The Colorado Sun’s Jesse Paul reports that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has now put $2.5 million behind Michael Bennet’s run for governor through Rocky Mountain Way, a state-level super PAC supporting Bennet’s campaign. Bloomberg gave $1.25 million during the latest reporting period, on top of another $1.25 million last year, making his support larger than what any Republican candidate has raised in the race.
Rocky Mountain Way raised $2.5 million during the reporting period, spent nearly $1.2 million, mostly on ads, and still had $4.6 million in the bank. The PAC is already running television ads painting Bennet as a fighter against Trump and Republicans in Congress. Because apparently Colorado’s next governor is now something to be purchased through coastal billionaire seed money and a consultant-produced scowl.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Bloomberg’s support for Bennet has reached $2.5 million. That is not a contribution. That is a political weather system moving in from Manhattan.
- Rocky Mountain Way can raise and spend unlimited money, so long as it does not coordinate with Bennet’s campaign. Right. And my cows can organize a jazz trio so long as they do not discuss sheet music.
- Bloomberg’s latest $1.25 million accounted for more than half of what the PAC raised during the reporting period. Nothing says “Colorado grassroots” like a New York billionaire writing the big check.
- Other donors included a dark-money nonprofit, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, Uber, and Norm Brownstein. Consultants, ads, lawyers, tech money, and political influence. Behold, the little guy’s movement.
- The PAC’s ad says Colorado needs a governor who “fights back.” Translation: the money people would like you to believe this is about courage, not cash flow.
My Bottom Line
This all boils down to the money. Sad, but true. It always boils down to the money. Advertising, consultants, vendors, polling, mailers, digital ads, fundraising committees, and the whole campaign-industrial buffet line. Politics has become a very expensive way to convince voters they are watching democracy instead of a commercial transaction with better lapel pins.
So one must ask: why does one East Coast elitist, Michael Bloomberg, want so badly to see another East Coast elitist, Michael Bennet, become governor of Colorado? What does a New York billionaire gain by dumping millions into our state’s governor’s race? Pure civic affection for the Centennial State? A sudden deep concern for potholes in Pueblo and water storage on the Eastern Plains? Please.
Bloomberg has been involved in Colorado politics before, and this is not some bake sale check. This is serious money. Money like that does not wander in accidentally. It arrives with expectations, worldview, and influence. It comes from people who believe they know better than the rest of us, especially those of us who live somewhere between the coasts and still think local control means something.
And Bennet is the perfect vessel for that crowd. Polished. Connected. Comfortable in the rooms where people say “stakeholder engagement” without laughing. He may campaign in a puffy jacket and talk about Colorado values, but the money trail is wearing loafers and ordering lunch in New York.
Colorado voters should pay attention. When a billionaire from back east invests millions to help choose our governor, that is not trivia. That is a flashing yellow light. Because in politics, money is rarely charity. It is usually a down payment.
Source: The Colorado Sun
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