Republican U.S. Senate candidates Gino Campana and Joe O’Dea are emerging as the frontrunners to take on Democrat incumbent Michael Bennet after each hauled in about $1 million during their first fundraising quarter.
Both Republicans loaned themselves $500,000 each to kick off their campaigns and raised the other half.
From Campana’s campaign:
The real estate developer and former Fort Collins City Council member gave about $500,000 of that total to his own campaign and finished the quarter with more than $760,000 in the bank, a spokesman told Colorado Politics.
“From Day One, I have been overwhelmed by the incredible support I have received from Coloradans across this state,” Campana said in a statement. “We need to beat Michael Bennet and take back the Senate, and I can’t do it alone. With the support of many of President Trump’s former advisors, a statewide grassroots network, and this strong fundraising start, I’m confident we will have the resources to win this primary and claim victory in November.”
From O’Dea’s campaign:
“Folks have been really generous with their money — especially people who do not typically give to political candidates… I’m proud of that,” O’Dea said in a release that noted his campaign received contributions totaling $511,825 from hundreds of contributors and “nearly matched that number” with his own cash.
O’Dea finished the quarter with more than $800,000 on hand, campaign spokesman Zack Roday told Colorado Politics, adding that final figures weren’t yet available.
On the heels of his opponents’ success, Bennet announced he raised $2.1 million this quarter. Until the fundraising reports are filed on Jan. 31, we won’t know how much of that money came from out-of-state, or from PACs.
Bennet has raised a whopping $8.7 million during this campaign cycle, but as the election officially gets underway, it looks like he’s already blown through almost half of it with $4.7 million left in the bank.
No word yet on the fundraising totals for other Republicans in the race, including Eli Bremer, Deborah Flora, Rep. Ron Hanks, Juli Henry, Gregory Moore, and Peter Yu.