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Colorado Ethics Commission Probes 17 Democrats Over Vail Retreat Contributions
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Ethics Commission Probes 17 Democrats Over Vail Retreat Contributions

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission, on Tuesday, voted to move forward with investigations into 17 state Democratic lawmakers who have been accused of accepting illegal contributions to pay for an October retreat in Vail. Colorado Common Cause filed complaints against members of the Colorado Opportunity Caucus, a group of moderate Democrats in the General Assembly. The complaints are against: Sen. Lindsey Daugherty of Arvada, the group’s chair and Rep. Shannon Bird of Westminster. Bird has said she did not participate in the retreat, nor was she part of the conversation seeking $25,000 from One Main Street Colorado to pay for hotel rooms at the Sonnenalp Vail resort for the Oct. 3-5 retreat. She said in a statement Tuesday that s...
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Why Colorado’s Elections No Longer Belong to Its Voters
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, Commentary, State

Why Colorado’s Elections No Longer Belong to Its Voters

By: Vince Bzdek | Commentary, The Denver Gazette Why is Michael Bloomberg, the former presidential candidate, three-term New York mayor and founder of the financial info firm that bears his name, spending millions on Colorado elections? The short answer: because he can. The liberal New Yorker has donated $2.7 million to support Denver’s flavored tobacco ban, Referendum 301, to be decided on Tuesday. Two of his donations to that campaign were the largest individual contributions in Denver history, according to an Axios analysis. Bloomberg is also the largest donor in the 2026 governor’s race, giving $500,000 to a super-PAC supporting U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s campaign. “This is a very large donation for a statewide race,” Seth Masket, professor of political sc...
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Anatomy of a Coloradan Addicted to Making Political Donations
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Anatomy of a Coloradan Addicted to Making Political Donations

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice America may be the land of the free but it is also the land of addictions. The 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that 28.2 million Americans have a “drug use disorder” and the National Council on Problem Gambling reports that approximately 2.5 million Americans have “severe problems” gambling and an additional 5 to 8 million have mild or moderate issues. The dangers of addictions to drugs and/or gambling are well known, highly publicized, and well studied, but the dangers of being addicted to making political donations aren’t. At least until now. Addictions generally seem to be a bigger problem for the young than the old. The American Psychiatric Association reports that people over the age of 60 are...
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Parents vs. unions: The battle over Mesa County’s schools
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Parents vs. unions: The battle over Mesa County’s schools

By Kent Zook | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The same people and organizations trying to replace District 51 School board members, Andrea Haitz, Will Jones, and Angela Lema are the ones responsible for neglecting our schools in the first place. Previous board leadership allowed facilities to deteriorate to the point that repair costs became unfeasible. Union-backed leaders pushed for schools to remain closed longer during COVID-19 and for students to continue masking despite mounting evidence that masks did little to prevent transmission. On August 17, 2021, under the old union-backed board, a public meeting abruptly ended after just 30 minutes of comment, even though 45 minutes had been allotted. The board members, backed by the union, simply walked out with a police escort...
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Why is Denver trying to buy Western Slope school boards?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Why is Denver trying to buy Western Slope school boards?

By Christy Anderson | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In the Grand Junction area you may have seen flyers in your mailbox accusing our current school board members, Andrea Haitz, Angela Lema and “Willie” (Will) Jones of being “enemies” who “cannot be trusted.” These false attack ads come from Denver’s “Students Deserve Better” campaign. After digging into the financials, Students Deserve Better is also majorly funded by none other than the Colorado Education Association.  The teachers union has a long history that started in the 1970s of using money to influence local elections, but this year’s spending is unprecedented. The Colorado Education Association (CEA) is pouring tens of thousands of dollars into our local school board race to regain control and push their highly...
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Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democrat Lawmakers Face Scrutiny Over Vail Retreat Funded by Undisclosed Donors

By Taylor Dolven and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Opportunity Caucus, considered among the more moderate Democrats in the legislature, organized the event. The caucus was formed as a nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors. At least 17 Democratic state lawmakers gathered with lobbyists during a weekend retreat at a Vail hotel organized by the nonprofit Colorado Opportunity Caucus. The two-day gathering included “educational panels” and discussions, according to state Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat who is chair of the caucus formed in January as a nonprofit. She said the purpose of the event was to “get a group of pragmatic, diverse legislators together to really talk about our goals for our caucus based on what we think the Colorado people really want ...
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Who’s funding Vibrant Denver? Big developers, nonprofits and tax-funded arts groups
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Denverite, Approved, Local

Who’s funding Vibrant Denver? Big developers, nonprofits and tax-funded arts groups

By Kyle Harris | Denverite One notable booster hasn’t donated yet. A who’s who of Denver cultural giants, developers, construction industry leaders and nonprofits are donating big to Mayor Mike Johnston’s Vibrant Denver bond campaign. Vibrant Denver Bond, the committee raising money for the effort, had brought in more than $1 million as of the end of September.  The opposition to the bond, Citizens for NO New Debt, had raised just over $3,000. The group argues that Denver should avoid incurring debt and hold off on starting new projects until the city can afford to do the work without bonds. Taxpayer-funded cultural groups are among the biggest donors. The five regional taxpayer-funded Tier One Scientific and Cultural Facilities District institutions – the Denve...
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Trump Raises $1.5 Billion Since White House Return
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Breitbart, Approved, National

Trump Raises $1.5 Billion Since White House Return

By Simon Kent | Breitbart President Donald Trump is a winner and the public knows it. Witness the $1.5 billion he has raised since being returned to the White House, hitting a milestone in contributions as leaderless Democrats flail and founder in his wake. Trump confirmed his financial windfall, driven by the runaway 2024 electoral triumph, by taking to social media. “I am pleased to report that I have raised, since the Great Presidential Election of 2024, in various forms and political entities, in excess of 1.5 Billion Dollars. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he wrote early Wednesday on Truth Social. The Hill reports the main super PAC affiliated with Trump, MAGA Inc., reported nearly $200 million in the bank this month, as it looks to the 2026 mid...
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Summer testing shows Google Gmail sent GOP donation emails to spam while ActBlue delivered
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New York Post, Approved, National

Summer testing shows Google Gmail sent GOP donation emails to spam while ActBlue delivered

By Thomas Barrabi | New York Post Google is at it again — and GOP campaign donations could be a casualty. The search giant has been caught this summer flagging Republican fundraising emails as “dangerous” spam — keeping them from hitting gmail users’ inboxes — while leaving similar solicitations from Democrats untouched, a consulting firm warned. That’s despite repeatedly sparking headlines and lawsuits in recent years over the allegedly partisan practice. Last year, a federal judge tossed a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee that complained of biased email filtering. In 2023, the Federal Election Commission dismissed an RNC complaint alleging discrimination in Gmail’s spam filters. Nonetheless, Targeted Victory – whose clients include the National Republican...
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The $5 million shadow ledger: Pueblo Democrats’ HQ funded by bingo, not disclosed in filings
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Approved, Local, Rocky Mountain Voice, Top Stories

The $5 million shadow ledger: Pueblo Democrats’ HQ funded by bingo, not disclosed in filings

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice A building paid for with bingo money. A political party using it as their headquarters. And more than $5 million in unreported financial activity that, to date, no one has answered for. That’s the core of Pueblo resident Jonathan Ambler’s ongoing legal challenge against the Pueblo County Democratic Party and its Central Committee. Ambler, a former Republican candidate, filed two complaints last fall alleging the party used a bingo-funded building for years without reporting it in TRACER. After the Colorado Secretary of State dismissed both complaints in April, Ambler – without an attorney – petitioned the Denver District Court for judicial review. "If political activities are occurring at the building – and the Party itself refers to it as...
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