Cruz Raises Most, Leppert Has Most in Senate Race

The three declared Republican candidates for Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat released mid-year campaign finance totals today.

Tom Leppert got to the end of June with more money in the bank than either Ted Cruz or Elizabeth Ames Jones. His biggest contributor? Tom Leppert.

Leppert, a former Dallas mayor, raised $754,000 in the second quarter and added a half million of his own money, bringing his cash on hand, as of the end of June, to $3.4 million. His campaign says more than $3.1 million of that is available for the primary election in March; the rest is contributions toward a possible runoff and for the general election, if he makes it that far, in November 2012.

Cruz, a former Texas solicitor general, raised more than Leppert did, bringing in "nearly $800,000" from donors. He got to the mid-year point with $1.6 million in the bank.

Ames Jones, the current chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, raised $313,000 during the second quarter, and said in a press release that she has raised an additonal $88,000 since July 1. She ended the period with $272,000 in the bank.