January 24, 2018 11:49 AM UTC

Donors Pull Plug on Lebsock's Treasurer Bid

• 9 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

As the Colorado Independent’s John Herrick reports:

As House leadership continues its investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Rep. Steve Lebsock, a Thornton Democrat who is running for state treasurer, donors who have abandoned him say they had to make a hard-nosed political calculation: They want a Democrat who can win the treasurer’s office. Lebsock, they say, has already lost too much ground.

“People do like to place their bets on horses that they think are going to win,” said Rep. Edie Hooton, D-Boulder, who donated $650 to Lebsock’s campaign before the allegations became public. “And Steve’s chances are looking pretty thin.”

House leadership is reviewing at least three formal complaints of sexual harassment, which Lebsock has repeatedly denied as false and politically motivated. The allegations are under review, but the court of public opinion can issue judgments faster than due process.

Lebsock has not reported a single contribution since at least 10 women publicly accused him of sexual harassment in mid-November. He reported raising $1,025 in last quarter’s reporting period, down from $12,350 in the previous quarter.

As Herrick reports, Democratic support in the primary for state treasurer is rapidly shifting to Rep. Dave Young of Greeley, who was likely going to win the primary even before Rep. Steve Lebsock’s career imploded under multiple allegations of serial sexual harassment. With those allegations made, and especially after Lebsock’s bizarre self-immolating response to them, you’ll be hard-pressed to find Democrats willing to support him remaining in the legislature for even another day–let alone running for statewide office.

This development is entirely unsurprising, of course. Democrats are finished with Steve Lebsock, whose career in politics is already over but for whatever remaining embarrassment he chooses to self-inflict on his way out. All these steps toward that inevitability, like his donations drying up faster than you can say “get your slimy hands off me,” are opportunities for him to finally get the message and go the hell home.

Because he’s the only one who doesn’t seem to realize that it’s over.