With the last congressional campaign barely over, another has already begun, and candidates in Texas are not wasting any time. Members of Congress from Texas — and potential candidates for those offices — have raised more than $9 million in the first quarter of this year in advance of the 2012 federal elections, campaign records show.

The speed at which Texas candidates are pulling in money to pay staffers, purchase advertising and spend on other campaign needs is on pace to surpass the last election cycle. In that election, which helped propel Republicans to a majority in the lower chamber, candidates and ...

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