Cruz raises $4M in campaign’s infancy

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the first major GOP candidate to jump into the race for the White House, has raised more than $4 million in the first nine days of his presidential campaign, Federal Election Commission documents show.

Bloomberg reports that slightly more than 40 percent of Cruz’s donations were from individuals who gave $200 or less. The news outlet previously reported that super-PACs supporting Cruz have already raised $31 million.

Cruz spent $370,000 during his campaign’s infancy, mostly on staff and credit card merchant fees, which most likely come from processing his online donations. He also paid $3,100 to the Houston Astros baseball team for “facility renting/catering.”

The freshman senator launched his campaign with just nine days left in the FEC’s filing period. Most candidates wait until the beginning of a period to announce, so that they can maximize the days spent fundraising and report a large figure for a first fundraising haul.  

Cruz had the GOP presidential fundraising stage to himself for the entire nine days, as no other candidate had declared by the FEC deadline of March 31. Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) have since declared their candidacy and will battle Cruz for GOP dollars.