The Colorado Democratic candidate has raised more than $750,000 in the month since winning her party’s primary, The Washington Post has learned, while her Republican opponent, Lauren Boebert, is facing a fundraising crisis.
Democratic House candidate Trisha Calvarese’s campaign is set to announce fundraising figures on Thursday, weeks after her victory over Marine Corps veteran Ike McCorkle in the June 25 primary.
At the end of the month, Boebert’s campaign had about $530,000 in cash on hand after expenses, while Carvalle’s campaign had more than $100,000, according to FEC filings.
Calvarese’s campaign claims it suddenly received $750,000 in donations by the end of July, nearly quadrupling its funding and leaving it with more than $380,000 left over after spending the rest on expenses.
While the donation numbers are a positive for Democrats, they still have an uphill battle to beat Boebert in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
The district is favored by Republicans by 13 points in 2022, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Internal survey But projections from both camps suggest the 2024 race could be closer than ever.
A Keating Research poll funded by Calvarese’s campaign found that voters surveyed “Concerns about Boebert, positives for CalvareseAccording to the memo, first reported by Politico:
But in a head-to-head contest without the worry of a hearing, Boebert swept past Calvarese, 49% to 37%.
More than 10% of voters surveyed are still undecided in either case.
Another internal Democratic poll before McCorkle’s primary loss showed him leading 41% to 27%, with at least 33% undecided.
Both candidates in the 2024 House of Representatives election are running for the first time in the 4th District, and Calvarese has worked for the federal government at the National Science Foundation but has never held public office.
Her campaign website touts her bipartisanship by touting her role as a “Trump candidate,” but also notes her ties to labor unions and her pledge to “expand access to reproductive and maternal care.”
Despite a series of embarrassing stories that have surfaced over the past year, Boebert’s political image as a gun-toting bar owner turned firebrand conservative lawmaker will remain tough to beat in her largely rural district.
She declined to represent the state’s 3rd Congressional District in 2022 after narrowly winning a second term, defeating Democrat Adam Frisch by just 546 votes.
Keating Research also accurately predicted the outcome of this close race.
Despite both districts being heavily Republican, Frisch raised three times as much campaign cash as Boebert in December for an expected rematch in 2024.
The 4th District seat became vacant when Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colorado) retired.
The change also came after her “unruly” behavior at the September 2023 Denver production of the musical “Beetlejuice,” in which she was ejected after being caught smoking an e-cigarette and groping her date.
Boebert’s main campaign committee recorded more than $1.4 million in campaign funds that month, but that has since fallen to just over $500,000, with more than $500,000 of that having been diverted from PACs and other committees.
