The Sentinel reports that Aurora Democratic primaries have been flooded with outside-money attack ads, and now some of the targets are accusing those ads of spreading false information, crossing legal lines, and, in Anne Keke’s case, using racist tropes. The article centers on Democratic House races in Aurora, especially House District 41 between Rep. Jamie Jackson and challenger Anne Keke, and House District 42 between Rep. Mandy Lindsay and challenger Sarah Woodson.
And there it is. Boom. The party that never stops lecturing Colorado about equity, democracy, anti-racism, and clean elections is now getting a faceful of the political sewer it usually pretends only exists on the other side of the aisle.
To be clear, these are claims and accusations, and some of the groups and consultants involved deny them. But the hypocrisy does not need a courtroom verdict to stink. Aurora voters are being asked to believe this is all about “community,” “representation,” and “policy,” while outside-money groups drop nasty hit pieces into mailboxes like raccoons flinging trash across Colfax.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Sentinel Colorado reports that multiple Aurora Democratic primaries are seeing a flurry of ads from independent expenditure committees, including Colorado Labor Action, Fighting for a Better Aurora, and Promoting Progressive Women. Translation: local democracy, now with more anonymous money and fewer fingerprints.
- Anne Keke’s campaign accused Colorado Labor Action of using racist tropes in mailers opposing her, including imagery involving money and what her campaign said was a darkened photo. The ad creators deny altering her skin tone and said internal instructions told designers not to change it. That is the sewer in miniature: accusation, denial, lawyerly distance, and voters left holding the stink bag.
- Keke gave the quote that slices through the whole mess: “I thought everything was about policy and about the work that we want to do, so to tread into what I literally call racism is disappointing.” That is the knife twist. Even inside the Democratic family, the moral vocabulary collapses the second power is on the table.
- Jamie Jackson also says outside PAC ads have misrepresented her work connected to GEO Cares, and the Sentinel reports that one group accused her of working for ICE, which she did not. So much for uplifting civic dialogue. Apparently “protecting democracy” now includes creative writing exercises with postage.
- The money trail is the real monster here. The Sentinel reports Colorado Labor Action spent about $28,400 on mailers supporting Jackson and almost $27,000 opposing Keke, while Fighting for a Better Aurora, linked to One Main Street, spent about $97,400 supporting Keke and opposing Jackson, plus nearly $24,000 more on mailers. In House District 42, a One Main Street-associated committee spent $45,600 against Mandy Lindsay. Aurora did not get a primary. It got a consultant convention with casualties.
My Bottom Line
Aurora deserves better than this. It is one of Colorado’s most diverse and politically important cities, not a testing range for toxic primary warfare by people who probably talk like nonprofit grant applications in public and like mob bookies in campaign meetings.
This is the Colorado ruling-class playbook in miniature: outsource the hit, deny responsibility, wrap everything in moral vocabulary, then demand applause for protecting democracy. The candidates can say they cannot coordinate with independent expenditure groups, and legally that matters. But to voters, the whole racket still looks like one big machine with too many committees and not enough shame.
The scam is simple. Outside groups do the ugliest work. Candidates keep their hands manicure-clean and act shocked, shocked, that politics has become a cesspool. Consultants get paid. Mailboxes get napalmed. Voters get told this is about values.
And that is the ugliest part. If this is how Democrats treat each other in a primary, imagine what they think voters are worth once the ballots are counted. Aurora voters are not props in somebody’s factional knife fight. They are citizens. They deserve honest arguments, clean facts, and candidates willing to govern instead of hiding behind the next shadowy mailer.
Source: The Sentinel
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