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Even without Lauren Boebert as a foil, Adam Frisch leads in fundraising in Colorado congressional contests

John Aguilar, The Denver Post on

Published in Political News

DENVER — Democrat Adam Frisch brought in the biggest financial haul of any of Colorado’s congressional hopefuls during the first three months of the year, raising $1.4 million — nearly six times as much as his main Republican rival in the 3rd Congressional District, Jeff Hurd.

And U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, after switching in December from the Western Slope-based 3rd to seek election in the 4th Congressional District in eastern Colorado, raised the least amount of money for her campaign in a single quarter dating back at least a year — a bit over $462,000. But her campaign account still had nearly $980,000 in it as of March 31.

First-quarter campaign finance reports were due earlier this week, revealing the latest state of the money race in a selection of congressional districts that are hosting high-interest primaries or are potentially competitive in November. There will be one more finance reporting deadline ahead of Colorado’s June 25 primary, on June 13.

Here is a look at what the new filings show:

3rd Congressional District

Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman who nearly beat Boebert in 2022, sits on a nearly $6 million mountain of money. Much of it was the result of more than a year of historic fundraising spurred on by a fervent desire among Democrats to oust the Republican congresswoman in the 3rd, which also swings east to Pueblo.

 

Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney, received $241,000 between Jan. 1 and March 31, an amount he hopes will be enough to put him over the top in the GOP primary in the conservative-leaning district. He has raised nearly $1 million since jumping in the race last summer, initially to challenge Boebert.

Frisch, who’s unopposed in the Democratic primary, holds a gargantuan financial advantage over the half-dozen or so Republicans running for the nomination, with nearly $12.2 million raised since he announced his candidacy in February of last year.

That’s nearly eight times the amount raised by all of his potential GOP rivals — combined. Even so, Frisch’s money train has slowed since he hit a quarterly peak of $3.3 million collected in the third quarter of 2023 — a change he said he expected with Boebert’s exit from the district.

To face Frisch, Hurd has to beat a collection of Republicans in June. Stephen Varela, who serves on the Colorado Board of Education, raised $70,000 in the first quarter while Curtis McCrackin, a Delta County businessman, took in just over $36,000. Russ Andrews, a financial adviser, raised nearly $25,000.

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