Fresh off an easy primary victory over two no-name opponents Tuesday night, Florida Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio is heading to Texas this week for fundraisers held by National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. The Austin American-Statesman has a few details on the events:
Cornyn and Thune will be guests as fundraisers for Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Carly Fiorina of California, Dino Rossi of Washington and Marco Rubio of Florida.
Their Texas tour will kick off at the Headliners Club in Austin on Wednesday. Over the next two days, they will raise money at the San Antonio Country Club, at a Houston home, at the City Club of Fort Worth and at a Dallas home.
It’s unclear exactly which of these fundraisers Rubio will attend. (The Florida Independent asked the campaign for clarification; email us if you have details.)
Nevertheless, Rubio is doing very, very well at fundraising thus far. His campaign raised $4.5 million in the second quarter of 2010, out of $12.8 million overall, besting Gov. Charlie Crist, his independent opponent for Senate, by about $300,000. (Crist, however, has more cash on hand by a margin of $8 million to $4.5 million.)
Rubio has also received significant financial support totaling over $327,000 from the Senate Conservatives Fund — seen as an alternative to the party-led NRSC — led by Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., who called Rubio “the most impressive conservative leader I have met in a long time.”