DENVER—U.S. Republican Rep. Scott Tipton has doubled his re-election campaign fundraising haul this quarter after his Democratic challenger got off to a fast start in the effort to unseat him.
The freshman congressman from Colorado’s 3rd District, arguably the state’s most competitive because of how frequently it changes parties, raised about $300,000 for the quarter that ended September 30, according to campaign finance reports filed over the weekend. The amount is a sharp uptick from the previous quarter when he raised about $147,000, putting him among the worst Republican fundraisers for that reporting period.
Tipton got some support this quarter from Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who hosted an August fundraiser for him in Aspen.
“Whenever you get the speaker, that’s going to be a help,” Tipton said Monday. “It wasn’t, obviously, the majority of what we raised. But it was great to be able to have him in. I appreciated that.”
Tipton’s fundraising turnaround comes after his challenger, state House Democratic Leader Sal Pace, moved quickly to raise cash after announcing his candidacy in late May. He raised $100,000 in a month, while Tipton raised $147,000 in a three-month span.
Pace raised $165,000 in the most recent reporting period. He said he wasn’t discouraged by Tipton’s performance this time around.
“I know I’m the underdog here. Scott Tipton is the incumbent, and he will get a lot of special interest dollars,” he said.
Pace said he believes Republicans see Tipton as vulnerable.
“Obviously that’s a mixed blessing. It means that the speaker is going to come and raise him a bunch of money for him, but it also means that they’re seeing some numbers that show him a bit vulnerable.”
Tipton, who upset Democrat John Salazar last year, said he has been spending a lot of time traveling his district, as opposed to fundraising.
“The tough thing is, this is the only measure you all have right now. This is your scorecard,” he said about fundraising figures. “The scorecard that we’re focusing on is the issues that we’re working on in Congress.”
So far this year, Tipton has raised nearly $655,800 and has about $510,800 cash on hand. Pace has raised about $267,500 so far and has about $212,600 cash on hand.
Pace criticized Tipton because he had about $110,000 in unpaid campaign debt reflected in his latest report, even though Tipton “has had enough money to pay off” what he owes, Pace said. But Joanna Burgos, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Tipton paid off the debt in October, so it doesn’t show in the reporting period that ended in September.
Burgos said Pace “is merely trying to distract from his very weak” fundraising this quarter.
Two other Democrats challenging Republican incumbent congressmen also released their first campaign finance reports of the election cycle. State Senate President Brandon Shaffer raised about $179,500 this quarter and has about $121,000 cash on hand.
Shaffer is going up against 4th District incumbent Republican Rep. Cory Gardner, who has proven to be a prolific fundraiser. He has raised nearly $900,000 this election cycle, $619,300 of which he has on hand. Gardner raised $374,000 this period.
Craig Hughes, Shaffer’s campaign adviser, said the state senator was pleased with the amount he raised and that he’s on track to bring in the money he needs to get his message across.
State Democratic Rep. Joe Miklosi, who is running against Republican Rep. Mike Coffman in the 6th District, raised $130,500 this quarter and has about $96,500 on hand. Coffman represents a solidly Republican district, but Democrats say they like their chances if his seat is redrawn with a redistricting lawsuit under way.
Miklosi’s campaign said he’s already raised nearly as much in one quarter as previous challengers raked in during an entire election cycle in the district.
Coffman raised nearly $171,300 this period, and has about $602,300 on hand.
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