For many statewide candidates in Colorado, the Q3 fundraising period was their first full quarter to be shaking out the loose change from supporters and other well-wishers.
The Q3 reports also give us our first chance to take a good look at most of the entire field of candidates, though a couple will keep us waiting another few months (Mike Kopp and Wayne Williams did not file their campaign committee paperwork until after the Q3 deadline).
So who did well, and who laid a big ugly egg? Take a look after the jump to find out.
CANDIDATE | OFFICE | Q3 RAISED | Q3 SPENT | Cash OH |
---|---|---|---|---|
John Hickenlooper (D) | Governor | $221,914 | $79,729 | $733,772 |
Tom Tancredo (R) | Governor | $180,961 | $81,179 | $134,626 |
Scott Gessler (R) | Governor | $108,495 | $71,978 | $88,270 |
Greg Brophy (R) | Governor | $92,471* | $63,958 | $28,512 |
Mike Kopp (R) | Governor | Registered committee on 10/1/13 | ||
Mark Waller (R) | Attorney General | $64,913 | $7,933 | $56,980 |
Cynthia Coffman (R) | Attorney General | $64,427 | $41,379 | $50,837 |
Don Quick (D) | Attorney General | $43,000 | $11,761 | $123,732 |
Walker Stapleton (R) | Treasurer | $325,185 | $25,843 | $309,083 |
Betsy Markey (D) | Treasurer | $99,989 | $20,457 | $79,531 |
Pat Quinn (D) | Treasurer | $33,300 | $26,164 | $7,135 |
Joe Neguse (D) | Secretary of State | $74,136** | $25,893 | $75,440 |
Wayne Williams (R) | Secretary of State | Registered committee on 10/7/13 |
*Brophy registered his committee on 7/19/13, so he technically didn't have a full 3 months of fundraising (though it's close enough that it likely wasn't an issue).
**Neguse registered his committee on 6/24/13, just a few days before the June 30th cutoff for Q2. His campaign says Neguse raised more than $100k in the last three months, and while that isn't technically accurate, it's only a few extra days.
A couple of things stand out in looking at the numbers side-by-side. Brophy's Q3, which we covered yesterday, looks even worse when you factor in his expenditures. Not only did Greg Brophy have a terrible quarter in terms of contributions, he also managed to spend $2 out of every $3 dollars raised. If you know you aren't going to have a great quarter, at least make sure you don't account for so many expenditures until October 1st.
Cynthia Coffman is another Republican who has a burn rate that is much too high for this point in the Attorney General's race. Her expenditure rate negates some of the shine of a decent fundraising quarter, and it makes fellow Republican candidate Mark Waller look like an accountant by comparison.
While Brophy and Coffman are spending way too much money compared to what they have raised, at least they're not in as bad a shape as Democratic Treasurer candidate Pat Quinn. For a man who touts his credentials as a certified CPA, he should know better than to be spending a whopping 76% of his contributions. Quinn is the only statewide candidate right now whose total cash-on-hand amount is a 4-digit number.
We've talked already about the whopper of a quarter that Republican Treasurer Walker Stapleton reported, so we won't elaborate further in this space other than to say he is clearly the big "Winner" from Q3.
The biggest "Loser" is also a no-brainer: Democratic Attorney General candidate Don Quick had a horrendous quarter. Despite being the only Democrat running for AG, Quick barely raised more money than the unknown, and overmatched, Pat Quinn. For all intents and purposes, Q3 is probably the death knell for Quick's campaign. He may limp ahead and "win" the Democratic nomination by default if no other Dem decides to enter the race, but Quick has demonstrated after three fundraising periods that he's just not capable of running a serious statewide campaign — at least not now. Big donors and prominent Democratic supporters will almost certainly turn their attention to other races now, which is good news for candidates like Betsy Markey and Joe Neguse.
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Thanks for adding to my list of "People Who Can't Campaign Their Way Out of a Paper Bag" (the trick is not wearing the bag on your head as a badge of honor, which is a strategic choice I wish Cynthia Coffman would make). Unfortunately, my list has way too many Democrats on it at this point. If you need me, I'll be vacationing in Boulder where you don't have to be smart to win.
Small typo – you mean "4-digit number" not 5-digit number in OP.
Can't we please get one decent Democratic AG candidate?!? Now!!!
(. . . And, no — more money will not make Mr. Quick any better a candidate . . .)
For all the hand-wringing, Don Quick has more than twice the cash on hand of either his opponents (and more than any other Democratic candidate not named Hickenlooper).
The animus toward Don Quick from our hosts, whatever its source, is well-documented. But the idea that the candidate with twice as much cash on hand is doomed for financial reasons doesn't pass a simple math test.
Let me just clarify this for you. A Democrat running against, not one, but two Republicans who both outfundraised him by 33% each. I don't care how slowly Mr. Quick spends his $120 K in cash on hand, he's not gonna win a statewide race by throwing down the mic after tripping over his own shoe laces and calling it a "show."
Surely you're not trying to make a serious argument about cash-on-hand numbers. Don Quick SHOULD have more cash-on-hand than any other Democrat aside from Hickenlooper — he's the only Democrat who has had three fundraising quarters already.
Pennywise should not be allowed to campaign.
What about http://www.jimrundberg.com ?
The link you provided answers your question.
At a recent event, Waller was saying that he outraised the other two candidates but if you look at his campaign finance report, he transfered almost 20 % of what he reported from his House District 15 account when he first filed to run. I'm thinking that's money raised in previous elections, is it not? If that's the case, he raised about 52k 3rd quarter and Don Q isn't that far behind in fundraising!
Of course he isn't. And, in Don (who is my father–just for the sake of transparency) first quarter he raised over 52,000 dollars, on par with Mark Waller.
I am not just invested in this race because of family ties. I know that my right to get married hinges on this race. I know that the rights of our children to quality public education and a healthy environment hinge on this race
My dad's team is working hard on a campaign to fight for environmental and social justice in Colorado, if you want to make wildly hyperbolic statements (i.e. "death knell of his campaign") do as you wish, but if I were you I would be focused on–as Democrats–giving us a helping hand.