Adam Frisch’s fundraising efforts cool after Boebert’s exit from CD3
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
A key source of Adam Frisch’s campaign donations in the race to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District has cooled significantly since Rep. Lauren Boebert announced she would no longer run in the district, according to Federal Election Commission data from January.
The data reflects donations made through ActBlue, an online fundraising platform that is a popular method for small-dollar contributions. The overall impact of Boebert’s departure on Frisch’s finances — including whether major donations have remained consistent — won’t be known until a full report of the first quarter of 2024 is filed in April.
Since announcing his candidacy, Frisch’s fundraising efforts have been hugely successful, collecting the second-most donations for any House race in the country, with only House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries ranking higher, according to the FEC.
Contributions made through ActBlue have been a significant part of that fundraising. In 2023, Frisch raised an average of $617,000 per month through the platform. In January, the contributions saw a significant dip to about $230,000 in donations from ActBlue, according to an analysis by Rob Pyers, the research director for a California election analytics firm that also studies federal elections.
In a statement to The Vail Daily, Tara Trujillo, a Frisch campaign spokeswoman, responded to the dip in ActBlue donations: “Adam is positioned and projected to be one of the top-raising congressional candidates in Q1.”
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Boebert, a Republican who just narrowly defeated Democrat Frisch in 2022, announced Dec. 27 that she would leave the district to instead run in the 4th Congressional District, located on the opposite side of the state. Boebert said she didn’t want to risk losing the district with the amount of fundraising Frisch was bringing in.
Political analysts predicted Boebert’s move to the 4th District may be successful in hurting Frisch’s chances of winning. Without Boebert, who has been a lightning rod for controversy since she was first elected in 2020, Frisch faces an uphill battle in the historically Republican district. The impacts on campaign finance could be one clue into how the race may play out in November.
The 3rd Congressional District spans a vast portion of the state, from Aspen and Grand Junction all the way across the northwest and southwest areas of the state and up to Pueblo in the Front Range.
Though Boebert is no longer in the race, Frisch has continued to send out fundraising emails invoking the congresswoman — a nod to how potent her name is in whipping up financial support.
Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney, is the front-runner to replace Boebert as the Republican candidate. He has received several endorsements from prominent Republicans in the state, including Former Gov. Bill Owens, former Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, State Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, and State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer.
