.
The Texas Republican’s campaign on Wednesday reported $4.3 million in contributions for the first quarter, far exceeding its goal of $1 million, and super PACs supporting him said last week that they had collected a jaw-dropping $31 million in just five days.
The funds contributed so far, said the campaign’s finance co-chair, establish Cruz as a candidate who can go the distance in a crowded field, tapping small donors as well as big players.
“It’s exceeded all of our goals and expectations,” said Hal Lambert, CEO of Point Bridge Capital, a Fort Worth, Texas-based investment management firm.
The April 15 report to the Federal Election Commission for the first quarter only covered a week of fundraising, because Cruz announced on March 23 and the reporting period ended April 1.
“It was a combination of one fundraising event in Houston that raised $1 million,” Lambert said, plus a robust online effort at TedCruz.org, with more than 46,000 donors from all 50 states making small contributions. “We have great grassroots support. Obviously, it’s his message.”
Among the big Fort Worth donors: oilman W.A. “Tex” Moncrief, $5,000; Michael Ranelle of MJB Medical Supplies, $10,800; and Lambert, who also gave $10,800.
Houston Texans’ football team owner Bob McNair’s family gave Cruz more than $20,000, and San Antonio, Texas, car magnate Red McCombs, who also hosted an event Wednesday for Cruz, gave $5,400.
Lambert, who in 2012 backed then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said the money sends a message.
“What it tells everyone is that Cruz is going to be there until the end,” he said.
It is a message that Cruz forces hope is a game-changer for the newcomer, who had never run for elective office until winning the Senate seat vacated by former Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2012.
Dave Carney, a veteran New Hampshire-based political operative who has frequently run Texas campaigns, said the “shock and awe” of what Cruz took in was “impressive.”
Carney managed the Senate primary campaign of then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who lost to Cruz in 2012. He also ran the campaigns of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and several for Perry, including for a time his short-lived run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
“Cruz is running a different kind of campaign so far,” said Carney. “A lot of it in the early days of a campaign is perception and momentum. Now the bragging rights start at $30 million.”
The super PACs, which are run independently of the campaign, are all named with variations of “Keep the Promise.” They list Austin, Texas, attorney Dathan Voelter as the treasurer of three of them. A fourth is New York based. The big donor associated with the pro-Cruz Texas super PAC is Toby Neugebauer, the wealthy co-founder of Houston’s Quantum Energy Partners, whose father is Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas.
“I know he’s been working on this for some time,” said Carney, who said he learned of a retreat that the younger Neugebauer held at his Texas ranch last summer with an eye to forming a super PAC.
So-called super PACs can raise unlimited sums from companies, unions and individuals to campaign independently for candidates for federal office.
New York hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer is behind one of the pro-Cruz super PACs, according to published reports.
But the donors and the amounts they gave will not be made public until July.
In more traditional fundraising, Cruz is also rewarding bundlers – donors who gather and organize contributions from other donors – who raise $500,000 with a retreat and a quarterly dinner with him and his wife, Heidi, at their Houston home. There are other rewards for those who bring in $250,000, $100,000 and $50,000.
Meanwhile, Dallas businessman Tom Hicks, former owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, will host a fundraiser for Cruz on Thursday at his home, and West Texas supporters will hold an event for him at the Petroleum Club in Midland April 27.
“He’s got a knack for getting people to open their checkbooks who’ve never given before,” said Bill Miller, an Austin political consultant and lobbyist who advises both Republicans and Democrats. “He’s doing it his own way.”