Tag: luis toro

Colorado Ethics Watch this week filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against the Open Government Institute of Colorado (OGI), asking for an investigation of actions allegedly taken by OGI to benefit the re-election campaign of U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, which Ethics Watch said could call into question OGI’s pending non-profit 501(c)(3) status.

In Colorado, organizing, infrastructure and fundraising within the Democratic Party and progressive organizations are the stuff of legend. The story of how liberal mega-millionaires and single-minded cooperation on the left turned this formerly solid red state to purple and blue have been told and retold for years. The story of coordination among conservatives groups, however, and the way millions of dollars each election cycle slosh to candidates and causes on the right has received relatively scant attention.

The Colorado Legislature acted quickly and in bipartisan fashion today to require biweekly campaign finance disclosures in advance of this year's primary elections in June.

There once was a time--you know it's true--when school board candidates in Colorado hoped to raise enough money for yard signs and a flyer to hand out or leave at doors. Times have changed.

Colorado lawmakers who last year introduced legislation to address claims that perhaps thousands of undocumented residents had voted in the state will not re-introduce the legislation this year. Secretary of State Scott Gessler reportedly waved off the lawmakers, saying he felt he could address the issue outside the halls of the capitol with means available to him through his office.

Denver District Court Judge Bruce Jones ruled Thursday (pdf) that Secretary of State Scott Gessler overreached last summer when, through rulemaking, he raised constitutionally established donation disclosure limits for issue committees in the state. Judge Jones signaled during arguments that he believed Gessler had taken it onto himself to amend the Colorado Constitution, an absurd stretch for a non-lawmaking official such as the secretary of state. Gessler said he is determined to appeal the decision. He dismissed Jones's arguments as mere grandstanding for the press.

Denver District Court Judge Bruce Jones on Tuesday smacked down Secretary of State Scott Gessler in a topsy-turvy campaign finance trial that saw two government watchdog groups defending the Colorado Constitution against the man sworn as state head of elections to uphold it.

Government watchdog group Colorado Ethics Watch has been engaged in a legal back and forth with Secretary of State Scott Gessler over a campaign finance rule adopted by Secretary of State last spring. In a brief filed with a Denver District court Wednesday, Ethics Watch argues Gessler is rewriting the law instead of merely setting forth rules directing citizens on how to abide it, and, in a counter claim, Gessler is asking the court to effectively throw out a constitutional provision he has sworn he would defend as an elected official.

Because sometimes when your pants are down around your knees, it's easier to step away from the window than it is to pull up your pants, the now infamous Scott Gessler/Larimer County GOP fundraiser will be closed to the media. Problem solved.

Colorado Common Cause and Colorado Ethics Watch on Thursday filed a complaint in Denver District Court against Secretary of State Scott Gessler that claims Gessler unlawfully weakened Colorado campaign finance laws through the Secretary of State’s rulemaking process.