By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
A pair of complaints against the Pueblo County Democratic Party for failure to report revenue and expenses, as required by state law, have thus far gone unanswered by party officials, according to Tracer and the complainant. One of the complaints was first levied in October.
Jonathan Ambler, who ran as the Republican nominee in House District 46 in 2018, 2020 and 2022, filed two separate complaints against the Pueblo County Democrats related to violation of campaign finance laws.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Elections Division has performed initial investigation into the complaints.
The initial complaint, No. ED2024-77, was filed Oct. 16, 2024, as a result of a Pueblo Chieftain newspaper article related to the finances of the two major Pueblo County political parties, Ambler wrote in the complaint to the secretary of state.
“I searched on Tracer the reports filed by the Pueblo County Democratic Party and noticed that no month-to-month recuring expenses were listed,” he initially complained. “What isn’t listed in the reports is the problem.”
The complaint centered on an ancillary committee named Pueblo County Democratic Central Committee, he wrote.
“This complaint highlighted the failure of the Pueblo County Democratic Party to disclose recurring expenditures and contributions related to the use of an office building owned by its ancillary committee,” Ambler said in a press release received Jan. 24, 2025, by the Rocky Mountain Voice.
Initial review of the complaint “found the allegations credible and timely”, Ambler said. The secretary of state’s office additionally noted, “[the complaint] identified one or more potential violations of Colorado campaign finance law, and it alleged sufficient facts to support a legal and factual basis regarding the alleged violations…The Division determines that complainant’s allegations indicate one or more potential violations of Colorado campaign finance law.”
Ambler alleged expense documentation additionally lacked property tax payments. One or more of the concerns in the complaint were curable, the secretary of state’s office noted, but no documentation of the Pueblo County Democratic Party attempting to cure compliance is documented in Tracer.
The second complaint, No. ED2024-116, was filed Dec. 23, 2024, and alleged the Pueblo County Democratic Party, through its Central Committee, had failed to disclose more than $5.2 million in financial transactions related to a bingo operation across 11 years from 2013-24.
“These revenues, reported in the secretary of state’s Charitable Gaming Quarterly Reports, were not reflected in the campaign finance TRACER system as required by law,” Ambler wrote in the press release.
The secretary of state’s initial review noted that, “based on the information complainant provided, the Division determines that the complaint alleges facts that, if proven, could establish that respondent violated Colorado campaign finance laws.”
Again, the Pueblo County Democratic Party’s Central Committee was notified and provided an opportunity to cure the violation, but no documentation of the Pueblo County Democratic Party attempting to cure compliance is documented in Tracer. The Pueblo County Democratic Party is chaired by Bri Buentello.
“The Division provided the Pueblo County Democratic Party until Jan. 23, 2025, to file a Notice of Intent to Cure or provide evidence demonstrating substantial compliance with state law,” Ambler wrote in the press release. “As of the deadline, no amendments to the Tracer reports related to the complaint have been submitted.”
The failure to report expenses and revenues and his complaints, Ambler said, “highlight critical concerns about financial transparency and accountability.”
He added, “The magnitude of these unreported transactions underscores the importance of campaign finance laws in ensuring the integrity of our electoral process and calls into question the effectiveness of current laws.”