Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Neville, a state senator, raised just over $120,000 in the final quarter of 2015 and ended the year with just over $50,000 cash on hand, according to figures his campaign plans to file with the FEC later this week.

Neville, who launched his campaign in October, at the start of the 4th quarter, is one of a dozen declared candidates running to take on U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in a primary field that has swollen in recent months. Republicans make a final pick who their challenger will be in a June 28 primary.

“We’re really excited about where we’re at,” said campaign manager Joe Neville, who is also the candidate’s son. He emphasized that Neville counts 1,200 individual donors — almost entirely from within Colorado — in the quarter.

“It’s a grassroots campaign, and we’re constantly looking to spread out our pool of donors and supporters,” he said. “This month alone, we’re coming close to the same number of donors already, so we should exceed last quarter’s fundraising this month.”

Neville could be facing well-funded primary opponents in former Aurora Councilman Ryan Frazier, Colorado Springs businessman Robert Blaha, former state Rep. Jon Keyser and El Paso County Commissioner Peg Littleton, but among them, only Frazier made his campaign official before the end of the year. He has said he raised around $200,000 in the 4th quarter. The others won’t be filing campaign finance reports until April.

Other Republicans in the primary include El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn, Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier, activist Charlie Ehler, perennial candidates Tom Janich and Michael Kinlaw, and recently announced Jerry Eller. Hispanic business leader Jerry Natividad has said he plans to get in the race by the end of the month.

Reports for candidates active in 2015 are due to the FEC by the end of the day Friday.

Bennet, the lone Democratic incumbent senator running in a swing state this year, raised just under $2 million in the 4th quarter and had more than $6.7 million cash on hand, his campaign announced last week.

Andrew Zucker, a spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party, said that Neville’s fundraising totals weren’t what matters.

“His fundraising may be slow, but what will really offend Coloradans is Neville’s far-right record of opposing equal treatment for all Colorado families, spearheading personhood legislation and other anti-abortion measures, and trying to erode even the most commonsense gun laws,” Zucker told The Statesman. “Tim Neville’s agenda would take America backwards, just like he’s tried to do here in Colorado.”

State GOP Executive Director Ryan Lynch sounded equally unconcerned about any cash advantage Bennet might be building.

“Michael Bennet will need every dollar he can get his hands on so that he can at least try to defend his failures as a United States senator,” Lynch told The Statesman.

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com