Troy Jackson, the newly minted Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, raised roughly $2 million from about 30,000 donors in the first 24 hours after his nomination Saturday, according to figures his campaign shared Sunday night. It’s an early surge of small-dollar cash for a candidate many in his own party had dismissed as a lackluster fundraiser.

That opening haul offers the first sign that Jackson, a former state senator, may be able to close at least part of the vast money gap he faces against Republican Sen. Susan Collins as he begins a 100-day sprint to Election Day.

Collins, running for a sixth term, has not only her own campaign account but will also be aided by millions of dollars in super PAC support as well as the Senate Leadership Fund, which backs Republican Senate candidates. That fund has $42 million in advertising ammunition ready to deploy to help the senator keep her seat.

But Jackson said the early fundraising data “proves that people across Maine and the country are ready to come together and finish the job,” while acknowledging that beating Collins “won’t be easy, and we’ll need everyone in this fight.”

A spokesperson for Collins did not respond to a request for comment.

“I’m humbled beyond words by the tens of thousands of people who have stepped up to become part of this campaign,” Jackson said in a statement. “Every contribution—whether it was five dollars, twenty dollars, or more—is a vote of confidence in the working-class movement we’re building together.”

Securing 30,000 individual donations over a 24-hour period is “really good,” said Al Mottur, a Democratic strategist and fundraiser who is unaffiliated with the campaign.

“He’s a complete unknown nationally,” said Mottur. “That means to me that people are enthused about taking back the Senate.”