Colorado Democrat Eileen Laubacher, the retired rear admiral and former top National Security Council staffer challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, raised $1.9 million in her first quarter in the race, her campaign announced Wednesday.

The first-time candidate finished the year’s second quarter with almost $1.1 million cash on hand, her campaign said. Laubacher plans to report receiving roughly 72,500 contributions from more than 57,000 donors, for an average donation of $26, with nearly all of them falling under $100.

Laubacher is one of four Democrats running against Boebert, the state’s senior elected GOP official, in Colorado’s heavily Republican 4th Congressional District.

Laubacher’s total tops the $1.75 million raised by Democrat Adam Frisch in his first quarter in the race two years ago, when the former Aspen City Council member was seeking a rematch against Boebert after losing to her in 2022 by fewer than 600 votes.

Frisch went on to shatter state fundraising records nearly every quarter last cycle, but he wound up facing Republican Jeff Hurd in the 2024 election after Boebert moved across the state from the Western Slope-based 3rd Congressional District into the more favorable 4th CD, which covers Colorado’s Eastern Plains.

“We’re proving that a serious, service-driven leader can take on the noise, the culture wars, and the dysfunction in Washington and win,” Laubacher said in a statement.

“As a veteran and lifelong public servant, I spent nearly four decades serving this country. Lauren Boebert has built a brand — not a record of service,” Luabacher added. “Voters can tell the difference. I’m the toughest opponent Lauren’s ever faced and while she plays political games, I’m focused on real work delivering for veterans, families, and small businesses who’ve been left behind.”

A former intelligence officer with a 34-year career in the Navy and Navy Reserve, Laubacher graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990. She served as senior defense official and defense attaché in New Delhi from 2019 to 2022 and was senior director for South Asia on the National Security Council until last October.

The other Democrats running in next year’s 4th CD primary include Trisha Calvarese, a former speech writer at the National Science Foundation and the 2024 Democratic nominee, who lost to Boebert last year; John Padora, a mechanical engineer, who also ran last year; and Michael Kurtis Maddox, a Loveland resident making his first run for office.

Campaign finance reports for congressional candidates are due to the Federal Election Commission by July 15. The other 4th CD candidates have yet to release their fundraising totals.

Colorado’s major political parties nominate candidates to the primary ballot next spring. Next year’s primary election is set for June 30, 2026.