October 25, 2010 11:14 PM UTC

Funny Money in Colorado Politics

• 9 Comments
• by: ClubTwitty

As the first election since Citizens United, there has been a lot of discussion about the flood of mysterious money being funneled into electoral activity.  In federal races Colorado is a top recipient of shady special interest money let loose by the Supremes.

Getting less attention are the efforts to regain and secure GOP control in statehouses across the nation, as redistricting looms.

ColoradoPols recently posted a diary on the steady massive bombardment of nastiness targeting mailboxes across our state, and in a set of state legislative districts in particular.

The Dead Guv’s diary and a recent posting on the prospects for the CO House had me looking into some of the mailers that have been popping up in state races, particularly on the Western Slope.  

Apparently Senate District 5, which includes Pitkin, Delta, Gunnison, and parts of Garfield and other counties, is a top target.

Mailers, naturally, come from both sides, although for pure offensiveness and saturation the GOP-aligned groups seem to be taking the advantage. This is not surprising given the players behind some of these shadowy groups.  

For instance, long-exposed GOP election fraudster, Scott Shires was the registered agent for Western Tradition Partnership during 2008 when it infected Garfield County’s postal system with nasty smears that secured the narrow BOCC wins for John Martin and Mike Samson. (Shires has yet to pay his fines for this offense, of which he was found guilty. WTP is currently in some trouble up in Montana for similar shenanigans there).  

This year, true to ugly form, Western Tradition Partnership has sent around a strange mailer morphing Sen. Gail Schwartz and Donald Trump.  

Also playing in the SD5 race and in several across the state is another GOP-aligned sleaze merchant, the ironically named Colorado Citizens for Accountable Government, regularly delinquent on various obligations to the Secretary of State, and which is engaged in a number of state house and senate races.    

The Colorado Spring Independent: reports further:

The 527 responsible for these attack mailers is called Colorado Citizens for Accountable Government. In its latest filing, it lists only three contributors, including well-known Colorado 527s Senate Majority Fund, LLC and Colorado Leadership Fund, LLC, which have together dumped $275,000 into the organization. The third contributor is the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national GOP 527, which gave the group $400,000.

…Several mailers, though fewer in number, have popped up in the local House District 18 race between Democrat Pete Lee and Republican Karen Cullen. And Monday, the Denver Post reported on an ad funded by Colorado Citizens for Accountable Government that claimed state Democratic House candidate Brian O’Donnell of Durango wants to ban fishing on public lands, despite the fact that he worked for Trout Unlimited.

The funding sources behind this group, although it includes known election scofflaws like the Senate Majority Fund, remains a mystery with Shires again figuring as a known accomplice. The Colorado Leadership Fund has some of its contributors listed here, which might provide some insight into what trees CO Citizens shakes for its undisclosed support.  

This cycle CO Citizens has a piece out in SD 5 attacking Sen. Schwartz, depicted wearing a crown, ‘living in a fairy tale’ and ‘spending our tax dollars like a queen.’  

A third shadowy player that has likewise popped up in SD 5 in SD5 is Common Sense Colorado which has at least three mailers out attacking Sen. Schwartz.  

Democratic-leaning groups, including 21st Century Colorado and Colorado Conservation Victory Fund, have also hit the district with mailers, attacking Schwartz’s opponent Bob Rankin.  

But GOP-aligned groups have the clear advantage this cycle as massive amounts of corporate and plutocratic wealth flood the airwaves and mailboxes.  

Although this phenomenon is getting coverage nationally, less analysis is found documenting third-party monies flowing into local and state races.  With state houses across the nation in play, more attention should be given to the pernicious influence of shadowy money at the state and local levels.