Mike Coffman Has Worst Fundraising Quarter in Four Years

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by: Colorado Pols

Rep. Mike Coffman (R).

Fundraising reports from the second quarter of 2015 are now becoming available publicly, and the most surprising figure we’ve seen thus far comes from the campaign of Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Aurora).

From April through June, Coffman’s re-election campaign raised just $271,163, the worst quarterly fundraising amount from Coffman since Q3 in 2011.

In fact, Coffman has raised a total of just $615,065 in all of 2015. These are not terrible numbers for a Member of Congress, but Coffman hasn’t performed this poorly in fundraising since the boundaries of CD-6 were re-drawn in advance of the 2012 election. The numbers are particularly striking when you compare Coffman’s fundraising to that of Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Denver); Coffman was thought to be the GOP’s top challenger for the 2016 Senate race, yet Bennet has now raised $2 million in successive quarters. Heck, Coffman had a highly-publicized breakfast meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell back in May — you would think he would have picked up some big checks just because of that meeting.

It’s possible that the Coffmangate Scandal is really starting to impact Mike Coffman’s ability to raise money, or perhaps Coffman’s grandstanding on the Aurora VA Hospital is having an adverse effect on his public profile. Whatever the reason, it would seem that Coffman’s campaign was not exaggerating when it sent a fundraising email on July 8 that said “Mike is in trouble”:

Yesterday, Mike told you about our Democratic challenger, Morgan Carroll. And now, political analysts have changed this race to a “Toss Up” due to Carroll’s connections with big-spending liberal groups. That means Mike is in trouble — and we have to fight back now.

Rep. Mike Coffman’s lowest quarterly fundraising totals since 2011, the year before CD-6 boundaries officially changed.

9 thoughts on “Mike Coffman Has Worst Fundraising Quarter in Four Years”

Andrew Carnegie says:

July 16, 2015 at 1:33 pm

How much did Morgan Carroll raise?

How much did Andrew Romanoff raise 2 years ago?

This race is close every two years, just not when the votes are cast.

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1. Colorado Pols says:
  
  July 16, 2015 at 1:52 pm
  
  The numbers are facts. Does it mean Coffman is going to lose re-election? No. But it's silly for Coffman supporters to pretend that all is well right now.
  
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  1. BlueCat says:
    
    July 16, 2015 at 2:53 pm
    
    I kind of think you're both being a little silly.
    
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2. Phoenix Rising says:
  
  July 16, 2015 at 1:58 pm
  
  Morgan Carroll officially declared July 7th, after the Q2 reporting period ended.
  
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Andrew Carnegie says:

July 16, 2015 at 2:09 pm

Coffman has $478,352 cash on hand.

All is well.

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Civics101 says:

July 17, 2015 at 9:15 pm

It's a little hard for an incumbent to raise campaign funds, when he has no opponent on the horizon. Both Morgan Carroll and Perry Haney showed up after the second quarter closed. That being said, both Coffman and Haney have a more substantial amount of money on hand that Carroll does. Not a good start for the Aurora Democrat, who thought she could just breeze to the nomination. Frankly, a lot of 6th CD Dems are getting tired of having the DCCC pick their candidates for them. At least now, the party of choice will actually offer some choice in their primary.

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1. BlueCat says:
  
  July 17, 2015 at 11:29 pm
  
  Morgan Carroll is pretty wildly popular among active CD6 Dems. So much so that many have completely unrealistic ideas about her chances of beating Coffman over things few average voters will ever notice. I don't see Haney as a huge threat. I see the chances of any Dem unseating Coffman in 2016 as relatively slim. He doesn’t seem the type who will cooperate with his own demise with the kind of juicy scandal that makes a dent. And so far his wife's scandal is pretty inside baseball. That would have to blow up much bigger to have any effect on her husband. ColPols keeps hinting it will indeed blow up bigger. I’ll believe it when I see it.
  
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  1. Civics101 says:
    
    July 18, 2015 at 9:25 am
    
    You offer a reasonably objective assessment, BlueCat. Political junkies, on both sides, frequently overestimate the enthusiasm for their favorite candidate. But the overwhelming majority of voters — even those who are registered as Republican or Democrat — are not that obsessed with the political process.
    
    The dust up over the GOP chair is not only old news, but both Cynthia Coffman and Steve House seemed to have moved on. I don't know where ColPols thinks this is going without the those two fanning the flames.
    
    Frankly, most Republicans could not name the state party chairman and really do not care who it is. If the miscues of a spouse is supposed to impact his/her mate's political fortunes, then Hillary Clinton's campaign is doomed! 🙂
    
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    1. BlueCat says:
      
      July 18, 2015 at 11:10 am
      
      Reasonably objective? How condescending. But then your self identification implies you see yourself as someone qualified to give civics for dummies lessons.
      
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