Tipton Gets Sunny (But Wrong) Outlook from Chieftain on Fundraising
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by: Colorado Pols
Yesterday The Pueblo Chieftain had an odd article by the normally more-astute Peter Roper that was a rundown of Republican Rep. Scott Tipton’s second quarter fundraising efforts. See if you see the strangeness:
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton isn’t wasting any time in pulling together a campaign warchest for his 2012 re-election bid to hold the 3rd Congressional District – even as national Democratic committees list him among vulnerable Republican freshmen.
Tipton is only six months into his first term in Congress, but his July report to the Federal Election Commission shows his campaign is getting four-figure contributions from individual Republicans across the state as well as starting to pick up the special-interest donations from the business and corporate political committees that regularly give to incumbents.
Tipton reported $147,184 in contributions between April 1 and June 30, including nearly $40,000 from special-interest committees. Since the first of the year, his campaign has collected $351,894.
If you were judging Tipton’s fundraising ability solely by this Chieftain story, you might think that the freshman Republican was doing a pretty good job thus far. Of course, that isn’t at all true.
By any reasonable measure, Tipton’s second fundraising quarter was dismal — enough so for a national outlet like Washington Post’s “The Fix” to label Tipton one of the big losers of the Q2 period. Tipton was listed along with several other freshman Republicans precisely because his fundraising has been so poor compared to most candidates around the country. Here in Colorado, fellow Republican freshman Rep. Cory Gardner raised $284,162 in Q2 — nearly double the amount that Tipton brought in to his coffers.
Tipton may have raised $338,000 in total in the first 6 months of the year, but his campaign still has $111,000 in debts from 2010. Roper’s article goes on to outline the various major donors who have given to Tipton, but what should be concerning is that it’s all the low-hanging fruit (Pete Coors, Bill Armstrong, etc.); in other words, Tipton hasn’t raised much money, and he’s already gotten checks from the regular Colorado GOP donors. That’s not a good sign.
Tipton’s Democratic challenger, Sal Pace, raised about $100,000 in only a month’s time. If Pace is able to outraise Tipton after a full quarter in Q3, Tipton will get more national attention — the unwanted kind — as one of several freshman Republicans being outraised by challengers. While CD-3 is currently a top target for the National Republican Congressional Committee, it won’t stay that way if Tipton can’t keep up his part of the fundraising bargain.
Tipton’s bouffant looks like something Timmy’s mom would wear on Lassie. With tasteful earings and a shirtwaist dress. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Sal can mow my lawn any time he needs money for Yoo Hoos. No need to break into any vending machines. But judging by those chubby cheeks, he doesn’t need any more Yoo Hoos.
That story ran side-by-side with a similar report on Mr. Pace’s fund-raising, detailing who was giving to his campaign as well. These were news reports, not commentary (see The Fixer) and were intended to inform readers on who was contributing money to the candidates (not debts owed.) Mr. Pace called and sent several emails complaining that he was not credited with outworking Tipton for the quarter. I see he made the same complaints here. — Pete Roper
We didn’t say much of anything about Pace, let alone commenting that he was outworking Tipton; we said nothing of the sort. This is purely about Tipton’s numbers, which were not good.
“U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton isn’t wasting any time in pulling together a campaign warchest…” you wrote. Actually, he seems to be wasting a lot of time, since he was one of the weaker fundraisers among freshmen Republicans. It’s fact, not commentary, to point out that Tipton’s fundraising is very weak in comparison to other freshmen.
It wasn’t a great quarter. But anybody who understands the GOP giving base in Colorado knows the money will be there for Tipton. Good job giving examples of the big pockets supporting him, Mr. Roper.
Although it would be fun to switch my registration and run in a Dem primary just to mess with them. Somebody like Trump ought to challenge Obama to a primary, if for no other reason than to burn through some of that cash. I wonder if Hillary would do it?
July 21, 2011 7:32 pm MST
14 Comments
against a weakening candidate, hope Haney keeps his nose out of the 3rd.
Tipton has support from some of the most powerful people in this state. And they all have friends too.
It’s good to see that everyone knows the big names on Tipton’s report. But you don’t know all the other names that will be there, and it shows.
You were saying?
Tipton’s bouffant looks like something Timmy’s mom would wear on Lassie. With tasteful earings and a shirtwaist dress. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Sal can mow my lawn any time he needs money for Yoo Hoos. No need to break into any vending machines. But judging by those chubby cheeks, he doesn’t need any more Yoo Hoos.
That story ran side-by-side with a similar report on Mr. Pace’s fund-raising, detailing who was giving to his campaign as well. These were news reports, not commentary (see The Fixer) and were intended to inform readers on who was contributing money to the candidates (not debts owed.) Mr. Pace called and sent several emails complaining that he was not credited with outworking Tipton for the quarter. I see he made the same complaints here. — Pete Roper
We didn’t say much of anything about Pace, let alone commenting that he was outworking Tipton; we said nothing of the sort. This is purely about Tipton’s numbers, which were not good.
“U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton isn’t wasting any time in pulling together a campaign warchest…” you wrote. Actually, he seems to be wasting a lot of time, since he was one of the weaker fundraisers among freshmen Republicans. It’s fact, not commentary, to point out that Tipton’s fundraising is very weak in comparison to other freshmen.
You wrote a shitty article.
You’re getting paid. Pols isn’t.
What’s your excuse for doing a shitty job?
It wasn’t a great quarter. But anybody who understands the GOP giving base in Colorado knows the money will be there for Tipton. Good job giving examples of the big pockets supporting him, Mr. Roper.
Pace will have to spend all his money on a primary. The benefits of incumbency go both ways.
your official announcement? A party switch and a move into a district that hasn’t even been drawn yet! Impressive!
I was talking about this guy:
http://www.coloradopeakpolitic…
Although it would be fun to switch my registration and run in a Dem primary just to mess with them. Somebody like Trump ought to challenge Obama to a primary, if for no other reason than to burn through some of that cash. I wonder if Hillary would do it?
That’s assuming a lot.