While Republicans stage cage matches over bylaws and party purity tests, Colorado Democrats are doing what actual political operatives do: raising money and preparing to win. In this report from Colorado Politics, we learn that four Democratic incumbents in Colorado each hauled in over $1 million in the second quarter of 2024 — turning campaign finance into an art form while the GOP continues to turn every committee meeting into a dumpster fire.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Four Dems, Four Fat Stacks: Michael Bennett, Eileen Laubacher, Phil Weiser, and John Hickenlooper each raised more than $1 million in Q2 — not cumulatively, individually.
- Laubacher leads the cash parade: The first-time candidate brought in $1.9 million — more than 13 times what the incumbent, Lauren Boebert, brought in.
- Republicans? Crickets. Meanwhile, GOP candidates are either duking it out in primaries, barely raising cash, or worse — refusing to even file campaign finance reports.
- Fundraising gap = strategy gap: While Democrats invest in digital, staff, and field ops, Republicans are still arguing over who has a higher Liberty Scorecard. Guess what? It doesn’t matter. The Great Suburban Normie doesn’t know what that is. But they will be moved by a TV ad in October.
- Message to the GOP base: All the online rage and purity-signaling in the world doesn’t mean squat if you can’t out-fund your opponent. Money still wins elections.
My Bottom Line
While Colorado Republicans hold endless meetings to figure out who’s sufficiently conservative enough to operate the Silent Auction table at Lincoln Day Dinner, Democrats are raising millions and locking down their seats. It’s a tale as old as modern politics: one side is building the war chest, the other is beating their chest.
Let’s stop pretending this is about principles. It’s about preparation. The GOP in Colorado continues to be its own worst enemy — fighting itself in public, leaking chaos, and letting winnable races turn into fundraising blowouts. Meanwhile, Democrats are raking it in, unifying behind incumbents, and spending like winners.
Here’s the gut punch: until Colorado Republicans stop fighting and start fundraising, we’ll keep getting what we’ve got — a one-party state where the opposition is too broke, too divided, or too late to matter.
Wanna win? Write a damn check. Recruit donors. Raise hell AND raise money.
Because right now, Republicans are showing up to a gunfight with a speech about Robert’s Rules.
