Beto O’Rourke is spending big to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz.
In fact, the Texas Democrat has spent more than any other individual politician on Google advertisements leading up to Election Day. The “Beto for Texas” campaign invested nearly $2 million into Google ads, according to the tech giant’s political ad tracking tool, putting him about $250,000 ahead of President Trump, who was the next highest political spender on Google. That’s also about six times as much money spent on Google ads as Cruz, as O’Rourke looks to become the first Democratic senator from Texas since 1993.
O’Rourke’s campaign has raised $69.1 million — the most money out of any congressional candidate. The bulk of O’Rourke’s spending has come in the last month, with about $1 million out of $1.9 million spent since Oct. 1, according to Google. Most of O’Rourke’s ads have been brief “make a plan to vote for Beto” ads that run between $100 and $1,000 apiece, although he’s also paid for 30-second video ads as well.
The 46-year-old El Paso native has been hailed by many on the left as a charismatic, eloquent and Obama-like option for 2018 voters. O’Rourke’s critics on the left have scoffed at him for skateboarding in a Whataburger parking lot and, more seriously, a 1998 drunken driving charge.