With less than a month to go before Denver voters receive their ballots, Democrat John Walsh raised more than twice twice as much as his primary opponent, Leora Joseph, in the most recent reporting period for the race to become the next Denver’s top prosecutor.

Walsh, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, reported $174,322 in contributions for the four-month period ending on May 1, for a total fundraising haul of over $355,000 since launching his campaign last November. 

Joseph, currently the director of Colorado’s Office of Civil & Forensic Mental Health but who served a prosecutor in Arapahoe County and Boston, raised $80,204 in the most recent period, bringing her total to $280,386. 

“The money helps turn out the vote,” said longtime Colorado pollster and commentator Floyd Ciruli, who predicted that the race would see “a pretty modest turnout” in Denver’s primary election on June 25. 

Both Walsh and Joseph have positioned themselves as law and order candidates, which Ciruli said is an important issue to Denver voters this year.

“You saw it in Denver related to the school district election, when voters were very concerned about violence in the schools. You saw it in the mayor’s election, when the public wanted to know the candidates’ positions with police and with the homeless,” the pollster said. 

“So, we’ve had two major elections in which crime and the public’s security were big issues and it’s likely to be that again for the Denver District Attorney race,” Ciruli said.

Both Walsh and Joseph are Democrats. There will be no Republican on the ballot since the GOP didn’t nominate a candidate in the solidly Democratic judicial district.

The winner of the June primary will determine the sole name on the November ballot for Denver’s most powerful prosecuting authority. Incumbent District Attorney Beth McCann announced in June of last year that she would not seek reelection. 

To date, Joseph has been endorsed by Denver police and firefighter unions, House Speaker Julie McCluskie, state senators James Coleman and Chris Hansen, and Local 208, in addition to several leaders and local attorneys. 

Walsh has received the endorsement of McCann, as well as from former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, and from former Denver district attorneys Bill Ritter and Mitch Morrissey. 

In the 2020 general election, McCann, a Democrat, easily won the race against Libertarian William F. Robinson III, winning 83% of the vote.  

This year’s race promises to be much closer. Ciruli said that both candidates “have elements of law and order. My sense is that this is important in this political atmosphere.” 

Reporter Ernest Luning contributed to this article.