This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
Federal election fundraising numbers are in from the latest quarter that ended last year. Most incumbents raised more than their primary and potential general election challengers, except in a couple of races.
Fire-brand GOP incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert, who currently represents the 4th Congressional District, continues to post lower fundraising totals than when she was a candidate on the Western Slope. She raised about $174,000 in the 4th quarter of 2025. It means she starts the campaign year with about $219,000 cash on hand to defend Colorado’s reddest seat.
Still, Boebert continues to be a cash cow for her Democratic challengers. Trisha Calvarese, who is hoping for a rematch, raised just over a million dollars. She has burned through much of the cash, ending the quarter with about $518,000 on hand. Retired Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher raised even more, banking over $2 million and has just over $2.5 million cash on hand for a long shot bid to oust Boebert.
The other race where a challenger raised more than the incumbent is in the 5th Congressional District, which has never elected a Democrat. The Cook Political Report recently moved the 5th from a solid Republican seat to a Likely Republican one.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Jeff Crank raised just over $307,000 and ended the quarter shy of a million dollars on hand.
There are several Democrats running to challenge Crank next fall. Jessica Killin, former Army veteran and chief of staff to former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, raised over $611,000. She also starts the year with $1.1 million in the bank, a little more than Crank.
None of the other Democrat challengers raised anywhere close to Killin or Crank. Joe Reagan, Matthew Cavanaugh, Jamey Smith and Zuri Horowitz all have less than $50,000 cash on hand.
While fundraising is not the only element to a successful bid, it does indicate how well a candidate will be able to marshall resources, especially when challenging an incumbent.
Marquee races draw big dollars
The race that is expected to cost the most this election cycle is the state’s newest congressional seat: the 8th District. It’s the state’s only swing seat and has been won by less than a point in the past two elections, swinging from Democrat to Republican.
Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, the incumbent, continues to post strong fundraising numbers adding just over $790,000 in the bank for the 4th quarter. About $342,000 came from individuals, while more than $453,000 came from PACs and Joint Fundraising Committees.
Evans ends the quarter with a whopping $2.5 million cash on hand. It’s also a million more than what former Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who Evans beat by less than 2,500 votes in 2024, had in her campaign coffers at this time in the last cycle.
The closest Democratic challenger, state Rep. Manny Rutinel, ended last year with $1.2 million, after raising just over $425,000 in the last quarter. About $407,000 came from individuals, with about $20,000 coming from PACs and other authorized committees.
Rutinel was followed by former state Rep. Shannon Bird, who raised just shy of $375,000 with a majority coming from individuals and about $36,000 from PACs. She has $560,000 cash on hand. Evan Munsing, who has already submitted petitions to get on the ballot, raised about $225,000 and has about $213,000 cash on hand.
Outside groups are also expected to spend heavily in this race, as in the previous two cycles.
Both Evans and Republican Jeff Hurd of the 3rd Congressional District, have also been getting a fundraising boost from House Republican leadership and are part of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s joint fundraising committee for front line Republicans.
Hurd raised just shy of $475,000 — about $186,000 came from individual donors and about $230,000 from PACS and joint fundraising committees.
Hurd faces GOP primary challenger Hope Scheppelman, who raised $43,000 and goes into 2026 with $142,000 cash on hand.
On the Democratic side, Alex Kelloff reported raising $175,000, but the bulk of that comes from a $110,000 loan he made to his campaign. He raised $65,000 from individual donors. He starts the year with about $434,000 cash on hand.
The other big congressional race this fall is the Senate race. Democrat Sen. John Hickenlooper raised $1.1 million for his reelection campaign and kicks off the campaign year with $3.8 million in the bank.
Hickenlooper faces a couple of Democratic primary challengers. Democrat Karen Breslin raised just over $58,000 and starts the campaign year with less than $10,000 cash on hand. State Rep. Julie Gonzales, who entered the race in December, raised about $179,000 and has just over $160,000 cash on hand.
On the Republican side, Janak Joshi raised just over $310,000, but the majority of that is a $250,000 loan to his campaign. He raised just over $60,000 from individuals. George Markert raised just over $55,000 and has over $72,000 as the campaign year starts.Two late entries into the Republican primary, state Sen. Mark Baisley and Delta County Commissioner Sean Pond, filed to run in early January, after the end of the filing period.
The rest of the field
Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette raised just under $250,000 and starts the year with over $500,000 cash on hand to defend her deep blue seat.
Meanwhile, her two main Democratic challengers trailed DeGette in fund raising and cash on hand.
CU Regent Wanda James raised about $78,000 and has just under $100,000 cash on hand, while Melat Kiros raised about $77,000 and has just under $65,000 cash on hand. No other challenger reported having more than $10,000 in the bank heading into the election year.
Democrat Rep. Jason Crow raised more than $760,000 and ended the year with $2.3 million in the bank, while Democrat Rep. Joe Neugse raised $368,000 and ends the year with $2.8 million in campaign cash. Democrat Rep. Brittany Pettersen raised $273,000 and ended the quarter with $844,000 cash on hand.
Thus far, no Republicans have filed paperwork to challenge Crow or Neguse, although both have a couple of Democratic challengers who have not raised much money. A Republican recently filed to run against Pettersen.
