U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, an Aurora Republican, came out slightly ahead of his challenger, state Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, in fourth quarter fundraising but has more than twice as much cash in the bank, according to documents the two 6th Congressional District campaigns will file with the FEC.

Coffman raised $313,219 for the quarter and has $1,071,048 cash on hand, while Carroll raised $277,577 and has $452,046 on hand. For the cycle, Coffman has raised a total of $1,420,680, and Carroll, who has been running since July, has raised $655,515.

The race could be among the most closely contested in the country this year. Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report lists the seat as one of just 16 toss-ups in the House.

“Coffman doesn’t have a choice but to out-raise Morgan Carroll,” said Carroll campaign manager Jennifer Donovan.

“The fundraising numbers are really about viability,” she told The Colorado Statesman. “At the end of the day, Coffman will have a huge amount of special interests backing him, and D.C. insiders backing him, and he will out-raise us. But he needs to out-raise us because his argument about why he should stay in office after some of the disastrous votes he’s made in this Congress — that argument is way harder to make than the argument to elect Morgan Carroll.”

Coffman’s finance director, Kristin Strohm, managing partner of the Starboard Group, had a different take.

“Mike Coffman’s approach to fundraising is steady, solid, and consistent,” she said. “With another very good quarter, a very low cash burn rate, and a million bucks in the bank, Mike’s in very good position to defend himself from the onslaught of attacks from Nancy Pelosi and her allies in what is the most competitive congressional district in America.”

The Carroll campaign reports it had 2,009 individual donors, accounting for $228,212 of its haul. Donovan noted that Carroll is receiving plenty of small-dollar donations from hundreds of volunteers.

Strohm said the Coffman campaign is doing well among grassroots donors, with 1,937 of its 2,272 contributors chipping in less than $100 this cycle.

Reports are due to the FEC by the end of the day Friday.

There’s less money flowing into the race than the last time around, when Coffman faced a challenge by former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. At the same point in the 2014 cycle, both candidates had raised more than $2 million apiece. Coffman had $1,477,636 on hand at the end of 2013, and Romanoff had $1,669,617 in the bank. While touted as one of the top-targeted races in the country two years ago, Coffman trounced Romanoff at the polls by roughly 9 points.

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com