After losing the Republican primary election in June, legislative candidate Lynda Zamora Wilson raised more than three times her previous fundraising total to help fund a recount.

Zamora Wilson, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, challenged incumbent state Sen. Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, for his seat representing Senate District 9 in El Paso County. Lundeen won the primary election by a large margin, receiving 66.4% of the 30,848 votes to Zamora Wilson’s 33.6%, according to official results from the Secretary of State’s Office.

Zamora Wilson shelled out just under $20,820 for a recount on July 28, as automatic recounts, which are state-paid, only apply when the difference between the winning candidate and second-place candidate is 0.05% or less of the winning vote.

Since the election on June 28, Zamora Wilson has raised over $17,311 from 193 individuals to help cover the cost, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday night. Before the election, Zamora Wilson’s campaign raised less than $5,000 total from around two dozen contributions – including $2,052 that she gave to her campaign.

In total, Zamora Wilson’s campaign collected just over $26,092, including $3,792 that she loaned herself. She had spent $7,821 as of the campaign finance deadline on July 27, leaving her with just $18,271 one day before she paid $20,820 on the recount. Zamora Wilson said she filled the $2,549 funding gap with another last-minute loan on July 28.

Zamora Wilson was one of three Republican legislative candidates to request a recount in El Paso County. The other two – Karl Dent for House District 21 and Summer Groubert for House District 18 – both failed to submit the required funds to pay for the recounts before the July 28 deadline.

Dent and Groubert have been less successful in their post-primary election fundraising than Zamora Wilson. Dent has not received a single donation since losing his race in June, and, in fact, returned nearly $295 in contributions last month, according to Monday’s campaign finance reports. Groubert has raised just over $800 since the election – a far cry from the $21,594.85 price tag for her and Dent’s recounts.

Of the 193 fundraising contributions made to Zamora Wilson’s campaign since the election, 89.6% came from Colorado residents and 45.1% were from residents of Senate District 9, which covers the northwest corner of El Paso County, including Monument, Palmer Lake and part of Colorado Springs.

All but four of the 193 contributions were made between July 22 and July 27. During that period, on July 24, Zamora Wilson joined several other Republican candidates who lost their races for a “Colorado Recount Fundraiser” in Colorado Springs. Other featured candidates included Groubert, Secretary of State candidate Tina Peters and U.S. Senate candidate state Rep. Ron Hanks.

Zamora Wilson’s requested recount is underway and expected to be completed by Thursday, the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office said on Monday.