Democrat Bill Ritter out raised his Republican challenger for Governor by a 2-1 ratio in the first weeks of July, closing the total cash advantage Beauprez has long held down to $100,000.
This continues Ritter’s recent fundraising prowess over Beauprez. Since April, Ritter has raised some $838,000 in his quest for the Governor’s mansion, compared to only $381,000 for Beauprez.Floyd Ciruli, a Denver pollster, is quoted in the Rocky Mountain News explaining why Beauprez seems to be having trouble raising money lately:
“The Republican business community has become alienated from the Republican base over fiscal matters,” said Ciruli.
John Ikard, the president and CEO of First Bank, is a Republican who is backing Ritter. Ikard has been friends with Ritter since the two men attended Colorado State University, but he likes Beauprez and donated to his campaign early on. Ikard said the fight over Referendum C, which voters approved, was important to many business people, who feared that state budget cuts would decimate Colorado’s colleges and roads.
“A who’s who of Republican business people backed Referendum C,” he said. “Beauprez was against it. That was what separated Beauprez from the business community.”
But don’t worry, Beauprez! The Republican Governors Association is here to save you! Well, not you, but to line the pockets of the Trailhead Group, a 527 group founded by Bill Owens, Pete Coors, and Bruce Benson to trash Democrats.
From the Denver Post:
The Republican Governors Association has pumped $500,000 into Colorado’s gubernatorial race, considered by political analysts to be one of the most competitive in the country.
The governors group donated the money to Trailhead Group LLC, an independent political committee that said it will use the money to help GOP candidate Bob Beauprez.
“We are going to be aggressive to support Bob Beauprez and the RGA is part of our team and excited about investing,” said Alan Philp, executive director of Trailhead.
What does it mean when people won’t give to the candidate, but only to the 527s?
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