Democrats again raise big bucks in hopes of unseating Lauren Boebert from Congress; Gabe Evans holds his own in 8th District

Nick Coltrain, The Denver Post on Oct 17, 2025

Published in Political News

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DENVER — Democrats again put big dollars behind candidates looking to unseat U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, new quarterly fundraising reports show, even as she now represents one of Colorado’s reddest districts.

The three Democrats vying to challenge Boebert in 2026 for the 4th Congressional District reported raising more than $3 million this past quarter in filings due Wednesday night. Retired Rear Adm. Eileen Laubacher continues to account for the vast majority of the money, nearly $2.5 million in the third quarter. She has raised more than $4.4 million since she declared for the seat in May.

Trisha Calvarese, who lost to Boebert in 2024, reported raising about $504,000 this quarter, for a total haul of about $650,000 this cycle. And John Padora raised about $24,000 this quarter, and $61,000 total this cycle.

As for Boebert, who’s seeking her fourth term in office and the second representing the sprawling eastern Colorado 4th District — after a switch from the 3rd Congressional District — the incumbent reported raising about $110,000 during the third quarter. She’s raised $712,000 total this cycle.

The new campaign finance reports covered July 1 through Sept. 30. The primary elections are in June and the general election is in November 2026.

Boebert ended the last election cycle having spent $1.1 million more than Calvarese, $5.3 million to $4.2 million, yet she won by more than 11 percentage points in the 2024 election.

Gabe Evans keeps advantage in tight CD8 race

Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, who represents the state’s most competitive district — from the northern Denver suburbs up through Greeley — reported raising more than $615,000 over the past quarter. That was more than the top Democratic candidates individually, but did not quite outpace their joint haul.

On the Democratic side, state Rep. Manny Rutinel continues to lead state Rep. Shannon Bird, raising $493,000 to her $387,000 in the third quarter. His total haul also crested $2 million raised since he announced his campaign at the start of the year. Bird, who launched her campaign in May, has raised a total of $833,000.

Evans, hoping to be the first incumbent reelected in the 8th Congressional District, the state’s newest seat, has reported a total haul of $2.3 million this year. (He also has a joint fundraising account with the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Thin Blue Line PAC and the Hispanic Leadership Trust that has pulled in $311,000 this year.)

He won the seat in 2024 by fewer than 3,000 votes. Next year’s race is widely expected to be one of the costliest in the country.

In the El Paso County-based 5th Congressional District, Democrat Jessica Killin doubled the haul of incumbent U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank. The Republican raised $502,000 in the third quarter to Killin’s more than $1 million since she joined the race in July.

Crank, who won the open seat by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024, has reported raising about $1.16 million total this cycle. The other Democrats in the race have raised less than $100,000.

Incumbents hold a distinct edge elsewhere

In Colorado’s five other congressional districts, the incumbents hold strong advantages more than a year out from the election — if they’re drawing challengers at all.

Western Slope Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, who represents Boebert’s old district, has raised $1.9 million this election cycle — nearly three times as much as Democratic challenger Alex Kelloff’s $680,000 and more than 10 times the $169,000 that Republican candidate Hope Scheppelman has brought in.

Denver-based U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat, has raised nearly four times the totals of her Democratic primary challengers, drawing $484,000 to Melat Kiros’ $125,000 and Wanda James’ $101,000. Kiros announced for the office on June 30, while James launched her campaign on Sept. 16.

Democratic Reps. Jason Crow, Joe Neguse and Brittany Pettersen have not drawn any challengers who reported raising any money.

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who is running his first reelection campaign next year, reported raising $1.7 million in the third quarter — more than 10 times what any challenger reported.

He has more than $3.6 million in cash on hand. Republicans Janak Joshi and George Washington Markert reported total fundraising just shy of $150,000 and $120,000, respectively. Hickenlooper’s Democratic primary challenger Karen Breslin, meanwhile, reported total fundraising of $65,000.

_____