After last fall’s pricy reelection campaign, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has asked for a delay in making a federal filing that would detail the contributions his campaign collected to fight off a challenge from U.S. Rep. Colin Allred.
Texas’s junior Republican senator last week asked for a three-month extension to file his U.S. Senate Financial Disclosures for the 2024 calendar year, due May 15. The extension gives him until Aug. 13 to file the document, which would offer date on all his official financial transactions from Jan. 1 through Dec. 30 of last year, including outside donations leading up to the November election.
Cruz’s tight race against Allred, a North Texas Democrat, was among the priciest in the Senate in 2024, according to nonpartisan government transparency group Open Secrets. The candidates’ combined campaigns plus outside groups pumped more than $262 million into the contest.
The senator’s finances also came under scrutiny last year over a controversial contract with San Antonio-based iHeartMedia, the radio conglomerate that distributes his podcast. Watchdog groups alleged the deal illegally flowed money into a super PAC dedicated to Cruz’s reelection, but the Federal Election Commission ruled in February that the arrangement didn’t violate federal rules.
Separately, the FEC this spring asked Cruz’s reelection campaign to explain $593,000 in donations it claims to have collected from unidentified small donors in the final weeks of 2024 — a period after the race against Allred had come to a close. Regulators gave the senator’s campaign until May 7 to itemize the contributions or face a potential enforcement action.
It’s not unusual for members of the Senate to request extensions for their financial disclosures, according to campaign finance experts. The Senate Ethics Committee must approve the delays, but does so routinely. Indeed, Cruz has filed for an extension every year since 2015, records show.
Many in the Senate consider pushing the due dates for their campaign finance reports to August a smart move because the upper chamber is out of session during that time, experts also note. What’s more, reporters covering Washington politics frequently schedule vacations during that month.
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This article appears in Apr 16-29, 2025.
