July 14, 2017 03:37 PM UTC

Legislative Session Holds Back Early CD-7 Primary Fundraising

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• by: Colorado Pols

Ernest Luning of the Colorado Statesman reporting, all three Democratic candidates vying to replace outgoing Rep. Ed Perlmutter have reported their first quarter of fundraising–Rep. Brittany Pettersen finished first this initial period with $170,000 raised, followed by Sen. Andy Kerr at just over $100,000 and Sen. Dominick Moreno just south of $85,000:

Colorado State Sen. Andy Kerr, a Democrat hoping to replace U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, will report raising more than $104,000 in his first fundraising period, Colorado Politics has learned.

The campaign says fundraising was driven by grassroots and in-state donations, with 536 donors. More than 85 percent came from within Colorado. Almost three-fourths of the donations were under $100, according to the campaign…

The other two Democrats running for the seat are Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood and Sen. Dominick Moreno of Commerce City.

Pettersen earlier this week reported raising more than $170,000 in her first fundraising period. Her campaign said fundraising was restricted by her work in the legislature this year, with more than 80 percent of donations coming after the conclusion of the legislative session in May.

Moreno earlier on Friday reported raising nearly $85,000 in his first fundraising period.

Obviously, Rep. Pettersen comes out on top and that’s the headline. With that said, in all three cases fundraising was hampered by our state’s strict prohibitions on fundraising by serving state lawmakers during the legislative session. It’s also true that fundraising in a contested primary is harder than the general election, as donors are more cautious about making an investment that goes nowhere. We do expect these numbers to rise in future quarters for all three candidates now that the legislative session is behind us, and that’s when we’ll be watching to see a spread emerge to tell us who is definitively pulling ahead. Before then, detailed reports we should see next week will tell us more about where the money is coming from and how it’s being spent by the candidates.

Bottom line: nobody’s out of the running yet. From here, we can watch to establish the trend.