Democratic congressional candidate Adam Frisch raised more than $2.9 million in the fourth quarter for his bid to represent the Colorado seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, his campaign announced Thursday.

The former Aspen City Council member was seeking a rematch against Boebert until she switched just before the end of the year to run in a less competitive district. He plans to report starting the 2024 election year with more than $5 million on hand.

The Democrat’s campaign said Frisch received an average donation of just over $27 from more than 106,400 individuals in the three-month period ending on Dec. 31.

Boebert announced on Dec. 27 that she plans to seek a third term on the other side of the state, in the more solidly Republican 4th Congressional District, in part because of the flood of cash raised by her Democratic challenger in the GOP-leaning 3rd Congressional District, which covers most of the Western Slope and Southern Colorado.

Boebert defeated Frisch by just 546 votes in the last election, making their race the cycle’s closest congressional contest in the country. Since declaring his candidacy for this year’s election, Frisch has shattered fundraising records for Colorado candidates and has ranked among the top congressional fundraisers nationally.

Frisch took credit on Thursday for “running Lauren Boebert out of the 3rd Congressional District” in a release announcing his fundraising total.

“After Adam Frisch built the trust and confidence of independents, Republicans, and Democrats in the 3rd CD, Lauren Boebert saw the writing on the wall, abandoned her campaign for the 3rd Congressional District, and carpetbagged to the other side of the state,” Frisch’s campaign said in a statement.

The fourth quarter sum pushes Frisch’s fundraising total for the 2023 off-year past $10 million – more than any other Colorado candidate for the U.S. House has raised in an entire election cycle.

A prodigious fundraiser in her own right, Boebert trailed Frisch in each of last year’s initial three quarters, raising only one-fourth as much as Frisch pulled in during the third quarter.

Detailed reports covering the fourth quarter are due to the Federal Election Commission by Jan.31. Boebert’s campaign has yet to release her totals for the period.

“People are genuinely fatigued with the angertainment from both political parties,” Frisch said. “Our connection with the people of CD3 has been built on listening to their concerns and frustrations, particularly regarding the disconnect with both political parties who do not grasp the challenges of our rural way of life. This district truly deserves a trusted leader who is dedicated to improving the lives of our families.”

At last count, four Republicans are seeking the GOP nomination in the 3rd CD: Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, former state Rep. Ron Hanks, State Board of Education member Stephen Varela and financial advisor Russ Andrews.

Frisch faces a primary of his own against Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout.

None of Frisch’s rivals had released their fourth-quarter fundraising totals by Thursday afternoon.

According to third-quarter filings, Hurd raised just over $400,000 for the period and had about $350,000 on hand. During the same period, Andrews raised nearly $40,000 and had about $260,000 in the bank after loaning his campaign more than $250,000. Stout posted just over $100,000 for the three-month period and finished the quarter with just over $40,000.

Hanks and Varela jumped in the primary following Boebert’s departure, so neither will be required to file initial fundraising reports until April.

The Cook Political Report moved the seat from a toss-up to “lean Republican” after Boebert switched districts, suggesting that the district’s voters could be more inclined to elect Republicans without the controversial incumbent on the ballot.

Frisch’s campaign pushed back against that conclusion on Thursday, noting that although the district has a history of favoring Republicans by a 7-point margin, its voters have shifted toward Democrats in recent years.

In the same 2022 election that saw Frisch nearly upset Boebert, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis carried the district over GOP nominee Heidi Ganahl by more than 2 percentage points, while Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet trailed Republican Joe O’Dea by just 1 percentage point, Frisch’s campaign noted.

“I’m not focused on Team Red or Team Blue; my focus lies squarely on Team CD3,” Frisch said a statement. “We are dedicated to Colorado Energy, Colorado Water and Colorado Jobs. Building the trust and confidence of the constituents in the 3rd CD would not have been possible without the unwavering support of rural Colorado and everyone who has backed this campaign. Our commitment remains resolute, and we are dedicated to persisting in our efforts and listening closely to the concerns of the voters in the 3rd CD.”

Republicans hoping to face Frisch this fall discounted the Democrat’s record-setting fundraising numbers.

“Jeff has been working hard to earn the support of voters in our district rather than recruiting outside dollars to buy a seat,” said a spokesman for Hurd’s campaign.

“Jeff will fight for our state and the district, making sure to secure our border, protect our water, fight for our agricultural producers, and push for energy independence- issues the liberal out-of-state donors funding Adam’s campaign care nothing about.”

Hanks suggested that Frisch lost the rationale for his campaign once his high-profile opponent jumped districts.

“Frisch has raised a lot of money to fight an adversary that is no longer in the race,” Hanks told Colorado Politics in a text message.

“It will come down to issues – and the abject disaster that Joe Biden has inflicted on America. Voters in CD3 have no interest in rewarding Joe Biden with another term, nor will they endorse or support the miserable policies of the Democrat Party. The country is less secure, more divided, more expensive under Joe Biden. Frisch’s $5 million will not be able to gloss over those realities.”