By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun
The dollars are aimed at helping more moderate candidates beat their more liberal opponents, including a handful of incumbents. It’s paying for ads and mailers in districts across the Denver area and one in the high country.
About $2 million in untraceable money has flowed into a handful of Democratic statehouse primaries in recent weeks to help more moderate candidates beat their more liberal opponents, including several incumbents.
The funds come from three nonprofits that don’t have to report their donors and are being routed through a convoluted web of eight state-level super PACs, some of which have names that appear aimed at deceiving people into thinking they are grassroots organizations. The dark money is paying for ads and mailers in districts across the Denver area and one in the high country, according to campaign finance reports filed for fundraising and spending through June 10.
“There’s always been money in the primaries,” said former Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat, “but it wasn’t at this level.”
The old Democratic primary spending battles, Fenberg said, used to play out between clear-cut groups: trial lawyers vs. medical malpractice insurers. Charter schools vs. teachers unions.
Not anymore.
“This feels less issue based and more cultural,” he said.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE COLORADO SUN
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