Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold raised more than $850,000 for her reelection bid during the first fundraising period of 2022, the Democrat’s campaign told Colorado Politics on Friday.

The sum dwarfs receipts reported in any previous quarter by down-ballot, statewide Colorado candidates, including candidates for attorney general, secretary of state or state treasurer.

Her campaign said Griswold has topped $2.475 million in receipts for the cycle and plans to report finishing the period with more than $300,000 on hand – highlighting intense interest in the once-sleepy office, which oversees state elections, amid an ongoing national battle over the conduct and legitimacy of elections.

Griswold received more than 10,000 individual contributions, her campaign said, more than three times the number of donations she received in the previous quarter, when she raised about $315,000.

A spokesman told Colorado Politics that Griswold’s campaign has reserved $1.78 million for statewide TV commercials this fall, with plans to advertise for at least five weeks in every market in the state on cable, broadcast and streaming platforms.

State-level candidates face a May 2 deadline to file campaign fundraising reports covering the period from Jan. 1 to April 27. While they’re on the same filing calendar for most of the cycle, federal candidates for U.S. House and U.S. Senate filed reports covering the year’s first quarter – from Jan. 1 to March 31 – on April 15.

“It’s clear that Coloradans are concerned about the increasing threats to our democracy, and they trust Secretary Griswold to protect eligible Coloradans’ right to vote in secure and accessible elections,” campaign manager Kyla Sabado said in a statement.

A Griswold campaign aide told Colorado Politics that donations accelerated after Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a leading proponent of former President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, declared her candidacy for the office in mid-February.

Last summer, Griswold ordered Mesa County to replace its election equipment after secure passwords and copies of its election management software appeared online. Months later, Griswold prevailed in a lawsuit to prevent Peters from administering last year’s off-year election. A similar lawsuit to block Peters from running this year’s election is pending.

A grand jury indicted Peters in March on charges linked to allegations she tampered with election equipment in an attempt to prove the county’s election system is rigged. Peters denies she violated the law and has accused Democrats and some Republicans of conspiring to bring her down because she is Griswold’s strongest potential opponent.

Peters is running in the June 28 primary against two other Republicans: former Jefferson County Clerk and director of the Colorado County Clerks Association Pam Anderson, who maintains that Colorado’s election system is safe, and first-time candidate Mike O’Donnell, a business consultant. Griswold is unopposed for her party’s nomination.

A spokeswoman for Anderson’s campaign shrugged at Griswold’s fundraising announcement.

“Jena’s highly partisan positions and ties to the national partisan infrastructure make her an elite politician,” Anderson campaign aide Tiffany Coolidge told Colorado Politics in a text message. “With her strident political positions, she has out-raised every Colorado secretary of state over the past two decades … combined. That serves her well for the U.S. Senate but turns off Coloradans who want a return to a nonpartisan election professional.”

Said Griswold: “I am the only candidate with the proven experience of protecting every eligible Coloradan’s right to vote. I have overseen statewide elections with record turnout, and made voting more accessible for all voters – Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliateds alike. With so much at stake, I am working hard to win this reelection in order to continue protecting every eligible Coloradans’ access to the ballot box and the integrity of our state’s election system.”

The Republicans hoping to challenge Griswold in November have yet to release their fundraising totals for the period.