WASHINGTON — El Paso Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke has raised more than twice as much as Sen. Ted Cruz so far this year in their closely watched Senate contest.

The Cruz campaign announced Friday that it has raised $3.2 million since the beginning of 2018, less than half of O’Rourke’s record-setting $6.8 million.

But in calculating the figures, the Cruz campaign included funds from multiple accounts, including his primary re-election committee, a joint fundraising committee and a leadership political action committee dubbed the Jobs, Freedom and Security PAC, according to a campaign spokeswoman.

Taken alone, Cruz’s primary Senate re-election campaign raised about $2.7 million during the first three months of 2018, documents show. A report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Friday, covering the period of Feb. 15 through the end of March, reveals $1.85 million in total receipts, a figure that includes $376,000 in transfers from authorized committees. He previously reported about $800,000 for the first six weeks of the year.

O’Rourke, meanwhile, has disavowed the help of political action committees. The Democrat’s campaign previously announced raising $6.7 million in the first three months of the year, but the latest federal filing shows that figure slightly higher, at $6.8 million.

Outside of self-funding, that’s more than any Texas candidate for U.S. Senate has raised in a reporting period in at least three decades, if not in the state's history.

“If you listen to my fellow Texans across 254 counties, they’re all about getting big things done for our state, and we’re building on their momentum each day without any corporate help, any special interests, any PACs,” O’Rourke said in a prepared statement Friday.

O’Rourke has repeatedly outraised the Republican powerhouse and was expected to again in the latest filing period.

Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a Democrat running for a U.S. Senate seat, greets supporters at the Brandon Community Center after a town hall event in Lufkin on Feb. 9, 2018. (Tamir Kalifa / The New York Times)

Earlier this month, Cruz acknowledged his opponent had raised a formidable amount — telling reporters it’s “a whole lot of money” — and conceded that his filing would not be as robust.

But while he's outraised Cruz in several reporting periods, O'Rourke has lagged behind in cash until now.

Reports for each candidate filed Friday show O’Rourke has surpassed Cruz in cash on hand in their primary campaign accounts, with the Democrat posting $8 million compared to Cruz’s $7.2 million.

The Cruz campaign said that, including funds from the other committees, the incumbent senator has $8.2 million in cash.

The former presidential candidate with near universal name recognition is considered the heavy favorite in the November contest.

"Sen. Cruz is grateful to the millions of grassroots Texans who continue to display their confidence in his leadership of our state," spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said in a prepared statement. "Texans have a critical choice before them this election — whether to choose a candidate who will embrace the liberal ideologies of bigger government, more taxes, more regulation, and less freedom, or to re-elect Ted Cruz, who has proven he will fight every day for the tough Texans who define the values of our state."

O'Rourke, a three-term congressman, has received an increasing amount of national attention but is still building his name within Texas.

He won just shy of 62 percent of votes in his March 6 primary, while one of his lesser-known challengers, Houston progressive Sema Hernandez, garnered nearly a quarter of the vote share, something many analysts chalked up to the advantage of a Hispanic surname.

At the time, O'Rourke cast the primary outcome as a stepping stone in a "24-month campaign strategy" and said it reflects the realities of competing in a sprawling state with 254 counties.

"It's going to take a lot of time to listen to everyone and work with everyone, and I think you just need to watch us over the next eight months," he said in an interview with NPR. "The test will be on Nov. 6."

Cash can help overcome the name recognition deficit, and political analysts say O'Rourke will need to raise upward of $20 million to $25 million to launch a credible contest against Cruz.

So far, O'Rourke has raised more than $13 million, with months to go before the general election. Asked this month about his fundraising goal, O'Rourke said: "Just as much as we can."