With stout fundraising to power an effective organization, MJ Hegar has seized control of the Democratic race for the U.S. Senate.

The Air Force combat veteran raised $1.6 million in the first quarter of 2020, far exceeding the $228,400 hauled in by rival Royce West. Hegar had $1.1 million cash-on-hand at the end of the reporting period, compared to just over $121,000 for West.

That means Hegar, who’s also supported by the VoteVets political action committee, will have the cash to fund a much broader operation than West, including television ads at a time when most voters are staying home. In the primary VoteVets spent at least $3.3 million on television ads for Hegar.

The winner of the July 14 runoff faces Republican incumbent John Cornyn in the general election.

“The fundraising numbers show that this is a two-person race between MJ Hegar and John Cornyn,” said Ed Espinoza, the executive director of the liberal group called Progress Texas. “It will be difficult for Royce West to convince people to contribute to his campaign with Hegar having this much of an advantage.”

Hegar’s campaign has been a study in patience. She’s been on the trail for more than one year, and at times was criticized for not consistently running ahead of the pack in a 12-person Democratic field. For most of 2019, “someone else” was polling way ahead of any other candidate, and Hegar struggled to get into double digits.

She brushed off concerns that she wasn’t the political dynamo that former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke was in 2018, when he raised $80 million and came within 2.6 percentage points of Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.

But no two election cycles are the same.

Hegar, with more resources than any candidate in the field, finished a comfortable first in the March 3 primary, setting up a respectable fundraising haul in the weeks that followed. It was a time when most voters were focused on the fight against the deadly coronavirus.

Throughout the campaign, she’s shown an understanding of building a campaign infrastructure, perhaps because her close 2018 congressional race against Republican John Carter of Georgetown. It could also be a result of the former Air Force helicopter pilot’s military training.

With her overwhelming advantage, it will be interesting to see if the Round Rock Democrat sprints through the tape, or saves some of her cash for a potential general election campaign against Cornyn.

Cornyn has nearly $13 million in the bank and raised more money in the first quarter, $2.7 million, than Hegar and West.

“I have been moved by how many Texans stepped up to support us in delivering a healthy dose of Texas values to Washington,” Hegar said of her donors in the coronavirus era.

For his part, West, the state senator from Dallas, will try to step up his fundraising, micro-target voters and lean on his political supporters throughout the state to help him across the line.

Low on cash, West can’t afford a television campaign, so he’ll have to rely on digital ads, direct mail and text messaging. All of that activity will have to be targeted at voters likely to turn out for him for the July 14 runoff.

West has been endorsed by nearly all of the Democratic elected officials in the Texas Legislature, along with some mayors and local officials throughout the state. He’ll hope they can pull their supporters to the polls on his behalf. The problem with that scenario is that Texas is not a state that has viable political machines.

His endorsements would be gold in a state like Illinois, but less valuable in an arena where even most statewide office holders lack the machinery to influence contests beyond their own.

State Senator Royce West speaks to members of the media on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at his office in Dallas. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News) (Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)

West, a savvy politician, must hope that his political guile and experience can make a difference.

He’s in a tough spot, but his campaign appears confident.

“Simply put, our team can do more with less,” said campaign spokesperson Vince Leibowitz.

No matter who is ahead now, runoffs don’t attract many voters, and the coronavirus epidemic could further impact turnout.

“Because of the coronavirus, no one knows what this runoff will look like,” Espinoza said.