WASHINGTON – It starts as an urgent warning.

Texas’ primary is speeding closer, Sen. Ted Cruz says, the nation is watching and Republicans need to get off the sidelines to win in 2026.

Later come buttons to make a donation, a familiar step in fundraising emails. The pitch reassures your money will help both Cruz and the future Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, a two-for-one play to counter Democrats.

If you stop to click on a small-type link for additional details, the math appears. With a $100 donation, $1 is dedicated to a new fund for whoever wins the GOP nomination.

The rest, $99, goes to Cruz’s campaign account, unless donors change the allocation.

Cruz’s recent appeal to conservative donors is a staple of modern campaign fundraising emails, with preset donation amounts, flashing buttons and fine print dividing contributions.

The approach is legal and reflects the growing prevalence of aggressive political email appeals that critics say are often manipulative.

Cruz’s effort has stirred questions in Washington, with early donations meant to fully help the nominee largely being steered to Cruz.

Some election law experts called it deceptive, trading on concerns about the Texas Senate race to benefit Cruz, who is not on the 2026 ballot but has been mentioned as a presidential contender in two years.

Attention over campaign money is even sharper this cycle because of the high-profile, high-spending Republican primary among Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Houston.

“Cruz is basically diverting money away from the Cornyn-Paxton race for his own personal ambition,” said campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel, a former legal counsel to three presidential campaigns.

Cruz spokesperson Macarena Martinez dismissed that, saying his outreach is aimed at keeping Texas Republican and ensuring a GOP victory in November.

“No Republican in the country has devoted more time and spent more money to elect Republican senators and House members than Sen. Cruz,” she said.

She said any criticism of Cruz’s appeal “conveniently ignores the well-known fact that this standard split is routinely used by both Democrats and Republicans when a campaign pays the cost of a digital solicitation.”

The Cornyn, Paxton and Hunt campaigns declined to comment on Cruz’s fundraising approach.

GOP cash concerns

Cruz’s pitch doesn’t mention Cornyn, seeking a fifth six-year term, or his two prominent challengers in the March 3 matchup.

It does single out U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas, who is competing with state Rep. James Talarico of Austin for the Democratic Senate nomination.

Cruz compares Crockett, known for her confrontational political style, to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a frequent conservative target often referred to by her initials.

“In fact, Jasmine Crockett — the Democrats’ AOC of Texas — has ALREADY crossed the 50% threshold for the Texas Democrat Senate Primary in a new poll just released,” Cruz says in the pitch. ”We desperately need to boost our numbers.”

The Lone Star State is critical, Cruz tells prospective donors, because it is among the earliest in the country and Democrats are fired up.

“The nation will be watching to see if the Democrats CRUSH us in voter turnout like they did in every special election of 2025 – OR if Republicans finally got off the sidelines and came out on top on DAY ONE,” Cruz warns.

His pitch includes a survey asking about voting history, feelings toward the Trump administration and various policy positions.

Its final query is: “Given Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary standing for 2026, will you make a contribution to the NEWLY ESTABLISHED Texas Nominee Fund to fight for victory earlier than ever before?”

Recipients are presented with amounts ranging from $23 to $7,000, which is the combined primary-and-general maximum contribution allowed per election cycle from one individual to a campaign.

For each, Cruz gets 99%, and the eventual Senate nominee gets 1%, unless the donor manually changes the automatic split.

The appeals are legal and Cruz could share donor contact information with the GOP nominee. Early cash is seen as important for advertising and organizing ahead of the general election.

Polling points to a likely May runoff, a prolonged fight that could leave the Republican winner short on funds and give Democrats a head start.

Cruz’s 99-1 split, though not unprecedented among fundraisers, has drawn notice in political circles. Every GOP dollar the national party puts into Texas for the general election is one that isn’t being spent in battleground states.

Other Cruz fundraising pleas have used different breakdowns. In one he sent on behalf of Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican, the default split is 50-50.

Federal Election Commission records show the Texas nominee-to-be-named-later fund was created in mid-December and had collected $190.17 by the end of the year.

Fund scrutiny

Kappel, the campaign finance lawyer, said both parties commonly use such funds to raise general election money during primaries, but called Cruz’s pitch misleading.

”Potential donors will think that they are giving to the currently unknown eventual Republican Senate candidate when, in fact, almost all of the funds will go to Cruz,” he said.

Some of the money Cruz is collecting with his current fundraising appeals could be used for a presidential campaign, subject to other federal fundraising limitations.

Cruz, who ran for president in 2016 and lost the primary to Donald Trump, has not said whether he plans another bid, though some Republicans see him as a possible 2028 contender.

Nancy Bocskor, a former GOP fundraiser and former director of what is now the Center for Women in Government at Texas Woman’s University, said manipulative fundraising pitches have become common.

Bocskor, who now teaches at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, said many donors will be motivated to help Republicans keep the Senate seat in Texas, without realizing 99% of their contribution is going to Cruz and not the 2026 nominee, she said.

She described Cruz’s pitch as legal – and distasteful.

“It’s a lack of transparency that preys upon primarily older donors,” she said.

Common tactics

Supporters of both parties now regularly receive urgent fundraising emails designed to draw in small-dollar donations, a significant part of how political candidates and parties pay for campaign operations and political advertising blitzes.

A Princeton University study analyzing more than 300,000 political emails from Democrats and Republicans during the 2020 election identified subtle ways senders get recipients to open and engage.

“Manipulative tactics – techniques using some level of deception or clickbait – are the norm, not the exception,” researchers found.

Cruz is not the only one to use a model with a default 99-1 split.

An appeal by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., shares proceeds with Cruz but directs 99% to Scott.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has sent appeals that share proceeds with individual candidates, such as Cornyn, with default settings that give 99% to the NRSC.

The committee is supporting Cornyn and money from the joint appeal could be spent on his behalf.

With the primary just weeks away, Texans can expect no letup in fundraising appeals from all sides in a race projected to top $300 million in spending by its end in November.

Fundraising fine print

HOW IT WORKS: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s fundraising appeal highlights the 2026 Senate race on behalf of the eventual GOP nominee but defaults donations so 99% goes to his campaign unless donors click through fine print.

HIGH STAKES: Campaign finance experts say early money that could help the Senate nominee mostly is being diverted to Cruz.

THE PUSHBACK: Critics call the setup deceptive, saying preset amounts, fine print and urgency push quick donations that mask the uneven split.