Republican congressional candidate Cory Gardner raised $377,000 in the second quarter, his campaign said Monday, bringing his election total to more than $1.2 million.

Gardner's fundraising total still trails incumbent Democrat Betsy Markey's, but the combined fundraising by the two campaigns - more than $3.4 million raised four months before the election - indicates that spending in the race will shatter previous records for Colorado's 4th Congressional District.

"The financial support for my campaign has been amazing, but what is truly humbling is the volunteer effort behind this campaign," Gardner said in a statement. "While knocking on doors or attending community events, almost every voter I meet tells me the same thing: top the spending. When elected, I intend to listen to the voters of the 4th Congressional District and rein in the out-of-control government spending."

Markey, a first-term incumbent from Fort Collins, announced this weekend that she had raised $528,000 between April 1 and June 30, bringing her total for the 2009-10 election to more than $2.2 million.

Markey has more than $1.5 million in the bank; Gardner about $763,000, according to their campaigns.

The Gardner campaign said it couldn't immediately break down the amount of money donated by individuals and the amount from political action committees.

Campaign manager Chris Hansen said those figures would be available this week.
Congressional candidates must file their second-quarter campaign finance reports by Thursday with the Federal Election Commission. Those reports will detail every individual or group donating more than $200.

The second quarter was Gardner's most successful fundraising period since he became a candidate in 2009. He wrapped up the Republican nomination at the district assembly in May when no other GOP candidates got the 30 percent of delegate votes needed to qualify for the Aug. 10 primary ballot.

The money raised by Markey and Gardner so far is way ahead of the pace set in 2008 by Markey and Republican incumbent Marilyn Musgrave in what became the most expensive congressional race in Northern Colorado history.

In 2008, Musgrave had raised $1.67 million at this point of the campaign and Markey $960,000, for a total of more than $2.6 million. Markey and Gardner so far have raised a combined $3.4 million.

Musgrave and Markey raised and spent a combined $5.5 million by the time the 2008 campaign ended, and outside groups poured another $4.5 million in to the race.

Most of the money raised in competitive congressional elections is spent on TV advertising.

Read this and other Bob Moore articles in the Coloradoan at http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100713/LOVELAND01/100713001.