Gilchrest stumbles at starting gate with paltry early fundraising.

State Representative Jillian Gilchrest raised only $54,000 in her first 36 days as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Congress from the 1st Congressional District. The West Hartford Democrat is seeking to unseat 14-term incumbent John B. Larson in the safe Democratic district.

Luke Bronin, former mayor of Hartford, raised nearly $1.18 million since announcing his candidacy a month before Gilchrest. Bronin’s fundraising haul on his first day as a candidate was an eye-catching $500,000. Larson, who had nearly $300,000 in the bank when Bronin announced his candidacy, raised an additional $800,000 in the third fundraising quarter of the year.

Larson is an old hand at raising money from special interests, the source of most of his campaign funds over nearly three decades of campaigning every two years. Bronin impressed politicos and others when as a first-time candidate he collected $1 million for his 2015 race for mayor of Hartford. Gilchrest’s fundraising has been considerably more limited because she relied on the state’s generous public financing program for her West Hartford legislative races. It’s not easy to convert $100 contributors into $3,500 ones. The social worker contributes $4,696 to her campaign coffers. Gilchrest is expected to bring some grassroots organizing prowess to the race, but that requires some money.

Hartford Board of Education member Ruth Fortune and Southington Town Council member Jack Perry are also seeking to unseat Larson. Fortune has raised $41,353 since becoming the first candidate to launch a challenge to Larson. Perry made a $500,000 loan to his campaign and raised $28,810 in his first six weeks as a candidate.

Local parties will choose delegates to the district’s May nominating convention early next spring. An August primary is expected to follow. It will be the first one an incumbent member of the House of Representatives has faced in more than 50 years of primaries in Connecticut.