August 03, 2016 10:45 AM UTC

Rep. Clarice Navarro (R-Trump) In Trouble?

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Pueblo Chieftain reports, the Democratic challenger to incumbent GOP Rep. Clarice Navarro in House District 47, Jason Munoz, has kicked his campaign into high gear after a bit of a slow start:

Munoz, a political newcomer and bartender, noted contributions for the last filing period, June 23-July 27, of $6,317 to Navarro’s $6,282.

Munoz’s largest contributors were Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 58 Small Donor Committee of Colorado Springs, $2,000; and the Pueblo Fire Fighters, IAFF Chapter 3, $2,000. He received $400 from philanthropist and Democratic activist Pat Stryker of Fort Collins. Munoz listed expenditures of $77, mostly for gasoline for a political trip. He has $8,796 cash on hand.

Navarro, running for her third term in the House, reported her largest contributors this period as Dan Thurlow Leadership PAC of Grand Junction, $400; the Colorado Bankers Association State PAC, of Denver $400; Colorado Business Education PAC out of Denver, $400; James Cole Colorado Legislative Services, Arvada, $300; and the Apartment Association of Metro Denver PAC, $400.

Her $4,629 in expenditures included Westbrooke, LLC of Denver, consultants, $832; Kessler Creative of Jacksonville, Fla., for stationary $548; the Colorado State Fair Foundation, for registration fees, $450; Renaissance Hotel, Nashville, Tenn., $360, for lodging. Navarro has $6,322 cash on hand.

We’re not talking about large amounts of money here, but Munoz outraising Navarro is a significant development in this race–elevating his campaign from obscurity into, well, a campaign on political radars. That’s bad news for Navarro, and what we’ve heard is that her recent cozying up to Donald Trump–even becoming a spokesperson on Trump’s behalf during the Democratic National Convention–has made Pueblo-area Republicans exceedingly nervous. With Trump working overtime to alienate Latino voters, Navarro’s support for Trump could become an enormous liability.

And it looks like Navarro has an opponent ready to take advantage.