AUSTIN — A Dallas Democrat running for the state Senate discovered Saturday that Russians may have hacked his campaign website.

Candidate Kendall Scudder pulled down the website Saturday afternoon after coding in Russian and references to Russian websites were found embedded in the server. Google Analytics also found several visits on the website from internet users in Russia and Ukraine.

Scudder, who will face incumbent Republican Sen. Bob Hall in November, said in a news release Sunday that his campaign communications director noticed fraudulent activity in late March, when visitors were informed that "attackers" were trying to redirect them to a fake website. His staff fixed the problem, he said.

The campaign decided to take down and rebuild the website after two more alerts about hacking activity, Scudder said.

"We won't be sidetracked by anything — whether it's foreign hackers or our opponent's domestic dark money. I'll stand against any attack on democracy and American values," he said in a prepared statement. "Though the timing of this hack is unfortunate, we are fully cooperating with all ongoing investigations."

Scudder said his campaign reported the hack to the FBI, but he doesn't know if they're investigating it. He said he hopes to have a new website up this week and has been consulting cybersecurity experts for recommendations.

"It's important that other legislative candidates see that this type of maneuver by foreign entities has not stopped, and it's not going to stop at the congressional level," Scudder said. "If you're running for office, you need to take precautions and make sure you're protecting your online presence as best as you can."

Scudder faces an uphill battle in November's election against Hall, who won the general election in 2014 with 84 percent of the vote. The district has not voted for a Democratic state senator since 1996.

Scudder works as a community services manager at the Dallas-based Atlantic Housing Foundation. According to his Facebook page, he received a political science degree from Sam Houston University. He ran for Huntsville City Council in 2014 but lost to incumbent Keith Olson.