This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.

DENVER | Colorado’s Democratic nominees for Congress have outraised their Republican rivals by more than a 2-to-1 margin in the 2026 election cycle, Federal Election Commission data shows. But some Democratic candidates are entering the general election season in better financial shape than others.

As Democrats look to regain control of the House of Representatives, all four of Colorado’s incumbent Republican members of Congress have drawn well-funded challengers this year. By contrast, the House delegation’s four Democratic incumbents have so far drawn only token opposition from candidates who have reported little or no fundraising activity to the FEC.

In Colorado’s 8th District, the state’s top battleground seat, an expensive head-to-head primary contest has put Democrats at a steep financial disadvantage to begin the general election. State Rep. Manny Rutinel of Commerce City spent more than $3.7 million on his way to a landslide victory over former state Rep. Shannon Bird of Westminster in the June 30 primary election.

Though he outraised Bird throughout the primary, Rutinel had a little over $600,000 remaining in cash on hand at the end of June, according to FEC reports. That’s less than one-sixth of the funds held by incumbent GOP Rep. Gabe Evans, the first-term Republican whom Rutinel is hoping to unseat in November.

Evans has amassed the largest campaign war chest of any Colorado GOP candidate, entering the general election with more than $3.8 million in cash on hand. Despite winning his seat by fewer than 2,500 votes in 2024, Evans who has aligned himself closely with House Speaker Mike Johnson and President Donald Trump and is ranked as one of the country’s most vulnerable Republican House incumbents.

The 8th District spans from Denver’s northern suburbs into parts of southern Weld and Larimer counties.

In the 5th District, centered on Colorado Springs, Democrat Jessica Killin, an Army veteran and political operative, also prevailed in a head-to-head Democratic primary last month, defeating opponent Joe Reagan by 22 percentage points.

But Killin also maintained her financial edge over incumbent GOP Rep. Jeff Crank, entering the general election with $1,592,642 in cash on hand, compared to Crank’s $1,465,048.

Though Crank won his seat by more than 14 percentage points in the 2024 election, Killin has been included alongside Rutinel in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program, a list of the party’s top congressional targets in the 2026 midterms.

Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction easily turned back a 3rd District primary challenge from far-right former state Rep. Ron Hanks last month, and begins the general election with $1.8 million in campaign funds. The 3rd District encompasses most of Colorado’s Western Slope, along with Pueblo and the San Luis Valley.

Democrat Dwayne Romero, a former state economic development director who made a late entry into the race in March, is in the worst financial position of any Democratic challenger after defeating financial executive Alex Kelloff in the June 30 primary. Romero’s campaign reported just $84,208 in cash on hand at the end of June.

Colorado’s best-funded congressional challenger is running in the district that analysts say Democrats are the least likely to win: in the 4th District, where incumbent U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert won a 12-percentage-point victory over Democrat Trisha Calvarese in 2024. The district’s nine-point GOP lean, according to the Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voting Index, makes it the most heavily Republican district in Colorado. It covers the Eastern Plains.

Eileen Laubacher, a retired Navy rear admiral and former National Security Council official, has raised more than $10 million since announcing her 4th District candidacy in May 2025, more than seven times Boebert’s haul over the same period.

Despite once being one of Colorado’s strongest congressional fundraisers, Boebert has struggled financially this cycle, and reported just $247,201 in available campaign funds as of the end of June — only a small fraction of Laubacher’s $3.6 million in cash on hand.

This story was made available via the Colorado News Collaborative. Learn more at https://www.google.com/url?q=https://colabnews.co&source=gmail-imap&ust=1785179862000000&usg=AOvVaw0zA9iPefEygC6xJ4OiXrfE

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