DENVER – With the Colorado 2018 gubernatorial field narrowed down to four Democrats and four Republicans and the primaries just over a month away, campaign finance reports filed this week show Democrats continue to out-raise and out-spend their Republican counterparts.
Democrat Cary Kennedy was the top fundraiser overall during the period, which ran from Jan. 1 to May 2, bringing in $813,000. After spending $650,000, she ended the period with $435,000 in cash on hand.
Mike Johnston, another Democrat, ended the period with the most cash on hand, with $838,000, after he raised an additional $607,000 this period and spent about $500,000.
Rep. Jared Polis gave his campaign another $5 million and spent nearly as much this period. He ended the period with $507,000 in cash on hand.
Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne raised the least among Democrats this period, bringing in $342,000. She spent $479,000 and ended the period with $311,000 in cash on hand.
Most of the Republicans saw less money flowing in over the period.
State Treasurer Walker Stapleton raised $389,000 as he traveled the country doing fundraisers, Westword reports, and spent $450,000. But he still has a formidable $832,000 in cash on hand.
Victor Mitchell ended the period a distant second in on-hand cash among Republicans, with $263,000. He raised just $18,000 during the period and is still using the $3 million loan he gave his campaign.
Doug Robinson, who is Mitt Romney’s nephew, raised $90,000 and spent $422,000, ending the period with just under $100,000 in cash.
And Greg Lopez, who made the primary ballot at the state assembly caucus, raised about $23,000 during the period, spent about $11,000 and ended the period with about $11,000 in cash, according to an amended filing.
Some of the campaigns are still milking separate political action committees linked to their campaigns, though the campaigns cannot coordinate spending with those committees.
The cash figures and latest fundraising numbers will play a role in the lead-up to the primary as candidates buy advertisements to promote themselves and attack other candidates.
Campaign finance reports will also be due bi-weekly ahead of the June 26 primary.
In all, including the candidates no longer in the race, there has already been around $18.4 million raised in the gubernatorial race and nearly $15 million spent. In the 2014 gubernatorial race, spending didn’t top $11 million through the entire race.
