Beto O’Rourke outraises Greg Abbott in the first half of 2022 in Texas governors’ race

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke outraised incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott for the first half of 2022, the Texas Tribune reported.

Mr O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman and presidential candidate, raised $27.6m compared to Mr Abbott’s $24.9m. But Mr Abbott likely has more money in the bank, with $45.7m in cash on hand. Mr O’Rourke did not release his cash on hand figures.

Mr O’Rourke’s campaign said it received 511,000 contributions and that 98.6 per cent came from online donations. By contrast, Mr Abbott said he recevied “nearly” 113,000 contributions.

“We’re receiving support from people in every part of Texas who want to work together to ensure our state moves beyond Greg Abbott’s extremism and finally leads in great jobs, world class schools, the ability to see a doctor, keeping our kids safe and protecting a woman’s freedom to make her own decisions about her own body, health care and future”, Mr O’Rourke said.

Conversely, Mr Abbott’s campaign chairman Gardner Pate said it had pre-purchased $20m in fall advertising and begun a block-walking programme.

“As we move into the heat of the summer campaign, we’re well positioned to fund all our campaign efforts”, Mr Pate said.

A recent poll from the University of Houston “Texas Policy & Politics 2022” report found that Mr Abbott leads Mr O’Rourke by five points.

Mr O’Rourke has campaigned heavily on combatting gun violence and has vocally criticised Mr Abbott for his lack of willingness to pass gun legislation, specifically after an 18-year-old shot and killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

He has similarly criticised the governor after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last month. Mr Abbott signed legislation that restricted abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat could be detected, which is as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.