Reports filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission showed that state Sen. Donald Cravins Jr. (D) outraised Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany (R) by $40,000 in the pre-primary reporting period from July to mid-August.

And while that’s certainly good news for Democrats hoping to knock off the second term Congressman in the Bayou State’s southwest 7th district, Republicans are much more interested in the latest cash-on-hand numbers that show Boustany with a nearly $500,000 lead over his Democratic challenger.

Cravins raised more than $147,000 from July 1 to Aug. 17 and has now raised more than $255,000 since jumping into the race this summer with the strong backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He finished the period with about $186,000 in cash on hand.

Boustany raised almost $108,000 during the pre-primary time period, bringing his total fundraising for the cycle to $1.16 million. He had $681,000 in cash on hand on Aug. 17.

Neither Boustany nor Cravins is facing a challenger in next week’s primary, but the race has quickly become one of the most closely watched in Louisiana, with Democrats putting the seat on their “Red to Blue” target list.

DCCC spokeswoman Kyra Jennings said Cravins’ quarter-million dollars in fundraising since late June show “an extremely aggressive fundraising pace” and added that Cravins has proved that he’ll have the resources to compete in the 7th district’s two relatively inexpensive media markets.