Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Campaign Finance

Money didn’t win Colorado’s primary. The ground game did.
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Money didn’t win Colorado’s primary. The ground game did.

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board One of Colorado's biggest races still isn't settled. Two days after the polls closed, the Republican primary for governor had not been called. Victor Marx led Barb Kirkmeyer by about 2,000 votes statewide—39.86 percent to 39.43 percent, with Scott Bottoms third at 20.71 percent—in the Secretary of State's Thursday morning count. Marx's edge, 2,181 votes out of more than 500,000 cast, sits just outside Colorado's mandatory recount range, which trips at half a percentage point.  On the Democrat side, the race was settled. Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, 56.71 percent to 43.29 percent. Colorado doesn't finish voting when the polls close. And neither do Colorado's campaigns. The real story from Tues...
High Court Removes Limits on Party Coordination With Federal Candidates
Approved, DENVER7, National

High Court Removes Limits on Party Coordination With Federal Candidates

By Shannon Ogden | Denver7 The ruling allows national parties to make direct contributions to candidate campaigns and is expected to give Republicans a short-term financial advantage. The Supreme Court struck down limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president. The limits had been in place to prevent large donors from circumventing caps on contributions to a candidate by directing money to a party with the understanding the money would be spent for that candidate. The ruling means national parties will now be able to make direct contributions to candidate campaigns. The decision is also expected to give Republicans a short-term boost because they have a large cash advantage over Democrats. READ ...
Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk

By: Colleen Slevin and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Kiros has tapped into the national discontent for incumbents among Democratic voters and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that has DeGette’s supporters incredibly nervous. 29-year-old democratic socialist is giving U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette her biggest challenge in the 30 years since she was first elected to represent Denver, appearing on the verge of pushing Colorado’s longest serving member of Congress out of Washington. Melat Kiros, who was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders last week, has tapped into the national discontent among Democratic voters toward incumbents and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that at the very least has DeGette’s supporters incre...
Colorado Democrats Clash Over Identity and Electability in High Stakes CD8 Primary
Washington Examiner, Approved, State

Colorado Democrats Clash Over Identity and Electability in High Stakes CD8 Primary

By: James A. Downs | Washington Examiner Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) will find out his opponent on Tuesday from a contentious Colorado primary that has reopened some of the Democratic Party’s old political wounds.  State Rep. Manny Rutinel, a Hispanic progressive, takes on former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a white moderate, in a race that has been shaped by who is best fit to succeed in a battleground, Latino-plurality district.  Latino members of Congress in recent weeks chastised the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for its involvement in primaries after Randy Villegas prevailed in California’s 22nd District, a Central Valley battleground held by Rep. David Valadao (R-CA). The DCCC endorsed Jasmeet Bains, a moderate assemblywoman, but Vil...
Colorado Secretary of State now prosecutes Pueblo Democrats in bingo finance case it dismissed
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado Secretary of State now prosecutes Pueblo Democrats in bingo finance case it dismissed

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Secretary of State's office dismissed the complaint. Now, after a judge sent the case back, the state itself is the one prosecuting it. On June 15, the office's Elections Division filed its own complaint against the Pueblo County Democrat Party. The complaint alleges the Pueblo County Democrat Party failed to report contributions and expenditures tied to its affiliated Central Committee and its bingo-funded headquarters. 2026.06.15 - AHO Complaint_Pueblo County Democratic Party (1)Download The filing advances a case Pueblo resident Jonathan Ambler spent nearly two years building: that the party financed operations through an affiliated nonprofit and its bingo operation without reporting that activity in state campa...
Super PACs Rush to Defend DeGette as Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Gains Momentum
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Super PACs Rush to Defend DeGette as Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Gains Momentum

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The spending, most of it going toward ads attacking Melat Kiros, is the clearest sign yet that DeGette is at serious risk of being dislodged from Washington after nearly three decades. trio of super PACs is dumping $1.3 million, most of it from unknown sources, into the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in a last-minute effort to prevent longtime U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette from being unseated by political newcomer and Democratic socialist Melat Kiros. The spending, most of it going toward ads attacking Kiros, is the clearest sign yet that DeGette may be at serious risk of being dislodged from Washington after nearly three decades. Kiros, 29, is running as a liberal insurgent and is pitching vote...
Dark Money Groups Pour Millions Into Key Colorado Democratic Primary Battles
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Dark Money Groups Pour Millions Into Key Colorado Democratic Primary Battles

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 ma...
Colorado Governor Candidate Victor Marx Ordered to Return Excess Campaign Donations
CBS Colorado, Approved, State

Colorado Governor Candidate Victor Marx Ordered to Return Excess Campaign Donations

By Shaun Boyd | CBS Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx often points to his prolific fundraising as proof he's the undisputed frontrunner in the race for governor of Colorado. He's also a political enigma as a first-time candidate, with no statewide name recognition, who has participated in just one debate, and yet has raised more than his two Republican opponents combined. It's something that just didn't sit right with Darcy Schoening, who has worked for the Colorado Republican Party and run for office herself. "I don't really have a dog in this fight. I just started investigating Victor Marx because I thought the public needed to know who he is," she said. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT CBS COLORADO
ActBlue CEO Refuses To Answer Questions In Congressional Fraud Probe
Breitbart, Approved, National

ActBlue CEO Refuses To Answer Questions In Congressional Fraud Probe

By Mariane Perez | Breitbart ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones repeatedly invoked her Fifth Amendment rights Wednesday during a congressional hearing on allegations the Democrat fundraising platform accepted foreign-linked donations. Wallace-Jones declined to answer a series of questions from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) regarding alleged foreign donations, fraud controls, and the departure of ActBlue’s legal team. “On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer this question pursuant to my Fifth Amendment rights under the Constitution.” Jordan asked Wallace-Jones about reports that millions of contributions processed by ActBlue in 2024 showed signs of foreign origin. “Your board chairman said 38 million contributions in 2024 had the s...
One Colorado built the GSA network. Now it’s backing the campaign against Initiatives 109 and 110.
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

One Colorado built the GSA network. Now it’s backing the campaign against Initiatives 109 and 110.

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice A political committee called Families Not Politics registered with the state of Colorado on February 10, 2026. It said it existed to protect families. Within three months it had raised nearly $320,000. None of it came from Colorado parents' organizations while calling itself a “grassroots group”.  What it did raise came largely from an abortion rights group, a Planned Parenthood affiliate, a Portland-based PAC that had just abandoned its own ballot campaign in Oregon and the organization behind the Colorado Gender and Sexuality Alliance Network. Together those four sources account for nearly 90% of everything Families Not Politics has taken in. The committee exists to defeat ballot initiatives heading to Colorado ...