Anonymous big-money donors want Coloradans to put their personal information on returned mail ballots, a change that would affect more than 90% of the state’s voters.
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But those same donors don’t seem all that interested in putting their own personal information on the $6.6 million they’ve pumped into backing Amendment 84, a voter-identification ballot measure in the November election. The donors have not disclosed who they are — or why they want Coloradans to provide part of their Social Security or driver’s license numbers when they sign their ballot envelopes.
It’s also not clear if any of the donors have ever cast a ballot in the state, or if any even live here. Indeed, none of the groups that are funneling the donors’ cash into the state are based in Colorado.
For all that can be gleaned from the donations that fund support of Amendment 84, it’s not even clear if there’s more than one donor. Because of the opaque nature of the campaign spending, that $6.6 million in donations could have come from one individual who spread it across a handful of out-of-state groups. It also could have come from five people, or 100.
Amendment 84 is one of 14 proposed changes to state law or the Colorado Constitution that voters will decide on in the Nov. 3 election. The dark money supporting the proposal also represents nearly a fifth of all the money — more than $37 million — collected so far by groups backing or opposing the various measures.
Those committees and candidates for state offices filed new campaign finance reports by Monday, showing how much they had spent in recent weeks and how much money they had going into the final weeks of the campaign.
The total fundraising to influence ballot questions includes nearly $9 million to support Proposition NN, a state education funding ballot measure, and more than $6.5 million to oppose Amendment 87. That measure would raise income tax rates on the very wealthiest Coloradans by changing the state’s flat tax to tiered rates.
Despite the little that’s known about Amendment 84’s backers, they do appear to be conservative: At least three of the groups have spent money in elections in Ohio, Kentucky and Texas, supporting conservative candidates or causes.
As of Tuesday, four outside groups had donated every penny that’s filled the coffers of the Colorado Voter Trust Initiative, the campaign backing Amendment 84. None of them had spent any money in state-level elections before this year. None of them is registered as a business or nonprofit with the state of Colorado. The addresses associated with them are based in Virginia, Texas, Florida or Georgia.
Only one lists an address in Colorado on its donation or other public records — a post office box in a Colorado Springs store.
Two of them — A Public Voice and the Coalition for American Prosperity and Growth — appear to be registered in Ohio, where they once operated under different names and spent in Ohio races. A group with the same name as the prosperity coalition spent considerably in the Republican U.S. Senate primary in Kentucky earlier this year. Across various public records, it lists Virginia, Florida and Colorado Springs addresses, all at P.O. boxes — a common tactic for dark-money groups. (A Public Voice has also donated to a committee focused on the Douglas County commissioners race.)
The largest spender, the American Prosperity Caucus, donated $2.4 million earlier this month to back Amendment 84. That group appears to be new, listing a Texas address — to another P.O. box — but it is not registered as a business in Texas, public records show.
A group with a similar name, the American Prosperity Coalition, and the same Texas address also donated more than $1.7 million to oppose Colorado’s Amendment 87.
American Prosperity Caucus also gave $6 million to a federal super PAC that’s opposing Democrat James Talarico’s U.S. Senate candidacy in Texas. On that donation, it listed a Georgia address that leads to a strip mall in Atlanta. It is not registered in the state of Georgia. No company of that name is registered as a nonprofit with the Internal Revenue Service, either.
The only faces identified with the Amendment 84 campaign are the attorneys and operatives being paid to turn anonymous donors’ cash into votes. The 76 Group and its offshoot, Blitz Canvassing, have raked in $5.75 million this year for their work on the campaign. Josh Penry, a former Republican state lawmaker and one of 76 Group’s principals, did not return a message seeking comment.
The registered agent for the campaign is Suzanne Taheri, an attorney who handles many of the state’s conservative ballot measures. She also did not return a message seeking information about the effort’s donors.
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Defend Our Ballots has raised $236,000 as it seeks to defeat Amendment 84. The bulk of that cash — $161,000 — has come from a group with the same name that was registered in the state earlier this year and has also not publicly identified its donors. Scott Martinez, a Denver attorney and the registered agent for Defend Our Ballots, said his group was funded by grassroots support.
“I think Colorado voters can see through who’s really behind this, and it’s not Coloradans,” Martinez said of Amendment 84’s backers. “We have the gold standard in mail ballot elections. They’re safe and secure.”
Millions go to remake — or defend — Colorado’s tax system
In other fundraising reports, Yes on Colorado Kids, the committee supporting Proposition NN, has reported raising $8.8 million so far — the single most-monied committee to support a ballot measure this year, and just shy of Democratic nominee Phil Weiser’s almost $8.9 million haul in his bid for governor.
Proposition NN in essence asks voters to lift the state’s spending cap under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights to better fund K-12 education throughout Colorado — in effect, letting the state keep tax money that it would typically refund. The bulk of its money, $5 million, has come from the National Education Association, a national teachers union.
Millions of dollars have also poured into efforts to defeat Prop NN and Amendment 87, the graduated income tax proposal, which would reduce tax rates for most Colorado taxpayers while raising them on the highest earners.
Opposition committees include Brighter Colorado, one called “Don’t Price Us Out” and Keep Colorado Affordable. Combined, they’ve raised some $6.5 million from groups including the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, which donated through its political arm, the American Prosperity Coalition, and the Republican-supporting GOPAC Election Fund.
GOPAC names some of its donors on Federal Election Commission reports. The Chamber’s political arm is largely funded by businesses, including $500,000 it received from Chevron in 2024.
Protect Colorado’s Future Coalition, the group supporting Amendment 87, has countered with nearly $2.1 million backing the measure. About a quarter of that, $500,000, has come from Merle Chambers, a former oil and gas executive who has become a major backer of liberal causes in the state. Stand For Children Colorado, an education advocacy group that does not name its donors, and the state employee union Colorado WINS have contributed about $200,000 apiece.
Democrats keep cash edge in races
In the races for Colorado’s top offices, Democrats all held at least a 2-to-1 — and often much steeper — cash advantage heading into the final weeks of the election.
Campaign finance reports due late Monday covered fundraising and spending through Oct. 14. Weiser, the Democratic nominee for governor, entered the home stretch with almost $377,000 still in the bank, on almost $8.9 million raised throughout the election cycle. Victor Marx, the Republican nominee, held almost $184,000 in cash out of about $4.3 million raised.
Both candidates had primary races that sapped their resources in the spring. In a fundraising email Monday, Marx pleaded for donations so he could put ads on TV for the final push.
In fundraising terms, that race is the closest among the statewide races.
In the race for attorney general, Democrat Jena Griswold, currently Colorado’s secretary of state, reported having more than $320,000 on hand to Republican Michael Allen’s $59,000. In the secretary of state’s race, Democrat Amanda Gonzalez had $156,000 in cash remaining, while Republican James Wiley was more than $10,000 in the red.
And in the race for state treasurer, Democrat Jeff Bridges had more than $182,000 in cash on hand to Republican Kevin Grantham’s $26,000.
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