Updated at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 15 to include details about the TV ads.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Beto O'Rourke turned television attack ads that Sen. Ted Cruz ran against him earlier this month into a fundraising bonanza. Now, O'Rourke's campaign said it is investing the funds in its first TV advertising.

Cruz released several campaign ads Aug. 3, including some attacking O'Rourke for comments suggesting he is open to discussing narcotics legalization, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and impeaching President Donald Trump. O'Rourke leveraged the ads as a fundraising appeal to supporters and raised $1.27 million, according to a campaign email to supporters first reported by The Texas Tribune.

O'Rourke's new television ads, released Wednesday, are nearly identical to a spot the campaign released online on July 26, titled "Showing Up." The ads feature video clips of Facebook Live footage from the congressman's visits to all 254 counties in Texas. The campaign said the television ads will run in all of Texas' 20 media markets.

"We will be the big, bold, confident answer to the small, petty, negative attacks that are coming our way," O'Rourke said in a prepared statement.

Cruz has the advantage in name recognition in Texas, and television ads could be a way to bridge that gap. O'Rourke has previously stuck to social media advertising, releasing his first ad online. His campaign spent a minimum of $26,100 and a maximum of $67,600 promoting the minute-long video on Facebook, according to Facebook data.

O'Rourke has also made it a hallmark of his campaign not to accept campaign donations from political action committees, or PACs. In an email to supporters, O'Rourke touted an average donation of $32 in the recent fundraising push.