DENVER — In just over seven weeks since Adam Frisch announced his second campaign to unseat far-right incumbent U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, he’s boosted his war chest by well over seven figures, his campaign announced Thursday.
To date, the former Aspen City councilman has raised $1.7 million, “shattering expectations,” Frisch said in a statement.
That much money shows a clear break from the slow start his 2022 campaign had, largely due to the national attention he earned by almost unseating Boebert. During the first quarter of that campaign, Frisch had raised $232,575, federal data shows.
The 2022 race for Boebert’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District seat was the most expensive House race in Colorado. Combined, Boebert and Frisch raised $14.1 million, compared to the $5.1 million raised by the two nominees in the next-closest race for the newly created 8th Congressional District.
The level of fundraising for Boebert and Frisch’s first race even put them on a national scale, making it one of the most expensive in the country. The two nominees vying for Ohio’s 4th Congressional District, represented by far-right U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (who won reelection), raised a combined $15.3 million, Federal Elections Commissions data shows.
Both pale in comparison, though, to the $29.6 million raised by the two nominees for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District for the race that incumbent, far-right U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, won. That House race was the most expensive in the country last year, according to the nonpartisan financial nonprofit Open Secrets.
Boebert’s 2022 reelection run wasn’t supposed to be competitive, however. Political experts anticipated she would enjoy strong Republican report but ultimately she only won a second term by 546 votes.
Now Frisch is capitalizing on his near-success, fundraising off ads pledging to stop Boebert’s “extremist representation.” And the money is flowing in from small donors across the country. In all, the 48,338 donations averaged $35.79 and they came not only from all 27 counties in the district but also from each of the 50 states in the country, campaign spokeswoman Madeleine Schmidt said in a release.
“I am incredibly humbled by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals who contributed to our campaign to bring decency and common sense back to Colorado’s 3rd District,” Frisch said in a statement.
“These remarkable fundraising numbers reflect what we’re hearing on the campaign trail — that voters from across the political spectrum are sick and tired of Boebert’s angertainment circus and are ready for a representative who will work across the aisle to find solutions to the problems facing their families, their businesses, and their communities,” he added.
Boebert’s far-reaching social media presence and incendiary tactics kept her fundraising comfortably ahead of Frisch’s for the 2022 campaign. But Frisch’s $1.7 million accounts for more than a fifth of all the money the congresswoman raised during the midterms and there’s still more than a year to go. For context, during the first quarter of 2021, a year before Frisch started fundraising, Boebert reported raising more than $425,000.
No fundraising data is yet available for Boebert’s current reelection campaign, though her campaign’s first report is due later this month.
Republican operatives are already fundraising off Frisch’s success, however. WinRed, a digital fundraising platform for Republicans, requested money on Boebert’s behalf last month.
“Lauren Boebert’s radical liberal opponent, Aspen Adam, has ALREADY raised almost $1 million since he announced,” the message said. “Help us fight back against Aspen Adam’s flood of leftwing money!”
Some political scientists read Boebert’s near loss as a referendum on her far-right stances and series of controversies, though they estimated that she’s likely to double down rather than moderate herself. She’ll likely enjoy broader Republican turnout during the 2024 election thanks to the presidential race and that could offer more buffer between herself and the Democratic nominee.
Representatives for Boebert’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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