This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org.
The last campaign finance filings are in before Colorado’s June 30 primary. And while candidates have been raking in the dough, in a couple of hard fought primaries, they’ve also burned through a lot of it.
In the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District, the state’s most competitive seat, Manny Rutinel and Shannon Bird have been trading blows and spending heavily.
In the pre-primary filing, which goes from April 1 to June 10, Rutinel raised more than $650,000, with just under $610,000 coming from individuals and more than $34,000 coming from PACs. During this same period, his campaign spent more than $1.5 million, leaving with him just under $910,000 cash on hand. He started the period with $1.76 million in the bank.
Meanwhile, Bird raised more than $420,000, with $375,000 coming from individuals and $45,000 coming from PACs. Her campaign, however, burned through $1.2 million leaving her with just less than $300,000 cash on hand. She had started the period with over $1 million in the bank.
Both campaigns have seen outside groups spend millions in this primary race on their behalf. Latino groups and a tech businessman-backed PAC have supported Rutinel, while a PAC that supports women candidates has supported Bird and opposed Rutinel.
Whoever wins the primary will have a lot of ground to make up.
Republican incumbent Gabe Evans, who does not face a primary challenger, continued to add to his campaign war chest. He raised just under $630,000. About $490,000 came from individuals, while about $130,000 came from different PACs and authorized committees. He has $3.4 million cash on hand, the largest campaign warchest of all the candidates.
In the closely watched 1st Congressional District Democratic primary, incumbent Diana DeGette is putting up a fundraising fight. She raised more than $445,000, with about $234,000 coming from individuals and $211,000 coming from PACs. DeGette’s campaign spent more than it brought in during this time period, burning through almost $625,000. Still DeGette continues to have a cash on hand advantage, almost $460,000, that could come in handy in the final weeks of the primary campaign.
She’s facing two primary challengers.
Melat Kiros raised just over $280,000. She spent more than $310,000, like DeGette, burning more cash than she raised during this period. She goes into the primary with about $88,000 cash on hand and more than $1,000 of debt. Most of her money, about $270,000, came from individuals, while she got just under $9,000 from PACs.
CU Regent Wanda James, who is also running to replace DeGette, reported raising just about $40,000, the vast majority came from individuals. She ended the filing period with just about $25,000 cash on hand.
In the Democrat’s primary race for U.S. Senate, incumbent John Hickenlooper raised $900,000, with more than $620,000 coming from individuals, about $234,000 coming from PACs and authorized committees, and almost $39,000 from other receipts. Hickenlooper spent more than twice the amount he brought in during this time. Still, he has almost $3 million cash on hand.
Challenger Julie Gonzales raised about $425,000, with most coming from individuals. She raised just over $8,500 from PACs and had more than $1,300 in refunds. Her campaign only spent about $314,000, but still leaves her with about $226,000, much less cash on hand than Hickenlooper.
How the Democratic primary in the 5th Congressional District turns out could affect how competitive the general election will be.
Democrat Jessica Killin raised almost $420,000, with $306,00 coming from individuals and about $110,000 from PACs and authorized committees. Her campaign spent more than $550,000, in the run-up to the primary.
Meanwhile, Democrat Joe Reagan raised almost $75,000 and spent just over $75,000. He goes into the primary against Killin with just over $32,000 cash on hand.
Killin continues to have a slight campaign cash-on-hand advantage over Republican incumbent Jeff Crank. She has just over $1.37 million cash on hand, while he has a fraction under $1.3 million
Crank raised more than $250,000, with almost $110,000 coming from individuals, while more than $140,000 came from PACs and other authorized committees
Over in Western and Southern Colorado, both parties have primaries for the seat.
In the Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Jeff Hurd reported raising more than $280,000, about $190,000 came from individuals and the rest from PACs. The campaign spent about $610,000 leaving him with $1.6 million in his coffers.
His last minute primary challenger, Ron Hanks, reported raising almost $21,000 from April 1 to June 10. Just over $9,000 of that total Hanks loaned his campaign. He has just over $10,000 in the bank.
In the Democratic primary for the 3rd, Alex Kelloff raised just under $645,000 from individuals and loaned his campaign $1 million. He spent nearly $380,000 and has just over $240,000 cash on hand.
Dwayne Romero, who entered the race right before the filing deadline, raised $180,000, but $70,000 was a loan he made to the campaign. The Romero campaign has more money in the bank than Kelloff, $280,000, as he approaches primary day.
Republicans also have a congressional primary in the 2nd Congressional District. Christina Blunt did not meet the minimum threshold of $5,000 in campaign contributions to file a report. Kelley Dennison had not filed as of publication.
Democratic incumbent Joe Neugse, who does not face a primary challenge, reported raising just under $340,000, with about $187,388 coming from individuals and $150,000 coming from different PACs. He ended the period with almost $3 million cash on hand.
The rest of the state’s congressional races don’t have primaries, but candidates still raised a good amount, for the most part.
Republican Lauren Boebert raised just under $140,000 and ended the period with just over $210,000 in the bank. About $100,000 came from individuals and more than $36,000 came from PACs. Last month, Trump put a call out for someone to challenge Boebert.
Her Democrat opponent, retired Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher, raised almost $1.4 million. Her campaign burned through $1.1 million. Still, Laubacher has more than $3.3 million cash on hand for her longshot bid to unseat Boebert in Colorado’s most conservative congressional district.
Democrat Brittany Pettersen, who represents the 7th Congressional District, raised more than $300,000, with about half coming from individuals and the other half from PACs. She ended with almost $1 million on hand.
Republican challenger Tim Bennet raised just over $16,300. More than $8,500 came from individuals, almost $1,000 from PACs, and over $6,000 in refunds. He’s spent just over $20,000 and has only $1,350 on hand.
In the 6th Congressional District, Democrat Jason Crow raised $375,000. While he doesn’t have a primary, his campaign spent $414,000, more than it brought in. Still he ends with $2.5 million cash on hand.
Republican challenger Mel Tewahade raised almost $8,500 and had almost $9,000 cash on hand after burning through most of a $30,000 loan he made to his campaign.
