Money flows to House race in Houston
Crenshaw-Ladjevardian contest is the most expensive in Texas for congressional district
More than $13 million has already been spent in Houston’s 2nd Congressional District, making it the most expensive battle for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas and the seventh-most expensive in the entire nation.
New campaign finance reports made public Friday show that Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, has been able to parlay his growing national brand into a fundraising juggernaut, collecting donations from every state in the nation over the last three months. That has allowed him to spend nearly $6 million on for his reelection just between July and October. He has spent $11 million in total.
But his Democratic opponent, Sima Ladjevardian, has also raised a substantial amount: $1.4 million over the past three months and $3 million reported in total for a campaign that many thought would be a long shot as she tries to defeat one of the bestknown Republicans in Congress. She’s spent $1.2 million in the last three months and $2.3 million overall.
Dan Gottlieb, Ladjevardian’s communications director, said the “massive fundraising haul” reflects the enthusiasm they are seeing on the ground.
That combined $13 million spent by the candidates has gone toward TV ads, billboards and direct mail pieces flooding mailbox
es in the congressional district that stretches from Humble to West Houston.
Crenshaw, a Navy veteran, is finishing his first term in the House. Despite being new to Congress, he’s been one of its 10 best fundraisers almost from the day he was sworn into office. Only five members of Congress have raised more money than him for re-election. That has come partly because of national notoriety after he was ridiculed on “Saturday Night Live” and later appeared on the program to banter with comedian Pete Davidson.
Ladjevardian, an attorney, has also been raising money from outside the state as well as from Democratic members of Congress. Reps. Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu, both from California, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland have combined to send more than $8,000 to Ladjevardian’s campaign since July.
Crenshaw’s campaign
spokesman, Justin Discigil, says those donations from liberals like Schiff and Lieu prove Ladjevardian supports an agenda that would hurt Houston.
Crenshaw’s campaign reports also showhe’s not just putting money into his own race. Over the last three months, Crenshaw donated $284,000 to the Republican Party of Texas and $40,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee to help with other races.
National political analysts favor Crenshaw in the race but have put the battle on their watch lists. The Cook Political Report lists the district as “likely” in favor of Crenshaw, who won his first race, in 2018, by 7 percentage points. In the previous election cycle, Rep. Ted Poe, aRepublican, had carried the district by 25 percentage points.