U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) raised more than $3.15 million during the third quarter this year, boosting her campaign war chest to roughly $8.3 million, her campaign announced Wednesday.

The senator's quarterly spending was not immediately available, however, ahead of the full release of quarterly campaign finance reports on Friday. 

Those totals far exceed the fundraising announced by Cortez Masto's two Republican challengers, former Attorney General Adam Laxalt and veteran Sam Brown, who raised approximately $2.4 million combined. 

The quarterly sum also represents a record amount of off-year fundraising for the senator, beating the $2.8 million she raised in the second quarter. It also exceeds all but two quarterly hauls brought in by her or Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) during the last two Senate elections. The larger fundraising totals occurred in the third quarter of 2016, when Cortez Masto raised $5.2 million, and in the third quarter of 2018, when Rosen raised $7 million.

Still, it lags behind high-profile reelection bids in Arizona, where Sen. Mark Kelly raised $8 million last quarter, and in Georgia, where Sen. Raphael Warnock raised $7 million in the second quarter. 

Cortez Masto will defend her seat for the first time in 2022, a year in which Democrats and Republicans nationwide will seek to take control of a Senate currently split down the middle. 

The first Latina elected to the body, Cortez Masto is also among four incumbent Democrats looking to defend "lean democratic" seats, according to ratings from the Cook Political Report. 

Polls conducted so far show a slim lead for Cortez Masto in what is expected to be a competitive election. Polled in a hypothetical head-to-head against Laxalt in a survey conducted by the Mellman Group for The Nevada Independent, Cortez Masto led 45.5 percent to 41.2 percent.