#COpolitics campaign $$: May 5 edition

It’s a filing day, so the plan is to hit refresh on TRACER all day long, then hit refresh on this post.

We’re be tracking candidates in statewide races, as well as independent spending committees. The filings cover finances from Jan. 1 through May 2.

One big takeaway: When you add up the spending from all the candidates for governor thus far – eight primary contenders and many also-rans – we’re at $14 million. In early May. That compares with just under $11 million in the entire 2014 gubernatorial campaign.

And that’s just the candidate cash – the outside spending is likely to be more by Nov. 7.

Other initial observations:

• Congressman Jared Polis is outspending nearly everyone, sinking a total of nearly $6.4 million into his campaign so far.
• The super PAC supporting GOP Treasurer Walker Stapleton’s bid to be governor raised less than $100,000, which is… not much in the scheme of things.
• The committee supporting former Democratic state Sen. Michael Johnston raised $3.4 million, almost all from outside the state. That is… huge in the scheme of things. Johnston’s own numbers look pretty good too.
• Multimillionaire Victor Mitchell is nearly two-thirds of the way toward spending his $3 million loan to his campaign.

Governor

Polis continues to pour cash into his campaign, adding nearly $5 million since the first of the year. And he’s burning through the cash, with about $506,000 in the bank. But there’s more where that came from. He’s spending plenty on advertising, but quite a bit on staff, too.

Republican businessman Victor Mitchell is burning through his $3 million loan to his campaign, with $1.9 million spent since the first of they year. He’s raised only $18,000 in the first quarter and now has about $263,000 in cash left.

But Democrat Cary Kennedy topped all the non-Polis gubernatorial fundraisers for the filing period with nearly $805,000. She still has nearly $436,000 in cash. Among her big contributors: $12,250 each from American Federation of Teachers, Fund for Educational Progress and the Public Education Committee. Kennedy is endorsed by the Colorado Education Association, the teachers union.

Johnston raised more than $605,000, spent near $500,000 and still has $838,000 in the bank.

Stapleton reported raising nearly $400,000, finishing with about $832,000 in the bank. Included in his report: a nearly $25,000 refund from Kennedy Enterprises in late February for overpayment. That’s the signature gathering firm accused of fraud that let Stapleton to abandon his petitions and go through the state assembly to get on the primary ballot.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne is reporting raising about $340,000, including $100,000 of her own cash. That brings her total investment to $161,150. Lynne ends with more than $311,000 cash in the bank, after spending nearly $480,000, including $100,000 on ad time.

Republican businessman Doug Robinson took in nearly $91,000, and spent more than $422,000. He has $98,000 in cash.

And Republican Greg Lopez’s campaign filed a report at 1:24 today, replacing one from March with no contributions or expenses. He raised less than $7,000 and put another $11,000 in his campaign to bring his loans to $24,000.

Attorney general

Democrat Phil Weiser raised nearly $341,000 and has more than $887,500 in the bank for his three-way Democratic primary.

Democrat Brad Levin spent plenty of his own cash: nearly $373,000 to date. Only about $22,000 of his $171,000 raised this year thus far came from outside sources. He has about $39,000 in the bank. UPDATE: But, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against his bid to get back on the ballot Monday.

Republican George Brauchler trailed two of the three Democrats, raising $102,000.  He has $235,000 in cash.

Democratic state Rep. Joe Salazar raised $36,000 and finished with more than $7,000 in the bank for his race against Weiser.

Treasurer

Republican Brian Watson raised $101,700, including $10,000 of his own cash. So far, Watson has spent more than $61,000 on his campaign.

GOP state Rep. Polly Lawrence raised more than $123,000 but more than $85,000 of that came from her own pockets. She’s put nearly $113,000 of her own cash into the race, and has $37,000 in her campaign account.

Democratic state Rep. Dave Young brought in more than $31,000, and has about $17,000 on hand. His challenger, Bernard Douthit raised $28,000 and has about $21,000 in the bank.

Meanwhile, GOP state Rep. Justin Everett raised about $5,700, and spent nothing (though he did take top line at the state assembly). He has $32,000 in cash.

Secretary of State

Incumbent Republican Wayne Williams raised about $47,000 and has $89,000 in the bank.

He’s being outraised by Democratic challenger Jena Griswold. She brought in nearly $139,000 and has more than $207,000 in cash on hand.

Committees

Frontier Fairness reported raising $3.4 million and spending nearly $1.9 million since the first of the year. It is supporting Democratic Johnston.

The big money includes $1 million from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; another $750,000 from Linked In founder Reid Hoffman bringing his total to $1 million; $100,000 from DaVita CEO Kent Thiry (who was once registered as a Republican); $500,000 each from hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel and his wife Susan. Also: $2,500 each from acting couple Felicity Huffman and William Macy.

Better Colorado Now, the IEC supporting Stapleton’s bid for governor, reports a $50,000 contribution from Extraction Oil & Gas, $25,000 from Liberty Global President/CEO Michael Fries and $15,000 real estate mogul Larry Mizel.

The group raised $97,700 so far this year, and spent nearly $433,000, almost all of it on TV and radio advertising. It has $402,000 in the bank.

But among the expenditures: $7,500 to Real Colorado Conservatives to build a now-defunct website attacking GOP Attorney General Cynthia Coffman in the days before the state assembly. Real Colorado Conservatives also spent money on text advertising and palm cards. Coffman failed to make the ballot.

Build Colorado’s Future, supporting GOP businessman Doug Robinson, raised $119,500 and spent more than $70,000. The group has $155,000 in the bank. Large donations include $30,000 from Kevin Kaufman of K.P. Kaufman Co. Inc., an oil and gas company; $26,000 from Charles McNeil, owner of NexGen, an energy company; $25,000 from Stephen Boyd, of Cherry Hills Village; and $15,000 from Ole Jensen, of ClearChoice Dental Implant Center.

Bold Colorado reported raising $78,500, and spent just more than $30,000. The group is supporting Democratic Congressman Jared Polis’ bid for governor. Only $6,000 of the cash came from Colorado donors. And the spending? $22,500 to former Colorado Democratic Party chairman Rick Palacio’s firm.

Teachers for Kennedy, formed May 2, the closing day of this filing period, reported $1 in contributions. There will be more, though. The group is airing TV ads supporting Kennedy.

The also-rans for gov

Democrat Noel Ginsberg spent more than $712,000 on the campaign he ended in late March. Of that, $340,000 was his own cash.

Late Republican entrant Barry Farrah, of Colorado Springs, spent nearly $78,000 of his own cash in his brief campaign. But he’d loaned himself $250,000.

Former Congressman Tom Tancredo, who dropped out of the race in January following poor fundraising numbers, took in less than $20,000, and spent nearly $75,000.

Meanwhile, Coffman’s failed gubernatorial campaign ends up $35,000 in debt. Coffman spent $8,675 of her own money in the most recent reporting period.

But the IEC supporting Coffman, Stronger Colorado Ahead, ended up with more than $94,000 in the bank. Among the last big donors: $50,000 from oil and gas company Noble Energy.

The chart

Here’s a table with the statewide candidates and their latest numbers. Loans from Mitchell, Robinson, Lopez and Douthit aren’t included in total fundraising. But direct or in-kind donations by Polis, Lynne, Levin, Weiser, Lawrence and Watson are including in the total raised.