Beto O'Rourke
Former Texas congressman WHO lost the 2018 Senate race to Ted Cruz.
Beto O'Rourke raised a then-record $80.4m for his 2018 Senate challenge to Ted Cruz and lost 50.9% to 48.3%. He went on to lose the 2022 governor's race to Greg Abbott, 54.9% to 43.8%.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026
Timeline for Beto O'Rourke
Mentioned in: Texas PAC's Senate spending hits $131.5m
US Midterms 2026Mentioned in: Crypto PAC pulls Paxton ad under GOP pressure
US Midterms 2026Background
O'Rourke's 2018 campaign remains the benchmark for Democratic money in Texas, and 2026 has shown how FAR the scale has moved. By 30 September 2026 one Super PAC, TEXAS PAC, had reported $131.5m of spending in the state's Senate race on its own, with Republican-side groups filing about $71.4m in a single week against $9.6m for the Democrat's side. His record was raised by a candidate; the new totals come largely from outside committees.
A Democrat, O'Rourke represented El Paso in the US House from 2013 to 2019. He ran for president in 2020 and ended that campaign on 1 November 2019. His 2022 bid for governor ended in an 11-point defeat to Abbott.
In the 2026 cycle he has led Powered by People, a group that registers voters and backs Democrats in Texas, and has said he is unlikely to run for office himself.