A coordinated assortment of outside groups has so far poured more than $6 million into winning key legislative seats across the state, swamping the spending on races that typically cost candidates a fraction of the sums being spent on their behalf, The Colorado Statesman reports.

Senate Majority Leader John Morse, a Democrat, has been the biggest beneficiary of so-called 527s associated with a registered agent named Julie Wells. The outside spending has dwarfed what the candidates themselves have raised and spent, The Statesman reports.

For his own re-election, Morse has raised $145,940 as of Oct. 18. His Republican challenger, Owen Hill, has raised $105,273. But the Wells 527s and IECs have spent $715,281 on TV ads, mailers and door-to-door canvassing, either supporting Morse or opposing Hill.

Noting how much he and Morse had raised on their campaigns, Hill told the Statesman, “we’re spending less than a quarter of the messaging in this campaign. It’s not good for the health of our political dialogue.”

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

With the 2010 election two weeks away, the peak of the campaign fund raising season has passed, but there still were some interesting developments in the latest contribution and spending filings.

Here are the highlights in races of interest to education:

State Board of Education

The biggest change from previous reports was in the 2nd District race for State Board of Education, where Democratic incumbent Angelika Schroeder reported raising $8,638.

Among contributors of note were Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall ($100), Aurora Superintendent John Barry ($100), Colorado Springs District 11 CFO Glenn Gustafson ($100), Pueblo County school board member Bill Bregar ($25) and CU regent candidate Melissa Hart ($75).

Schroeder gathered lots of contributions from her home base of Boulder County, including $100 from District Attorney Stan Garnett (the Democratic candidate for attorney general), $25 from county assessor Jerry Roberts and $100 from civic leader Josie Heath. (Heath’s husband, Rollie, is a Democratic state senator and member of the Senate Education Committee.)

The Boulder and Jefferson County Democratic Party organizations also contributed to Schroeder.

The campaign committee for Republican candidate Kaye Ferry of Vail reported raising $1,304, the bulk of it from the Eagle and Jefferson County Republican organizations. Ferry also reported spending $3,726 of her own money on the race.

The 2nd District stretches from western Adams County almost to Glenwood Springs and includes the resort towns of Summit and Eagle counties. Democrats have 136,637 active registered voters, followed by 125,695 unaffiliateds and 96,200 Republicans. Former SBE member Jared Polis now represents the district in the U.S. House.

There are two open SBE seats on the ballot this year. Republican Paul Lundeen has raised $8,340 in the 5th District, compared to $405 for Democrat Karl Beck. In the 6th District Democrat William Townend reports raising $63, while Republican Debora Scheffel hasn’t filed reports.

Republicans have strong registration edges in both districts, and outgoing incumbents Peggy Littleton (5th) and Randy DeHoff (6th) are members of the GOP.

Several observers expect the SBE to maintain its 4-3 Republican edge, with Schroeder holding her seat and Republicans winning in the two open districts.

CU Board of Regents

Fund raising in the race for an at-large seat on the Board of Regents is approaching the $170,000 mark.

Hart, a professor at the CU law school, reported raising $101,172, with $41,032 of that still on hand. Interesting names among her recent contributors include Bruce Caughey, deputy executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives ($20); former congressman and state higher ed chief David Skaggs ($50); socialites Marvin and Judi Wolf ($250 each), and former CU-Denver Chancellor M. Roy Wilson ($250). She also received $800 from the Colorado WINS Small Donor Committee (a public employee group), and $400 from the District 12 Educators Association Political Action Committee.

Republican incumbent Steve Bosley reported $66,703 raised, with $16,361 still on hand. The most recent report lists contributions of $200 from GOP regent Jim Geddes, $250 from former National Western Stock Show head Pat Grant, $50 from former regent Peter Dietze and $200 from Bill Hybl of the El Pomar Foundation. (Hybl’s son Kyle is chair of the regents and is an El Pomar vice president.)

In the 1st District, incumbent Democratic regent Michael Carrigan reported raising $2,323 on top of the $17,882 he had on hand at the beginning of the election cycle, Republican Alexander Maller reports raising $280.

In the open 4th District regent seat, Republican Suzanne Sharkey has raised $18,224 while Democrat Robert Bishop-Cotner reported $3,300. Bishop-Cotner, a Brighton High School teacher, received a $1,000 contribution from the Public Education Committee, a small donor committee affiliated with the Colorado Education Association.

Republicans currently have a 5-4 edge on the board, so Democrats will gain the majority if Hart succeeds in her well-funded challenge, and if Carrigan and Sharkey win, as is expected.

Legislative races

The Public Education Committee reported a cumulative total of $765,367 raised and $161,459 on hand as of the most recent report. The committee has spent $914,300 – it had $320,392 in the bank when the campaign season started.

The committee has donated significant amounts to Democratic legislative candidates and to gubernatorial hopeful John Hickenlooper, Treasurer Cary Kennedy and Secretary of State Bernie Buescher. All, of course, are Democrats. It’s also contributed to various 527 committees that are affiliated with the coordinated campaign efforts of wealthy donors and labor unions that have aided many successful Democratic campaigns in recent Colorado elections. In the latest reporting period the committee gave $60,000 to 21st Century Colorado, one of those groups.

The bulk of the committee’s legislative contributions were made earlier (see this Education News Colorado story for details on union contributions.) But, in the latest period the committee gave $2,125 each to Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada, and to Pete Lee, Democratic candidate in Colorado Springs’ House District 18.

Stand for Children, the education reform group, gave $600 in the current cycle to Rep. Jeanne Labuda, D-Denver. (Read this story about prior Stand contributions.)

No new contributions were reported by committees associated with the American Federation of Teachers-Colorado or the CEA-affiliated Jefferson County Education Association. (See this earlier story for an analysis of giving by various education interest groups to legislative candidates.)

In one of this year’s most hotly contested legislative races, total contributions now exceed $180,000. In House District 47, Democrat Carole Partin, former president of the Pueblo Education Association, has raised $70,784, while Republican Keith Swerdfeger has raised $110,707. Various education groups are on opposite sides in this battle.

The seat, which covers parts of Pueblo and Fremont counties, has been held by Democrat Buffie McFayden, who’s leaving the legislature because of term limits.

Union and reform groups also are opposite sides of these races:

• House District 3 (Denver and Arapahoe County): Democratic Rep. Daniel Kagan, $54,975; Republican Christine Mastin, $53,386.
• House District 30 (Adams County): Republican Rep. Kevin Priola, $99,078; Democrat and retired teacher Laura Huerta, $21,841.

Education groups all have lined up behind the Democratic candidates in these races:

• Senate District 6 (Colorado Springs): Democratic Sen. John Morse, $145,940; Republican Owen Hill $105,273. Morse is Senate majority leader and was the prime architect of the higher education flexibility law passed by the 2010 legislature.
• Senate District 20 (Jefferson County): Democrat Cheri Jahn, $107,484; Republican John Odom $26,518.

Budget busting amendments

The piles of cash raised to oppose amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101 continued to grow, according to the most recent reports.

Coloradans for Responsible Reform, the business/labor/education/civic coalition opposing the three budget-slashing proposals, has raised $6.7 million total and has $102,418 on hand. It raised $376,749 in the latest reporting period.

Recent contributions of interest include $1,000 from Jim Giesemer, director of the University of Denver’s Strategic issues program; $25,000 from the Benson Mineral Group, founded by CU President Bruce Benson; $100,000 from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association of New York and $150,000 from the Colorado Association of Realtors.

The CEA and the National Education Association have contributed heavily in past cycles to the opposition effort but weren’t among recent contributors. AFT-Colorado contributed $4,810 to another opposition group, the Colorado League of Responsible Voters, in the most recent cycle. That group has raised a total of $520,600.

CO Tax Reforms, the group of anti-tax activists supporting 60. 61 and 101, reports raising a total of $17,463 and has $11,394 on hand.

But, there’s another, more shadowy group pushing the three amendments, a non-profit named Active Citizens Together.

That group registered with the secretary of state as a non-profit corporation in 2001, with Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights author Doug Bruce listed as the registered agent. Bruce was listed as registered agent as recently as the group’s 2008 report. The current agent is Doug Campbell of Arvada, a longtime Bruce associate who served as Bruce’s aide during his short career in the legislature. The group is not registered with the secretary of state as an issue committee.

But, a glossy, two-sided, multi-colored flier supporting 60, 61 and 101 recently went to voters under the group’s name.

Coloradans for Responsible Reform this week filed a complaint with the secretary of state, arguing Active Citizens Together is legally required to register as an issue committee and report its contributors and spending.

Based on a court deposition Bruce gave on Oct. 5, the opposition group claims, “ACT apparently is the largest known donor to the effort paying, according to Bruce, $100,000 to $200,000 to a professional signature gathering firm for the petition drive that resulted in 60, 61 and 101 being placed on the ballot.”

The group also claims, “ACT continued to fund campaign activities as recently as the week of October 11, when a mailing from ACT in support of the measures arrived at an unknown number of homes.” (Read the news release from Coloradans for Responsible Reform.)

According to a Denver Post blog item, Bruce told The Associated Press Tuesday that the opposition group is trying to link him to the three proposals because he’s widely disliked by the public. But, according to Post reporter Tim Hoover, “Bruce dodged questions about the substance of the complaint filed by opponents: that he illegally used his charity, Active Citizens Together, to fund petition drives for the three initiatives.” (Read full blog post.)

The most recent fund raising and spending reports were due Monday and covered activity between Sept. 30 and Oct. 13. The next report deadlines are Nov. 1 and Dec. 2.

• Search campaign finance records on the secretary of state’s website.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

The heated U.S. Senate race between Republican Ken Buck and Democrat Michael Bennet yesterday turned to money, with both sides attacking each other over campaign donations and income sources.

Buck, the Weld County district attorney, attacked incumbent U.S. Sen. Bennet for having made investments in the past into controversial foreign companies, including Russian-based Gazprom, the China National Offshore Corporation, China-based Huaneng Power International, and PetroChina Company.

In a campaign news advisory yesterday, Buck’s camp said Bennet profited from the investments. The campaign says the companies have ties to Iran and genocide in the Darfur region in Sudan.

“The fact that Bennet invested in companies with ties to tyrannical regimes and genocide, should be of great concern to the people of Colorado,” John Swartout, Buck’s campaign manager, said in a statement.

Bennet eventually divested the stocks, but Buck’s camp believes the investments were wrong in the first place.

Meanwhile, Bennet’s campaign yesterday called on Buck to denounce the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for collecting contributions from foreign corporations to fund campaign attack ads, including ads that attack Bennet on behalf of Buck.

“Ken Buck should reject the Chamber’s support and call on them to immediately stop running ads on his behalf with tainted foreign money,” Bennet campaign spokesman Trevor Kincaid said in a statement.

Reports surfaced this week that the Chamber has been using foreign funds to finance its political campaigning in America. It is illegal to use foreign dollars to fund U.S. elections campaigns.

The Chamber says the foreign companies pay dues that are used to support operations, but not political activities.

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By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

The education advocacy group Stand for Children has contributed money to nine of the 18 legislative candidates it previously endorsed, according to the latest campaign financial reports filed with the secretary of state.

The Oct. 4 reports didn’t show a lot of other financial changes in most races of interest to education, except that opponents of amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101 continued to raise and spend significant cash.

Organized last year, the state affiliate of Stand for Children is making its first foray into legislative politics after its involvement in Denver school board races in 2009.

The group gave $4,000 each to House District 38 Democratic incumbent Joe Rice, House 47 Republican candidate Keith Swerdfeger, House 56 Democratic incumbent Christine Scanlan and Senate District 11 Democratic incumbent John Morse.

Contributions of $3,000 apiece went to House District 3 Republican candidate Christine Mastin, District 42 Democratic candidate Christine Fields and Senate District 6 candidate Ellen Roberts.

The group gave $2,000 to Republican incumbent Kevin Priola in House District 30 and $1,000 to Democrat-turned-independent Kathleen Curry in House 61, an incumbent who’s running a write-in campaign.

Candidates endorsed by Stand but receiving no money include House incumbents Jeanne Labuda, Mark Ferrandino and Beth McCann and senators Chris Romer and Mike Johnston. All are Democrats who represent Denver districts.

Endorsed challengers who didn’t get any cash include Democrats Angela Williams in House District 7, Pete Lee in House 18 and Cheri Jahn in Senate District 20. The group also endorsed but didn’t contribute to GOP incumbent Carole Murray in House District 45, who is running unopposed.

The Stand small-donor committee has raised $32,375 this year. Political committees affiliated with the Colorado Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers-Colorado have given much larger sums but didn’t report any new legislative contributions in the Oct. 4 filings. (See this Education News Colorado story for analysis of which education groups are supporting which candidates. And, see this story for more details on union contributions.)

Cash continues to flow for opponents of amendments

Coloradans for Responsible Reform, the main group opposing the three budget-cutting amendments, reported raising $443,797 and spending $887,390 in the most recent reporting period. The group has raised a total of about $6.4 million and reported only about $5,000 cash on hand.

Contributions of interest in the latest report include $50,000 from the Jobs and Schools First Committee of AFT-Colorado; $20,000 from Forest City, the company that redeveloped Stapleton; $100,000 from the Service Employees International Union, and $10,000 from the politically influential law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

CO Tax Reforms, the group supporting the three measures, has raised a total of $17,438.

A new opposition group, the Colorado League of Responsible Voters, registered on Aug. 4 and has raised $322,600. It has about $136,000 on hand. CEA and the AFT’s Jobs and Schools committee have both contributed.

Cash continues to pile up the race for the at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents.

Incumbent Republican Steve Bosley reported raising $62,103 and having $39,184 on hand. Democrat Melissa Hart, a professor at the CU law school, reported raising $88,947 and having $69,197 on hand.

There are two more financial reporting deadlines, Oct. 18 and Nov. 1, before the election. Candidates and committees have to make a final report in December.

Print

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The Colorado Education Association may be the 800-pound education group in Colorado politics, but that doesn’t mean other interest groups aren’t trying to weigh in on 2010 legislative races, Education News Colorado reports.

To get a sense for who’s supporting whom, Education News Colorado reviewed legislative candidate contributions by the CEA-affiliated Public Education Committee and the AFT Colorado Federation of Teachers, School, Health and Public Employees Small Donor Committee, along with endorsements or contributions by three other groups.

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes has struggled to raise campaign funds in his primary bid against former 3rd District Congressman Scott McInnis — now, the Evergreen businessman faces more than $27,000 in fines for campaign finance violations that include nearly $43,000 in reimbursements to the candidate for gas mileage, The Colorado Statesman reports.

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STATE BILL COLORADO

Colorado candidates are now making public their fundraising totals for June. Here’s how news organizations are covering the story.

The Colorado Independent: Widely seen as the front-runner for the GOP nomination for Colorado state treasurer, J.J. Ament has fallen badly behind Walker Stapleton in fund raising. As of the end of June, Stapleton had amassed more than $226,000 in cash to spend between now and the August primary. Ament has just $76,000 on hand.

The Colorado Independent: While none of the gubernatorial candidates had filed June fund-raising reports as of 3 p.m. today, the campaign for Democrat John Hickenlooper released preliminary numbers to the press at 2:30 p.m.

The Denver Post: Democrat John Hickenlooper raised about three times the amount of money Republican Scott McInnis collected last month in the race for governor.

Published below is a press release from the camp of gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper:

Hickenlooper

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Editor’s Note: This bill has since been introduced and has been titled SB10-203. It’s published below this report.

By Matt Masich, STATE BILL COLORADO

Colorado lawmakers are introducing legislation today in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations and labor unions to make unlimited independent expenditures advocating for political candidates or issues.

Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, and House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, are sponsoring a bill, to be introduced before the day is out in the state Senate, that they say would close a loopholes in the state’s campaign finance laws created by Citizens United.

“If we do nothing,” Carroll said, “we will have literally, potentially an unlimited amount of corporate and labor union spending without disclosures in the state of Colorado, up to and including foreign corporations….”

The proposed bill would force corporations and unions that make independent expenditures of $1,000 or more to register an “independent expenditure committee” with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. These committee’s finances would be made searchable on that agency’s website.

Citizens United opened up another gap in state law, Carroll said.

“Colorado campaign finance law prohibits foreign persons from being able to contribute to Colorado’s campaigns,” she said. But there are currently no prohibitions on foreign corporations; the proposed bill would ban such contributions.

“We’ve crafted a proposal that the citizens deserve, Weissmann said, adding that the measure would make it so that “individuals, corporations and unions are all under the same rules if they start playing politics.”

Carroll said she imagined some corporations and unions might oppose the bill, but that she didn’t know for certain of any opposition. If it passes, she said, it would be enacted immediately in anticipation of the 2010 elections.

Carroll and Weissmann distributed a fact sheet, below, to support their push for greater disclosure from corporations and unions.

Citizens

SB203

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Political campaign spending, you might say, is trending through the roof, and not just on the federal level. State politicians and political issue committees are raising historic sums, according to a study released today by the National Institute on Money in State Politics. And the spending works. Incumbent lawmakers raise more money than their opponents and they win 95 percent of the time. In 2004, Colorado politicians and committees spent$20 million winning and losing votes. In 2008, they spent $85 million.

At that rate– quadrupling every four years– $340 million will be spent on state races and issues in 2012, a conservative estimate perhaps given that it doesn’t take into account the changes that will flow from the recent Supreme Court Citizens United ruling lifting limits on corporate spending, The Colorado Independent reports.

Overview

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton announced Monday that her campaign raised $816,000 for the first quarter of this year — an increase of about 48 percent.

But her opponents are looking forward to Norton’s final cash on hand numbers, which were still being tabulated Monday. The former lieutenant governor’s campaign spokesman, Nate Strauch, said cash on hand “should be around” $650,000 when spending is tabulated.

Norton, who has received generous funding from national interests, has raised nearly $1.9 million. Despite her fundraising abilities, primary opponent Ken Buck, the conservative Weld County District Attorney, finished nearly dead even with Norton in the March caucuses.

But in a news release issued Monday, Norton’s campaign focused on her grassroots appeal, stating that she is the “only conservative candidate with the ability to parlay grassroots support into a strong campaign war chest.” The release states that 83 percent of Norton’s 4,560 individual donors reside in Colorado.

“From day one my focus in this race has been on the issues and on appointed (Democratic U.S.) Sen. Michael Bennet, and it has proven to be a message that resonates with Coloradans,” Norton said in the release. “I would like to thank the thousands of citizens who participated in the caucus process for their enthusiasm and for their financial support as we continue the march to November.”

Buck’s campaign said Monday that they were not yet ready to release the latest fundraising numbers. But they pointed to heavy spending on the part of Norton’s campaign.

“Jane Norton is spending her campaign money like the Democrats in D.C. are spending taxpayer dollars,” said Owen Loftus, spokesman for the Buck campaign.

Meanwhile, neither Democratic U.S. Senate candidate had released their fundraising numbers for the quarter as of Monday.

But a spokesman for Bennet’s campaign, Craig Hughes, said they “expect to report a strong quarter, with far more individual donations than any of our opponents.” The campaign announced on Friday that it has mounted a petition drive to ensure a spot for Bennet on the Aug. 10 primary ballot.

Former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who is challenging Bennet without contributions from political action committees, earned an easy nine-point caucus night victory over his well-funded and nationally backed challenger.

The Romanoff campaign said over the weekend that they would earn a spot on the primary ballot from assembly delegates.

“We respect every voter — including the 23,000 Democrats who attended the precinct caucuses last month,” Romanoff campaign manager Bill Romjue said in a statement. “We are grateful to everyone who participated in that process — and proud to have won the caucuses, despite the barrage of corporate cash aimed against us.”

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