Candidates, Groups Spent $239M on Colorado's 2018 Elections

ACROSS COLORADO – By John Herrick for The Colorado Independent. Political spending in Colorado’s pivotal 2018 midterm election topped $239 million, far more than any prior year, according to an analysis of campaign finance reports filed with the Colorado secretary of state on Thursday.

The previous record was $155 million in 2014.
Several competitive state Senate races, a handful of high-stakes ballot initiatives and a governor’s contest between two wealthy men led to unprecedented spending ahead of the Nov. 6 election.
The investment in ads, consultants, pollsters, campaign literature and signs paid off for several top spenders.
Protect Colorado, an oil and gas industry-backed group, spent more than $37 million in a successful campaign to defeat new oil and gas regulations. The group spent far more than any other issue committee, according to finance reports. So-called issue committees, which have virtually no limits on how much money they can spend or accept, spent about $78 million this year on ballot initiatives.
Governor-elect Jared Polis dropped more than $23 million of his own money on his campaign, outspending his Republican rival State Treasurer Walker Stapleton six to one.

READ MORE in The Colorado Independent.

Photo credit: Nick Ares, Creative Commons, Flickr.