Democratic congressional candidate Trisha Calvarese raised more than $750,000 in the five weeks since winning the nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, her campaign said Thursday.

In the five-week stretch from the June 25 primary to July 31, the first-time candidate from Highlands Ranch received 32,000 contributions from 24,000 unique donors for an average donation of $23, a campaign spokesman told Colorado Politics. Some 99% of her donations were under $200, the spokesman added.

While complete campaign finance reports covering the period aren’t due until closer to the election, it appears that Calvarese’s small-dollar fundraising exploded after the primary — once she could pitch herself to potential donors as the Democrat running against Boebert, a nationally prominent lawmaker with a knack for generating headlines.

So far, neither of the major parties’ congressional campaign committees nor big outside spending groups appear to be treating the heavily Republican seat as competitive, but Calvarese’s campaign hopes that will change if she could keep up the fundraising pace she set last month.

Calvarese entered August with an estimated $380,000 cash on hand, according to her campaign. That’s nearly four times the funds Calvarese’s campaign reported on hand at the end of June in her most recent quarterly filing. Boebert had just under $530,000 in the bank on June 30, according to the Republican’s second quarter report.

“We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support we’ve received from across Colorado,” Calvarese said in a statement.

“Our movement to defeat Lauren Boebert is fueled by tens of thousands of regular people chipping in a few bucks, because people are ready for leadership that puts the people of Colorado over personal agendas and partisan extremism. People just want a representative that will help them build their lives and support their families in the towns they love.”

Added Calvarese: “We have momentum, and we’re going to keep going to every community in our district to earn people’s trust, their votes, and to win in November.”

There’s no doubt it’ll be an uphill battle.

The race is rated as “Solid Republican” by four leading national election forecasters — the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Decision Desk HQ, Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball — and the district is considered Colorado’s most Republican-friendly seat.

After narrowly winning a second term two years ago, Boebert moved in January from the Western Slope-based 3rd Congressional to run in the open 4th CD, which covers Douglas County and Colorado’s Eastern Plains. Five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck had announced late last year that he wouldn’t seek reelection but then abruptly resigned in March, triggering the special election to represent the district for the remainder of his term.

In the vacancy election, held the same day as the primary, Republican Greg Lopez defeated Calvarese by about 24 percentage points — roughly the same margin Buck enjoyed over his Democratic challenger in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Boebert dispatched five Republican rivals in the GOP primary, while Calvarese prevailed in a three-way primary that included the Democrat who lost the last two races to Buck.

Announcing her post-primary fundraising haul, Calvarese pointed to internal polling her campaign released in June showing what her pollster characterized as a potentially tight general election contest between his client and Boebert.

Colorado-based Democratic pollster Chris Keating — who accurately predicted Boebert’s close call last cycle in her old district — said the Republican incumbent’s public controversies and unusually high unfavorable numbers could make her vulnerable in the new seat, even among voters who will otherwise vote heavily for Republicans.