News Sheet

Colorado Governor Fundraising Is Not Leadership

Colorado Capitol in Denver with a clipboard showing an unlabeled finance spreadsheet in the foreground
Receipts aren’t results.
Written by Scott K. James

Colorado politics is thumping its chest about fundraising again. Money looks shiny on a spreadsheet, but it is not the same thing as leadership.

The Denver Post has the state political class thumping its chest about fundraising again, like money is the same thing as leadership. Spoiler: it isn’t.

What happened is simple: the outlet highlighted fundraising hauls for Colorado’s governor race, with Democratic hopefuls pulling bigger totals and the GOP field seeing a new cash leader. This all plays out in the usual Denver ecosystem where a checkbook counts as a policy platform.

Sure, big numbers look shiny on a spreadsheet. A lot of bad ideas have glossy brochures too.

The Bullet Point Brief

  • A fundraising snapshot dropped for Colorado’s governor race.
  • Democratic candidates are shown collecting larger totals overall.
  • The GOP field is shown having a new cash leader.
  • Scott’s read: Democrats dominate, and the incentives follow the money.
  • Key concern raised: big money from out of state.

My Bottom Line

Democrats dominate. That is not news in Colorado politics. The part they skip is what that dominance buys: control over the narrative, the bureaucracy, and the rules of the game. Funny how the “power to the people” crowd always ends up with the biggest donor list.

And yes, note the big money from out of state. If your campaign fuel is coming from people who do not live here, do not work here, and do not deal with the consequences here, you are not “building a movement.” You’re leasing one.

Translated: when big donors set the menu, regular Colorado families get handed the bill and told it’s for their own good.

If it worked, they wouldn’t need a money firehose.

Here’s a better standard: stop auditioning for national attention and start proving you can run Colorado without treating counties like nuisance departments. Show me results, not receipts from coastal fundraising pages. If you want our trust, earn it the old-fashioned way: tell us what you’ll cut, what you’ll fix, and what you’ll stop mandating.


Source: Colorado state news, events, trends | The Denver Post

About the author

Scott K. James

A 4th generation Northern Colorado native, Scott K. James is a veteran broadcaster, professional communicator, and principled leader. Widely recognized for his thoughtful, common-sense approach to addressing issues that affect families, businesses, and communities, Scott, his wife, Julie, and son, Jack, call Johnstown, Colorado, home. A former mayor of Johnstown, James is a staunch defender of the Constitution and the rule of law, the free market, and the power of the individual. Scott has delighted in a lifetime of public service and continues that service as a Weld County Commissioner representing District 2.