Colorado’s low-key Republican primary for U.S. Senate is attracting a last-minute infusion of cash from outside political groups seeking to influence the vote.
The most notable is the emergence of a mystery organization calling itself the Keep Colorado Great Project. The group — visible only on a blank Facebook page — sent two mailers to voters in Colorado ahead of Tuesday’s primary bashing all five Republican candidates.
One mailer, first posted by the National Review, hits the field as “two ultra conservatives and three frauds.” Another obtained by The Denver Post (see above) takes particular aim at Jon Keyser for using forged signatures to make the ballot and declares in bold letters that he “refused to drop out.”
The Denver Post confirmed Monday that ProgressNow Colorado, a leading liberal organization, is the driving force behind Keep Colorado Great Project. The secretary of state’s office and Federal Election Commission had no records about the new group.
“We just think that voters deserve more information than they’ve been given about the candidates so that the election result isn’t the equivalent of rolling five-sided dice,” said Ian Silverii, ProgressNow’s executive director. “After all, we’ve seen what happens — abroad and in this country — when voters ask after an election, ‘Who knew?’”
Silverii declined to discuss how much the organization spent on the fliers, nor how many voters received them. He said the organization does not have a preference on who wins.
And it’s unclear if the messages help or hurt one candidate more than another. But it’s not the first time Democrats meddled in a GOP race, as infamously demonstrated by the 2012 GOP primary in Missouri featuring Republican Todd Akin.
If anything, the messages are a preview of what’s to come for the winner. Darryl Glenn and Robert Blaha are dubbed too extreme. Ryan Frazier is attacked for “the worst attendance record on the Aurora City Council.” Jack Graham is labeled a fraud for being a Democrat just 13 months before announcing his bid. And Keyser is hit for his controversy in qualifying for the ballot.
On the other side, Glenn is getting a huge boost from outside conservative organizations, according to federal filings. FreedomWorks reported Friday that it spent $2,500 to make telemarketing calls on his behalf.
The Senate Conservatives Fund spent another $317,000 to help Glenn in the last seven days with TV ads, mailers and calls to voters. Make DC Listen, a super PAC supporting Ted Cruz, chipped in $1,000 to solicit support via e-mail for the campaign. (Cruz has endorsed Glenn.)
Colorado Conservative PAC, a super PAC supporting Keyser, spent $20,000 on an 11th-hour TV ad to boost his campaign.
A super PAC supporting Robert Blaha, called Go America PAC, spent $2,270 on automated phone calls for the candidate in early June.
