Rep. Lauren Boebert continues to be a force in political fundraising.
She once again raised more than not only her opponents for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District seat but also every other candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the state.
The Republican incumbent reported a haul of nearly $808,000 in the final quarter of 2021, according to Federal Election Commission filings. That includes over $762,000 in donations from individuals, with the rest from political action committees or other campaign committees.
Boebert accepted nearly $20,000 from the Take Back the House 2022, the joint Republican fundraising committee. She received $8,000 from a joint fund supporting her and Texas Rep. Beth Van Duyne and $10,000 from the Project West Political Action Committee.
It means that Boebert has brought in about $3.6 million so far and ended the year with over $2 million in the bank.
Boebert’s various controversies did not slow her fundraising momentum at the end of the year. In late November, she made headlines with Islamaphobic remarks about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is Muslim. Democrats in the U.S. House passed an anti-Islamaphobia bill in response to the incident.
According to Boebert’s itemized receipts, which account for about 43% of her donations, her campaign brought in nearly a quarter of a million dollars in the last month of the year. In the five days after the video of her comments about Omar went viral, her campaign finance filings show that she brought in almost $19,000 from 224 donors.
Boebert’s campaign spent nearly $480,000 in the fourth quarter, mainly on media production and media buys. She spent over $3,500 at the beginning of December at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, where she held a fundraiser with the Nevada GOP.
Following Boebert, fundraising in the 3rd Congressional District race takes a sharp drop.
One of Boebert’s Republican opponents, Marina Zimmerman, reported raising nearly $23,000 in the fourth quarter and spending almost $10,000.
State Sen. Don Coram, who announced his primary bid against Boebert in January, will not have to file with the FEC until the next deadline on April 15.
Pueblo activist Sol Sandoval remains in the top financial position of current Democrats seeking their party’s nomination, with a haul of about $208,000 in the fourth quarter and more than $56,000 in cash on hand. Despite being the financial lead among Democrats, it is nowhere close to former candidate and state Sen. Kerry Donovan’s nearly $2 million total haul, of which about $431,000 still sits in the bank.
Sandoval has not received any money from political action committees.
Her campaign spent a bit over $200,000 in the last three months of 2021, including about $700 to Sandoval as reimbursements for campaign-related travel and meal expenses.
State Rep. Don Valdez raised about $55,000 in the fourth quarter and spent about $62,000. He began the year with more than $22,000 in the bank.
Debby Burnett, another Democratic candidate, reported raising close to $60,000 in the fourth quarter. She spent about $58,000, mostly on consulting and payroll.
Colin Wilhelm, a Democrat from Glenwood Springs, lent himself $150,000 and raised a bit under $10,000.
Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District was redrawn last year to retain much of its current shape. It lost some mountain territory but now contains Las Animas and Otero counties east of Pueblo. It still favors Republican candidates.
Party primary elections are on June 28 in Colorado and the general election is on Nov. 8.
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