State Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, raised a record $30 million from April through June, his campaign announced Wednesday — more than triple the amount brought in by his Republican opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Fundraising Records Shattered

Talarico’s campaign said he has now raised more than $70 million from over 1.5 million donations, including 780,000 individual contributors, since launching his bid in September. The haul is a record total for a U.S. Senate candidate in the second quarter of an election year.

Earlier Wednesday, Paxton’s campaign said he had raised over $9 million in the second quarter of the year — a personal best and the largest amount announced by any non-incumbent Senate GOP candidate this cycle, per his campaign.

Talarico’s mammoth fundraising has boosted Democratic hopes that he could become the first Democrat to turn a Senate seat blue since 1988, particularly against Paxton, the Republican nominee who has historically posted relatively weak fundraising totals.

Recent public polling has found the race essentially tied. Talarico has sworn off corporate PAC donations, and his campaign said 97% of donations to his bid were $100 or less. The most common profession among his contributors, his campaign added, was teachers.

Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.