Here's how much campaign cash Beto O'Rourke has burned losing races up and down the ballot
O'Rourke has burned nearly $200 million running three different failed campaigns in just four years
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, has burned roughly $175 million running unsuccessful campaigns for a series of different offices in just four years.
O'Rourke — who previously represented a congressional district in El Paso, Texas, between 2013 and 2019 — lost his most recent bid for higher office Tuesday, falling to incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, by a significant margin, the Fox News Decision Desk projected. The failed run for governor of Texas marks O'Rourke's third unsuccessful bid for a high-profile political office since 2018.
The former congressman lost a race to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by more than 200,000 votes in 2018 and bowed out of the 2020 presidential race in November 2019 before the Democratic primaries started due to his low polling numbers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"With each new race he loses it becomes more difficult to convince voters and persuade them that he can still win the next race," Sharon Navarro, a University of Texas at San Antonio political scientist, told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday evening.
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Oprah Winfrey endorsed Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke. (Getty Images)
"That’s a very difficult barrier to overcome for a third-time loser."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While O'Rourke has lost three different races in three consecutive election cycles, he has racked up massive, and sometimes record-breaking, campaign contributions.
In 2018, O'Rourke's campaign for Senate raised a whopping $80.3 million, according to Federal Election Commission data. The massive sum included a record-shattering $38.1 million quarterly haul raised between July 2018 and September 2018.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'Rourke raised another $18.6 million during his short-lived presidential campaign, which lasted a mere seven months.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, squares off with former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, in a debate in San Antonio, Texas, on Oct. 16, 2018. (Tom Reel/San Antonio Express-News/Pool via Reuters)
And during the 2022 gubernatorial campaign, O'Rourke set more records, pulling in more than $76 million in the year since he announced his intention to run for the seat, The Texas Tribune reported. The $27.6 million his campaign raised between February and June was the largest quarterly figure ever recorded in Texas.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's amazing how much money Democratic voters waste on social media stars in clearly unwinnable races, doing nothing but enriching Dem consultants," political commentator Glen Greenwald tweeted Tuesday. "$75m on Beto. $70m on Demings. $11m on MTG's opponent (someone named Marcus Flowers)."
"At least Dem consultants got new boats," he added.
Despite his eventual defeats, O'Rourke outraised Cruz in 2018 and Abbott this year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}O'Rourke's campaign did not immediately respond on whether the Texas Democrat planned on running for political office again.