{"id":2150,"date":"2026-06-10T20:06:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2150"},"modified":"2026-06-10T20:06:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:06:35","slug":"colorado-dem-gov-primary-draws-20m-in-fundraising-super-pac-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2150","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Dem Gov primary draws $20M in fundraising, super PAC spending"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.<\/em><\/p>\n

DENVER<\/strong> | As Colorado\u2019s June 30 primary draws nearer, two strong campaign fundraising performances and a lopsided super PAC spending spree have turned the\u00a0Democratic race for governor\u00a0into a $20 million blockbuster.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, whom a recent\u00a0poll\u00a0showed as the race\u2019s slight favorite, entered June having received more than $4.6 million in direct campaign donations from his supporters, according to disclosures filed with the Colorado secretary of state\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Bennet\u2019s haul would have set a new record for primary fundraising by a candidate for Colorado governor \u2014 if it weren\u2019t for his opponent, Attorney General Phil Weiser, who had raised over $6.4 million as of the same date in his bid to pull off an upset victory over the three-term senator. Weiser\u2019s campaign entered the primary\u2019s final weeks with more than $1.2 million in the bank, substantially more than Bennet\u2019s $388,373 in cash on hand, records showed.<\/p>\n

But Bennet\u2019s supporters have more than offset that deficit with the $8 million amassed by Rocky Mountain Way, a so-called independent expenditure committee or super PAC promoting his candidacy.<\/p>\n

Unlike candidate committees \u2014 which are subject under Colorado law to relatively strict limits, like a maximum donation of $1,450 and a prohibition on corporate contributions \u2014 super PACs can raise and spend unlimited sums of money from anyone, but are barred from coordinating directly with candidates.<\/p>\n

A pro-Weiser super PAC, Fighting For Colorado, has raised about $1.3 million.<\/p>\n

With their combined financial firepower running into the tens of millions of dollars as of the beginning of June, the two Democratic candidates and their supporters are poised to blanket the airwaves and online platforms with advertising spending in the final weeks of the race.<\/p>\n

Despite Bennet\u2019s super PAC advantage, the race is a more evenly matched contest than Colorado\u2019s last competitive Democratic primary for governor in 2018, when then-U.S. Rep. Jared Polis eased to victory, having poured an unprecedented $9 million of his own fortune into his campaign by June, while his three opponents struggled to break the $1 million mark.<\/p>\n

GOP candidates<\/h4>\n

Things are more lopsided financially\u00a0on the Republican side, where Victor Marx, a Colorado Springs ministry leader and first-time candidate, is widely considered the three-way GOP primary\u2019s frontrunner after building a commanding fundraising lead over his opponents.<\/p>\n

The $2.3 million spent by Marx\u2019s campaign committee by the end of May was more than four times the $479,385 spent by his closest Republican rival, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer of Weld County. State Rep. Scott Bottoms of Colorado Springs trails behind with $215,785 in total campaign expenditures.<\/p>\n

Marx has also benefited from super PAC support from Victory for Colorado, a committee launched last year and shut down in early May, and the Freedom Independent Expenditure Committee, which has spent more than $380,000 to support Marx\u2019s candidacy since being registered in November.<\/p>\n

The bulk of Freedom IEC\u2019s funding this year has come from Sema Construction, a Centennial-based civil construction firm that has contributed $400,000 to support Marx\u2019s candidacy.<\/p>\n

Kirkmeyer received $93,716 in support in May and June from Colorado Strong, a super PAC that has supported Republican candidates in Colorado since 2017.<\/p>\n

The winner of the Democratic primary will be heavily favored to win the general election in November. Coloradans have elected only one Republican governor in the last 50 years, and Democrats are widely expected to gain ground in a favorable midterm election year.<\/p>\n

Big donors and lobbyists<\/h4>\n

Nearly a third of the funding for Rocky Mountain Way, the pro-Bennet super PAC, has come from one source: billionaire former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has contributed $2.6 million.<\/p>\n

The PAC\u2019s second-biggest contributor, at just over $1 million, is Brighter Future for Colorado, a \u201cdark money\u201d nonprofit that does not disclose its donors. The Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the Colorado League of Charter Schools are also among the top donors to Rocky Mountain Way.<\/p>\n

The top donors to the pro-Weiser super PAC, Fighting for Colorado, are Jay Monroe, Jason Mendelson and Jim Kelley, all venture capitalists who have contributed a total of $100,000 each.<\/p>\n

At least two donors \u2014 philanthropist David Merage and private equity investor Ron Davis \u2014 have each contributed at least $20,000 to both the pro-Bennet and pro-Weiser super PACs.<\/p>\n

More than 200 other individuals have contributed at least $500 directly to both Bennet\u2019s and Weiser\u2019s campaigns, a list that features real estate developer Pat Hamill, Xcel Energy Colorado president Robert Kenney, and a host of veteran Colorado lobbyists, including Scott Chase, Stan Garnett, Peter Kirsch, Jep Seman and R.D. Sewald.<\/p>\n

Primary ballots were scheduled to be mailed to all active registered voters in Colorado this week. <\/p>\n

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Read more Rockies break skid with 7-3 win over Cubs behind Hunter Goodman\u2019s two-run homer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Denver native Kyle Freeland becomes Rockies\u2019 all-time innings leader against Brewers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. DENVER | As Colorado\u2019s June 30 primary draws nearer, two strong campaign fundraising performances and a lopsided super PAC spending spree have turned the\u00a0Democratic race for governor\u00a0into a $20 million blockbuster. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, whom a recent\u00a0poll\u00a0showed as the race\u2019s slight favorite, entered June having received […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[258],"tags":[1238,3519,3520,39,3521,853,497,1242],"class_list":["post-2150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-news","tag-barbara-kirkmeyer","tag-fighting-for-colorado","tag-mike-bloomberg","tag-phil-weiser","tag-rocky-mountain-way","tag-scott-bottoms","tag-u-s-sen-michael-bennet","tag-victor-marx"],"yoast_head":"\nColorado Dem Gov primary draws $20M in fundraising, super PAC spending - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2150\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado Dem Gov primary draws $20M in fundraising, super PAC spending - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This story was first published at Colorado Newsline. 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