October 03, 2025 09:58 AM UTC

Don't Look Now But Jeff Crank's Challenger Raised A Pile Of Cash

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• by: Colorado Pols

Actually, as Ernest Luning reports for the Colorado Springs Gazette’s political blog, go ahead and look because it’s objectively newsworthy:

Colorado Springs Democrat Jessica Killin, an Army veteran and former chief of staff to second gentleman Doug Emhoff, raised more than $1 million in the initial quarter of her campaign to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, her campaign said.

It’s the most money raised in a quarter by any candidate running in the GOP-leaning district, which covers most of El Paso County and has never elected a Democrat, according to campaign finance records. [Pols emphasis]

Killin is one of five Democrats seeking the nomination to take on Crank, a former podcaster and longtime political operative, who was elected to his first term last year by a nearly 14-point margin.

Colorado’s Fifth Congressional District, covering the conservative military bastion of El Paso County, is generally considered the second-safest Republican seat in the state after the CO-04 seat now held by carpetbagging social media superstar Rep. Lauren Boebert, and historically Democrats have struggled to break 40% in general elections here. With that said, Jessica Killin is the most politically qualified candidate that Democrats have fielded in this race in several election cycles, with national connections that are already evident in this record-setting first quarter of fundraising.

If what’s expected to be a tough midterm for House Republicans becomes a full-scale rout, anything is possible. At the very least, if Republicans have to fight a credible challenger in a place like CO-05, they have less to expend on their own targets.

Even with the level-setting we must apply, a well-funded faceoff against Rep. Jeff Crank is good news for Democrats.