Posted inElection 2020, Politics and Government

Democrats dominate campaign fundraising and spend big to build majority in the Colorado legislature

Democrats are outspending Republicans in state legislative races, and super PACs are pouring in $10 million, as the majority party looks poised to make gains in both chambers. A few of the competitive races are exceeding the $1 million mark with the most expensive contest — a state Senate seat in Adams County — topping […]

Posted inNews, Politics and Government

Nonprofit cash being spent in Colorado campaigns still impossible to trace despite 2019 law

Outside groups spent nearly $1.7 million on eight highly contested Colorado legislative primary races. But it isn’t always easy to figure out where the money came from, despite a 2019 law touted as bringing more transparency to a system that includes cash from dark-money funded nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors. In other instances, discerning […]

Posted inNews, Politics and Government

2020 battle for power at the Capitol starts with these big-money Colorado legislative primaries

Colorado’s legislative primaries are coming down to a battle of partisanship: Is one Republican more conservative than another? Which Democrat will hold the party line? The ideological tests — which mirror the party purity tests in th U.S. Senate race and at the national level — could significantly influence the conversation at the Capitol next […]

Posted inBusiness, Energy, Environment, Politics and Government

Here’s how much the oil and gas industry spent on the 2018 election in Colorado

Seven of the top 10 corporate and nonprofit donors in Colorado’s 2018 midterm election were oil and gas interests that combined to spend more than $34 million — a total that exceeded the campaigns for both candidates in the governor’s race. The money primarily went to support or defeat two competing ballot initiatives. But oil and […]

Posted inBusiness, News, Politics and Government

Colorado election officials dismiss complaint against Better Jobs Coalition super PAC

Colorado’s Secretary of State on Tuesday dismissed a complaint that an independent spending committee improperly paid for radio ads urging people not to sign initiative petitions. A legal analyst for Republican Secretary Wayne Williams deemed the commercials as informational and said they did not violate state campaign-finance law. “It appears Better Jobs Coalition was simply […]