Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., raised $3.15 million in the third quarter on the strength of more than 100,000 individual donations from across the country.

Nunes, chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, reported to the Federal Election Commission approximately $5 million in cash on hand at the close of September, leaving him plenty to spend on getting re-elected in the solidly Republican 22nd District of inland Central California. With this latest haul, Nunes has raised more than $10 million for the cycle.

Nunes, 44, raised approximately $1.25 million in all of 2017, before he earned a national reputation as a staunch defender of President Trump and became the chief antagonist of special counsel Robert Mueller's federal probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion by the commander in chief and his associates.

The Californian has capitalized on his newfound fame among grassroots conservatives, developing a direct-mail and email fundraising program that is churning out dollars and building a national list of donors that would be the envy of any presidential campaign. Nunes' colleagues are taking notice as well. Through the end of September, Nunes has received contributions from more than 100,000 individual donors, mostly in small amounts, as well as healthy support from inside his Central Valley district that is part suburban, exurban, and agricultural.

The congressman's Democratic challenger, Fresno County Deputy District Attorney Andrew Janz, is raising millions of his own, as energized progressives flood his campaign with cash in the hopes of picking off a Trump loyalist. Political handicappers are still projecting Nunes will cruise to re-election. Not taking any chances, Nunes is scheduled to be on television in his district with a healthy ad buy through Election Day.

Nunes was first elected in 2002 and over the years developed a power base on Capitol Hill, with close ties to House GOP leadership, particularly Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. — they bonded years ago on their mutual support for entitlement and tax reform. Nunes established a relationship with Trump during the 2016 campaign when the then-candidate visited his Central Valley congressional district, and he later served as an adviser to the president’s transition team.

Their views on Russian strongman Vladimir Putin did not necessarily line up — Nunes has always been a Russia hawk.

But from the outset, Nunes was suspicious of accusations, mostly from Democrats but also some Republicans, that Trump colluded with the Kremlin. Even as Nunes was leading the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into Russian interference, his defense of the president and counterattacks on Democrats and Trump critics like former FBI Director James Comey escalated.

The Mueller investigation's indictment of Russian intelligence officers for hacking the computers of Democratic officials and committees and funneling the confidential information found to the press at the height of the 2016 campaign didn't appear to soften Nunes' criticism of a probe that Trump has referred to as a "witch hunt."