While two recent polls showed all the candidates stuck in the single digits ahead of the April 4’s 17-way nonpartisan primary for mayor of Denver, new campaign finance reports collected by Colorado Newsline show that former Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Kelly Brough continues to dominate the money race.
Brough, who served as Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper's chief of staff when he was mayor in the 2000s, took in $1.1 million through Feb. 28, with $530,000 of that coming from the city’s Fair Elections public financing system. Axios also notes she finished the month with a $770,000 war chest, which was also the largest in the race. Businessman Andy Rougeout, who is the only Republican running to lead this dark blue city, took in just shy of $800,000, though almost all of that was self-funded, and he had $440,000 available.
Below is a roundup of how much each major contender brought in through all fundraising sources (Rougeout was the only one to self-fund more than $6,000), as well as their cash-on-hand through the end of February:
- former Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Kelly Brough: $1.1 million raised, $770,000 cash-on-hand
- Businessman Andy Rougeout: $800,000 raised, $440,000 cash-on-hand
- State Rep. Leslie Herod: $760,000 raised, $350,000 cash-on-hand
- former state Sen. Mike Johnston: $730,000 raised, $440,000 cash-on-hand
- State Sen. Chris Hansen: $440,000 raised, $50,000 cash-on-hand
- City Councilwoman Debbie Ortega: $330,000 raised, $170,000 cash-on-hand
- Tattered Cover CEO Kwame Spearman: $210,000 raised, $160,000 cash-on-hand
- Criminal justice activist Lisa Calderon: $180,000 raised, $120,000 cash-on-hand
- Investment banker Trinidad Rodriguez: $150,000 raised, $100,000 cash-on-hand
- Environmental activist Ean Tafoya: $150,000 raised, $50,000 cash-on-hand
The final Fair Elections’ payments of the primary will go out by March 15.
Brough’s allied super PAC A Better Denver, which Axios’ John Frank says is mostly “funded by realtors and developers” also raised an additional $580,000 through Feb. 28. Johnston’s backers at Advancing Denver have taken in $380,000, though it received another $480,000 afterwards; Frank says that the group’s two largest donors are former Davita CEO Kent Thiry, who mulled seeking the GOP nod for governor in 2017, and hedge fund manager Steve Mandel. Herrod also is getting some help from Ready Denver, though it only has spent $120,000 on her behalf so far.
In the all-but-certain event that no one takes a majority in the contest to succeed termed-out incumbent Michael Hancock, the top-two vote-getters would advance to a June 6 general election. Brough, Herod, Ortega, and Calderon would each be the first woman ever elected mayor of Colorado’s capital and largest city. Herod would additionally be the first Black woman or gay person to lead the community, while Ortega would be its first Latina mayor. Calderon, who describes herself as Afro Latina, would also make history by winning.