The total figures put Davis 'way past the credibility threshold,' says a spokesperson. | AP Photos Davis, Abbott raising big money

Wendy Davis, the Texas Democratic candidate for governor, reported eye-popping fundraising numbers on Tuesday evening, another indication that the Lone Star State governor’s race will be a high-dollar, high-profile race.

The state senator, who is facing Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott in the race to succeed Rick Perry, raked in more than $12.2 million from July 1 to Dec. 31 from more than 70,000 individual donors, an impressive figure even in vast Texas, where campaigning statewide is astronomically expensive.


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The total figures put Davis “way past the credibility threshold,” said Davis spokeswoman Rebecca Acuña in an interview. “They are huge, huge numbers showing there is so much support and momentum for her race.”

Davis catapulted to fame over the summer when she waged a lengthy filibuster that temporarily derailed a restrictive abortion measure, drawing notice from Austin to Washington. But she still faces an uphill battle in the deep-red state against Abbott. Abbott spokesman Avdiel Huerta said the Republican’s campaign raised $11.5 million in the same period, and that Abbott has $27 million cash on hand. He stressed that about 97 percent of the contributions came from within the state.

“This is a campaign by Texans, for Texans, and Greg Abbott is humbled and excited by the widespread support from across the state,” campaign manager Wayne Hamilton said in a statement. “Our campaign will continue to talk about and promote ideas to make Texas’ education system No. 1 in the nation, continue to grow jobs, limit the size and scope of government and preserve individual freedom.”

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Republicans have sometimes jabbed at Davis for attending fundraisers in New York and Washington. Acuña noted that Davis “got contributions in all of Texas’s 254 counties,” with small-dollar contributions forming the bulk of her haul, Acuña said.

Davis’s numbers include funds raised by the Texas Victory Fund, a “joint effort between the Wendy R. Davis for Governor campaign and Battleground Texas,” a grass-roots group helmed by veterans of President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.