February 23, 2012 06:32 PM UTC

IE Groups Take Early Aim At Tipton

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• by: Colorado Pols

“IE” being shorthand for “independent expenditure” groups, the various 527, 501(c)4, and other noncoordinated political messaging groups that can walk right up to the line of express advocacy in candidate races. In the last couple of weeks, there’s been a flurry of activity targeting freshman Rep. Scott Tipton–quickly emerging as the most vulnerable Colorado Republican.

After obligatively hitting the bill’s primary sponsor Rep. Doug Lamborn, the “Checks and Balances Project” is much more productively going after Tipton (ad above) over his support for Lamborn’s oil-shale legislation and associated silly-talk of revenue potential in an online ad campaign on targeted local media websites–a subject that will play more effectively in actual oil shale country against Tipton than it was worth against the very safe Lamborn.

In related action, the Colorado Wildlife Federation ran a radio ad recently highlighting “risks Congressman Scott Tipton is taking” on water policy by supporting oil shale.

And this past weekend, DC-based Public Campaign called on Tipton to return donations made to him by SG Interests–an energy company fined by the Department of Justice for antitrust actions, also party to a dispute over drilling in Tipton’s district that Tipton says he is “mediating.”

“The people of Colorado need to know that their elected officials are working for them and not big donors trying to defraud taxpayers,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director at Public Campaign. “Scott Tipton should immediately return contributions from the company or donate them to charity.”

…Tipton has close ties to SG Interests and has faced criticism for taking contributions from company donors while simultaneously working to address a local dispute between landowners and the company. He received $8,100 from donors at SG Interests based in Houston in 2011 and has taken $15,300 from company donors since 2009, according to Public Campaign analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission.

We’d call this a notable quantity of activity for mid-February, wouldn’t you? It’s the best proof we can think of that national strategists consider Tipton’s seat the ripest of pickup opportunities.