WEEK OF OCTOBER 24, 2024
VOLUME 35| ISSUE 43
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8th CD spending surpasses $20 million Regulators pass
new rules on oil and gas drilling Agency calls move ‘a big step forward’ but critics doubtful BY MARK JAFFE THE COLORADO SUN
A sampling of political mailers sent to residents in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District from the Evans and Caraveo campaigns.
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BUSINESS LOCAL
Super PAC spending rolls in for candidates in tight race BY JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN
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LOCAL OBITUARIES LEGALS CLASSIFIED
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Nearly $15 million in super PAC cash has poured into the race in Colorado’s highly competitive 8th Congressional District, and the money keeps rolling in with less than a month until Election Day. Paired with candidate spending, the price tag for the contest has now well surpassed $20 million. Democratic super PACs reported spending $8.4 million in the 8th District through Friday to help U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the Democratic incumbent from Thornton. Republican super PACs spent nearly $6.3 million through Friday to benefit Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton.
Those amounts don’t account for millions more in reserved TV ad time that has yet to be reported to the Federal Election Commision. The stakes in the toss-up 8th District, which spans Denver’s northeastern suburbs along U.S. 85 into Greeley, are high. The outcome of the race between Caraveo and Evans may decide which party controls Congress. Caraveo beat her Republican opponent in 2022 by roughly 1,600 votes, a race in which PACs spent $16.6 million in the general election. “Colorado eight: You are going to decide who has the majority in the Congress going forward,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, the top Republican in Congress, said at a rally in Thornton earlier this month. “When you talk about the most important races in America, this is, indeed, a top five race.” Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of
OBITUARIES: PAGE 5 | CLASSIFIEDS: PAGE 15
money, though they are prohibited from coordinating with candidates. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Johnson, has been the biggest PAC spender in the 8th District so far, at nearly $3.4 million to help Evans. The second biggest spender so far has been Fairshake, at $2 million to help Caraveo. The political action committee backs candidates who are open to the cryptocurrency economy. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is in a close third, having spent $1.9 million to aid Caraveo. Another political action committee spending big in the 8th District is the Mainstream Colorado Fund. Nearly all of its nearly $1 million in funding has come from nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors, which The Colorado Sun refers to as dark money groups, including $50,000 from a group
CCM STAFF
called Mainstream Colorado Action, which formed in July. It is registered to the Tierney Lawrence Stiles law firm in Denver, which represents Democratic candidates and causes. The Mainstream Colorado Fund has also received $560,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a Democratic dark money group based in Washington, D.C. The PAC has received $250,000 from America Votes, another D.C. dark money nonprofit, as well as $100,000 from the House Majority PAC, a Democratic group tied to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York. The super PAC spending in the district, both on the Democratic and Republican sides, has gone toward flooding the TV airwaves with ads, as well as streaming and internet advertising and canvassing.
Colorado oil and gas regulators passed sweeping rules to deal with the cumulative impacts of drilling and hailed it as “a big step forward.” But legislators, environmentalists and community groups criticized the regulations for failing to protect vulnerable communities. After a year of hearings and drafts, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission adopted about 60 pages of rules to assess and mitigate the impacts of oil and gas drilling projects — an exercise the commission was mandated to do by the legislature. “This has been a herculean effort,” ECMC Chairman Jeff Robbins said. “We have the most protective oil and gas regulations in the nation, and this builds on that foundation. It puts in place even stronger protections for Colorado families.” Critics did not see it that way. “Doesn’t require any more than is required now and it creates a roadmap for how an operator can drill in disproportionately impacted communities,” said Michael Freeman, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice. These communities are low-income, of color, have vulnerable populations or face disproportionate environmental burdens. “It’s time we prioritize health,” said Rachael Lehman, environmental justice coordinator for Black Parents United Foundation. “For too long economic impacts have been the only metric for success and been a guiding principle in permitting.” One major point of contention was a requirement in a June draft that an operator seeking to drill within 2,000 feet of homes in a disproportionately impacted community, or DIC, obtain the consent of every resident. SEE DRILLING, P7
SEE SPENDING, P6
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