DENVER | Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper has widened his fundraising edge against Republican challenger Bob Beauprez despite recent public missteps that have fueled GOP attacks.
According to financial disclosures released late Tuesday, Hickenlooper raised $545,791 — his largest monthly amount yet. Beauprez, meanwhile, raised $223,510 for the reporting period spanning July 27 through Aug. 27.
The battle for television air time is ramping up, with Democrats in recent days asking supporters in fundraising emails to help offset the $1.8 million ad buy from the Republican Governors Association, which is making the Colorado race a priority. The RGA is airing ads criticizing Hickenlooper’s decision to grant an indefinite stay of execution to Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted of murder for the 1993 deaths of four people at an Aurora Chuck E. Cheese’s.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who heads the RGA, said during a July Denver visit that the Colorado contest is winnable for his party and pledged organizational support for Beauprez. Polling has shown the race to be tied.
The Democratic Governors Association, for its part, said it is reserving $3.3 million in television ads this fall to help Hickenlooper.
Hickenlooper, meanwhile, has promised to avoid running negative ads himself, and his campaign so far has only released YouTube videos, including one in which he struggles through a music lesson with OneRepublic singer Ryan Tedder. The campaign will begin airing television advertising next week, said spokesman Eddie Stern.
“To make our strategy of not running any negative ads work we need to go up and stay up all the way to Election Day,” he said.
So far, Hickenlooper has raised $4 million — more than four times Beauprez’s amount. Beauprez has raised $828,695, and has lent himself another $527,000.
The latest campaign-finance figures show Hickenlooper’s fundraising prowess even in light of several political stumbles in recent months. In June, he appeared flustered while speaking to Colorado sheriffs about gun-control laws he signed last year, telling sheriffs he would have reassessed his support for the legislation had he known the furor it would cause. The comments upset sheriffs who said they felt their opposition to the gun bills was not given consideration.
Last month, Hickenlooper added to the controversy over his Dunlap decision with comments in a yet-to-be-aired CNN interview that became public. In the interview, he suggested he could grant Dunlap clemency should he lose his re-election bid. As it stands, Hickenlooper’s decision for an indefinite stay can be reversed by a subsequent governor.
Those are just recent two instances, Republicans say, that are liabilities that Democrats will have to spend a lot of money to counteract.
“You can’t jump in the shower and laugh that off,” said Beauprez spokesman Allen Fuller, taking a jab at Hickenlooper’s 2010 campaign commercial in which he highlighted his dislike of negative ads by getting in a shower with his clothes on.
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I knew who I was voting for in General, as soon as Primary was announced. Too many jobs left Colorado, and the laws passed and signed do not make Colorado attractive to bring that back. I vote for candidates who can make a decision, and stick to it. To say I am disappointed in present administration is too kind. As a father, grandfather, senior, veteran, retired, the federal and state administration have not been thoughtful of my past life and work, so why would I expect the same people to do better in future? Papers in my mail box, ads on TV, radio gossip will not change that for me. I know who works for me and my peers, as opposed to those who just talk about life, without having lived it, and experiencing the ups and downs.
Uh… Colorado has literally the best performing economy in the United States. https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/broadway_17th/2014/08/colorado-economy-rated-tops-in-nation.html
Maybe you should like…”know what you’re talking” about before you decide who you’re going to vote for. Changing a decision is not a sign of poor leadership. It’s a sign of good leadership. If you make a decision and it’s bad, and then you “stick to it” you are an idiot. If you make a decision and then new information leads to a different decision, what’s wrong with changing? You’d rather people stuck to bad decisions? Actually, that makes sense… Republicans do love sticking with bad decisions.
Honk for the wild geese. They know more about Colorado than you do. With so many store fronts open that have not been put back into business, restuarants closing up for non-patronage, the rich folks prosper. Report by Consumers for 2010 to 2013 show that only top 10% of income folks prospered. Rest of us in middle class, and low income are paying 2 to 3 times as much for what we buy, and banks pay very low interest. Only the gas-oil-coal business is tops for those workers, in spite of Biden, Obama, and Democrats trying to stop it. BLM controls majority of our lands and rake off the income, while we are prevented from using public lands, for protection of jumping mouse, grouse, and animals in our mountains. Hickenlooper has been a real disappointment to me, and my peers with his waffling on Dunlap, Frocking (and he is geologist), and signing gun laws that moved our production companies out of state, and cancelling tourist visits by campers, hunters, and gun shows. Oh Yeah. I am not a Johnny come lately to Colorado, like so many who now bring their politics and bad habits with them. I bought here when Aurora had 3,000 citizens and now has 325,000. Makes life difficult with so much east and west coast politics, destroying our peaceful, western style of living. And my wife was born and raised here, in house where Martin Luther King Blvd splits many years ago. So don’t lecture me. I have lived the life, not just talked about it.
Just living somewhere for a long time doesn’t make you right. In fact in your case you seem to be living somewhere that you have absolutely no idea what is going on.
You have no idea what you are talking about. What is the Report by Consumers? Paying 2 to 3 times as much for what you buy? What does that even mean?Are you saying there has been 200 – 300% inflation? Cause if you are, you don’t even understand how money works… let alone an economy.
The Colorado tourism economy is absolutely BOOMING… https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/07/29/colorado-sets-tourism-record-attracting-64-6.html?page=all
Literally setting records for visitation… not cancelling trips. And counties with large amounts of BLM land are actually seeing larger growth in available jobs and personal income, then counties without BLM land.
https://headwaterseconomics.org/land/reports/colorados-economy-and-protected-lands
There are other states that would kill to have the economic prosperity Colorado has seen over the last 4 years. It has the 5th best market for new businesses, with over 51,000 new business filing for permits the first half of this year, and strong growth in retail and a steep drop in foreclosures. Those aren’t signs of only the rich prospering. The rich don’t drive retail and the rich don’t get foreclosed on. Those are signs of a healthy top to bottom economy. https://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_26215353/booming-colorado-should-see-moderate-job-growth-rest
I will lecture you, because you need it. You are pretending a situation that doesn’t exist (Colorado doing poorly) with the actual situation (Hickenlooper has lead Colorado to amazingly prosperous economic conditions.)
And in the military in earlier years, we referred to your type of hype as: talking like you have a paper rear end. Go sell it somewhere else. With only 8 comments (almost half to me) where have you been. In Kentucky with that PAC designer who writes-designs the Democratic flyers and PAC notations.
So basically you choose to ignore reality. My type of hype is actually referred to as “facts” and “reality.” I get now why you think changing a decision is wrong, because you’ve chosen to think wrong things, and even though I just showed you they were wrong now you still want to believe them.
So… the number of posts I have somehow is pertinent to the matter? How about you actually refute anything in my posts instead of dismissing them. I’m just trying to help you out cause you are really wrong about things. I like making comments to help out people that believe wrong things and need to be shown what the world around them is actually like. I hope you can understand someday, but it seems that you like to believe stuff that’s wrong. That’s sad.
I will waste the time for one more comment to you. I first came to Colorado in 1951, to attend Personnel training at Lowry AFB. Met a few citizens then, and came back in 1952, to marry a Denver resident, living at 31st and Elizabeth St. In Military, wife and I came back in 1959 for a year, to attend Avionics classes at Lowry, then Travis AFB, Calif, 60-61. Labrador 61-63, and bought residence in Aurora where I live now. Romer’s policies and tax system kept me from a Civilian job, I was qualified for, and had been vacant for almost year not finding qualified person. In fact Director asked me to apply, and he could assure me of job. Then had to tell me my retirement from AF, was too high, and I could not have State job. Let it set vacant. Then I applied and was hired same day at Samsonite, as Journeyman Electrician, but had to pay Denver Head Tax, city tax, county tax, state income tax, and federal tax. Over half my pay going to taxes, and working 7 days a week, 12-14 hour shifts since electricians were scarce. Also Colorado taxed my military pension, 2 years after State of Kansas was told by government they had to treat their out of state retirees the same as the exemption they gave in-state. And you have the audacity to tell me I don’t know what I am talking about. When I say my gas and electric in 2008 on this residence was about $100 a month, and now is between $250 to $300 a month, you question my math abilities. I don’t deal in percentages. That is the Democrat thing. I was independent registered for years after Democrat woman who registered me and wife in 1956, rejected out votes 3 months later, since apartment we lived in was on government land, for which property paid a lease charge. My home state no less. I have lived or traveled in 44 of 50 states, and I don’t know where you came from, and don’t care. I suspect I have lived in Colorado longer than you, since Aurora had 3,000 citizens when I bought in 1963. Now over 325,000.
This is my last comment to you, but you have not presented any facts. Just opinions, which are worth what I paid for them. Nothing.
Yeah, I’m telling you that you don’t know what you are talking about. And you don’t. Your life story has nothing to do with Colorado’s economy. I don’t care about your life history, but nothing in that story has anything to do with Colorado’s economy the last 4 years.
But if your gas and electric bill has gone from $100 to $250 to $300 in the last 6 years then it’s because of your consumption… not rate increases. Since 1999 Colorado’s rate increases in electricity and gas has gone up about 4 cents total per kilowatt hour and natural gas rates increased last year by about 10% for the first time in 7 years. There is no way your bill could have gone up by double or triple the amount without you just using more electricity and gas.
At the end of the day, you are basing your arguments on a few random personal experiences and a gas bill. Nothing I’m showing you is an opinion, I’m showing you actual numbers, that you and anyone else can verify, that show you that nothing you think about the economy is true. It is doing very well, business are opening, all levels of income are improving, record number of tourists are flocking to the state, and whether you like it or not it happened under Hickenlooper. That is not arguable, all of those things are true. They are facts, they don’t go away just because you want them to, they don’t become an opinion just because you want to wish them that way. It is sad that some people like you are so blind to anything that doesn’t support their tiny wrong worldview that you think ignoring facts changes the world. It doesn’t. You are wrong. Completely and utterly wrong.
So long. I won’t say that its good to know you. With 8 comments, you only want to rag me. Go away. You have not changed my vote one bit. I suspect you think you have done something, but find something else to do. I have done mine, and lived a full life so far. Bye.
So long Frank, too bad that you can’t adjust your incorrect ideas to see the world as it really is. I don’t think I’ve changed your vote at all… I think you have a set of beliefs that no matter how many times I show you they are wrong, you’re gonna keep on believing them. That doesn’t keep me from trying though, I think trying to help other people understand things is a worthwhile pursuit.
I am not going to argue with Hank any more. It is sorry state we have come where we gauge our tourism on number of other state folks who come to Colorado to buy pod, and other drugs. Spending is up in stores, but that does not help Colorado citizens who live here, still looking for jobs that shipped out of state due to gun laws, or went overseas to avoid OSHA, EPA, Colorado micro-managing, or other reasons. In past 2-3 years when forests burn, firefighter find pot fields growing among the trees, similar to California, Oregon and Washington. And also the pot selling on street is reported as cheaper than in the stores. I recently saw that 1682 billionaires live on this planet, up 86% from 2003. Not all of those are in USA, but too many live in San Francisco (17 that give to Democrats). Wonder why. Koch Brothers are listed 53d on Forbes listing of those who donate to political facilities, yet Harry Reid attacks Koch Brothers. Duh!!!! I also see by Aurora Budget listing that Aurora unemployment is just below the National Average, but when you consider that over half of USA citizens do not pay income tax, with all the food stamps, welfare, and other benefits for not working, who is cooking the books? Hank refers to newspaper items. Has he not learned that MSM is predominantly leftist? Graduates of colleges and universities where teachers, professors, etc. are leftist, and most do not profess being religious? MSM is not the only ones who have lied to us? We pull out of middle east, and turmoil there now is worse than ever, with training and shipping folks back to our shores to attack us. Have a good day.