More than $42 million has been spent supporting or opposing the 14 measures on Colorado’s statewide ballot this year.
That’s according to a Colorado Sun analysis of campaign finance reports filed with the state that reflect issue committee spending through Oct. 23 and political nonprofit spending through midday Thursday.
More money has surely been raised and spent since then. In fact, nearly $4 million in major donations to issue committees has been reported since Oct. 23. Any issue committee spending after that date won’t have to be reported until after Election Day.
The measure that has been the target of the most spending is Proposition 131, which would change most of Colorado’s primaries so candidates from all parties run against each other, with the top four vote-getters advancing to a ranked choice general election.
About $14.5 million has been spent in support of the initiative, $14 million of it by the issue committee Colorado Voters First, while about $300,000 has been spent opposing it.
Kent Thiry, the wealthy former CEO of the Denver-based dialysis giant DaVita and one of the biggest proponents of Proposition 131, donated $750,000 on Monday and another $700,000 on Wednesday to Colorado Voters First. That brings his total support to the committee to $3.9 million. Chevron donated $500,000 to the committee Oct. 25.
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Proposition 131: Colorado would move to all-candidate primaries followed by ranked choice general elections
The measure would change most of the state’s primaries so candidates from all parties run against each other, with the top four vote-getters advancing to a ranked choice voting general election
Read moreMost of the recent spending by Colorado Voters First has been on ads as the group floods the airwaves ahead of Election Day.
Voter Rights Colorado, the committee opposing Proposition 131, spent $200,000 on a voter guide it sent out encouraging people to reject the measure, as well as Amendment 80, which would place a right to school choice in the state constitution. The guide asked recipients to support Amendment 79, which would preserve abortion access in the state constitution, and Amendment J, which would strike a prohibition on same-sex marriage from the state constitution.
Voter Rights Colorado received $10,000 on Tuesday from Colorado WINS, the state employee union, and $5,000 from the Colorado AFL-CIO. The committee has also received major donations this election cycle from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors; the National Education Association; New Era Colorado; and Coloradans for Accessible and Secure Elections, another nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors.
Amendment 79 has been the target of the second most spending, including more than $8 million in support from Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom. Cobalt Advocates, a Colorado abortion-rights group, has given the committee millions.
Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom has also received major donations from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Denverite Merle Chambers, a former oil and gas executive who is a major Democratic donor; and the Rose Community Foundation.
About $306,000 has been spent in opposition to the measure, most of it from the Pro-Life Colorado Fund, which is tied to the Catholic Church.
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Amendment 80: Placing a right to school choice in Colorado’s constitution
The measure would solidify parents’ right to send their kids to any public school, charter school, private school or homeschooling program. Opponents say it would pave the way to a state voucher program.
Read moreIn third place in terms of spending is Amendment 80, at some $6 million.
Public Schools Strong, which is funded by teachers unions and public school advocates, has spent more than $4.6 million in opposition to the measure.
The campaign in support of the initiative has been funded by conservative political nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors. Those groups have spent about $1.5 million.
No. 4 on the spending list is Proposition 127, which would ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx in Colorado. About $5 million has been spent on the measure, including more than $3.1 million from the issue committee Cats Aren’t Trophies in support of the initiative.
Cats Aren’t Trophies is funded by a number of groups and people who support animal rights.
Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better has spent nearly $1.9 million opposing the measure. The committee has received $600,000 from the Concord Fund, a conservative political nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors. Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better has also received major donations from the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Safari Club International and the hunting group Rocky Mountain Elk.
The Western Heritage Conservation Alliance, another issue committee, has spent $450,000 in opposition to Proposition 127. Its main funder is Building America’s Future, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative political nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors.
Colorado Sun correspondent Sandra Fish contributed to this report.