Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin narrowly outraised U.S. Rep. John Larson for a second quarter in a row as both candidates extended their fundraising advantages in the four-way Democratic primary for Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District.
Both Bronin and Larson built on their fundraising during the last three months of 2025, though their hauls were smaller than in the previous fundraising quarter. Bronin raised nearly $545,000 from October through December, compared to Larson, who brought in almost $438,000 over the same months. But during that period, the congressman outspent Bronin nearly 2-to-1 as the campaign started to ramp up.
They both ended the final quarter of 2025 and entered the new year with sizable cash reserves. Bronin’s cash on hand is almost $1.5 million, while Larson started 2026 with about $956,000 in the bank.
The year-end reports, which were filed with the Federal Election Commission over the weekend, show where all four candidates stand financially.
The latest fundraising hauls from Bronin and Larson separate them even further from the other two Democratic challengers, state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest of West Hartford and Hartford school board member Ruth Fortune.
A strong fundraising base can help candidates break through in a contested primary, the first in the Hartford-based 1st Congressional District since Larson was first elected in 1998. Candidates need enough money to be able to afford advertising in the Hartford media market and boost name recognition. But some of Larson’s challengers are looking for other ways to get ahead through strategies that don’t solely depend on money.
Bronin’s campaign acknowledged the need to continue raising enough funds to compete against a 14-term incumbent. The former mayor has said he won’t accept campaign contributions from corporate political action committees, commonly referred to as PACs.
“When you’re running against someone who’s been in Congress for almost 30 years, it takes resources to make sure voters know that they have a choice and can be part of making a change,” Bronin said in a Monday statement. “I’m not taking a dollar of corporate PAC money, and we’re building more support every day because there’s a tremendous hunger for new energy and new leaders in the Democratic Party, and people know that we’re running a campaign that can win.”
Like the previous fundraising quarter, Bronin’s donations come only from individual contributors. And while much of his support comes from within Connecticut, he still raised a lot of money from elsewhere, including Washington, D.C., and New York. He also received donations from a number of individual contributors who work as partners and executives for wealth and asset management firms like Blackstone, AQR Management headquartered in Greenwich, and Gallatin Point Capital, also in Greenwich.
About half of Larson’s support comes from PACs, including those representing businesses and corporations, as well as labor unions. But he still raised more money from individual contributions compared to past election cycles, mainly from Connecticut.
Some of the PACs that donated to Larson in the past three months include American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) PAC, the American Federation of Government Employee Political Action Committee, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare PAC, and The Boeing Company PAC.
Unlike the last fundraising quarter, Larson’s campaign focused more on the types of donors contributing to his opponent and Bronin’s fundraising in D.C. And they noted his ability to still raise the necessary funds even as the congressman dealt with a government shutdown in the fall and other issues coming out of the Trump administration.
“At the end of the day, both campaigns will be well funded, but Congressman Larson’s record standing up to Donald Trump, his deep roots in the district and record delivering for working families gives him a clear advantage,” Larson campaign manager Greg Gerratana said in a statement.
“From hosting high-dollar fundraisers in Washington to cozying up with Beltway insiders and Clinton-era establishment figures, it’s no surprise that our opponent, a former corporate lawyer from Greenwich, has relationships with money,” he added.
For her part, Gilchrest raised nearly $49,000, spent almost $71,000 and has about $23,000 in the bank. She said she’s more focused on mobilizing volunteers at a time when protests over immigration enforcement have dominated politics.
In an interview in the fall, Gilchrest said she expected to turn more attention to fundraising over the coming weeks and months. But she has also bemoaned the heavy emphasis on fundraising in these races and has called for a public financing system, similar to that of Connecticut, for candidates running in federal races.
“At a moment when people are in the streets demanding change, everyday people — not money — are shaping the future of politics. I’m running a different kind of campaign, with close to 100 people already signed up to volunteer — which means a lot more to me than dollars,” Gilchrest said in a statement. “Money plays a role in campaigns, but people matter more. And as I’ve said since day one, I’m not interested in talking about money unless it’s about getting it out of our politics.”
Fortune raised the least of the group with just under $12,000 but spent a bit more than she brought in. She enters 2026 with almost $33,000 cash on hand.
“Raising the most money doesn’t make someone the strongest candidate. Congress has a lot of wealthy people who know how to monetize their connections. We don’t need more of them! The status quo works for the top fundraisers; therefore, they are not incentivized to challenge it in any meaningful way,” Fortune said in a statement. “This race is going to be decided by voters, and I am earning their support each and every day as I talk to more and more people in the First District. My plan is to focus on talking to voters and earning their trust and their vote.”
The race is just starting to take shape and will likely ramp up in the coming weeks and months ahead of the spring nominating conventions.
Outrage over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has emerged as a central focus in the 1st District primary amid growing Democratic scrutiny of ICE’s tactics in Minneapolis and across the country, including in Connecticut.
All of the candidates have issued various criticisms of the enforcement agency, though they are all fairly aligned on the future of ICE.
During a heated exchange with a pro-ICE protester this week, Larson said he supports “replacing ICE.” Bronin said he wants the current version “abolished and replaced or rebuilt from the ground up.” Gilchrest has similarly called for abolishing the agency.
Back in December, Fortune, who came to the U.S. from Haiti as a young undocumented immigrant, argued that the “true goal of [President Trump’s] cruel immigration policies [is] to make America more white.”
The Connecticut Mirror/Connecticut Public Radio federal policy reporter position is made possible, in part, by funding from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
