By RUSSELL CONTRERAS
Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A Republican candidate for a critical U.S. House race in New Mexico is reporting a fundraising surge just days into her candidacy.

Claire Chase is preparing to report Tuesday that her campaign raised $510,790 in 35 days. That amount is more than former state lawmaker and fellow GOP opponent Yvette Herrell raised during the entire 2018 Republican primary.

The fundraising jolt comes after Chase, an oil executive, announced in late August she would seek the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small for the state's southern congressional seat.

Torres Small defeated Herrell in 2018 by fewer than 3,000 votes to flip a traditionally Republican-leaning district that sits along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Records show Torres Small has raised more than $1 million since January.

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