Opponents of a successful effort on the statewide ballot to raise the minimum wage in Colorado had claimed during the campaign that they were in the midst of a “David vs. Goliath fight.”

The idea was that left-leaning unions and advocacy groups were pushing a national effort in Colorado to gradually raise the wage, overshadowing resources from the business community, which largely led the attempt to defat Amendment 70.

Tyler Sandberg, spokesman for the Keep Colorado Working opposition campaign, said in September, “This is truly a David versus Goliath fight. We will do our best to fund our (advertising) reservations, but we are at a huge disadvantage. They have the money. We have the merits and the hustle.”

Final campaign finance reports released Thursday by the Secretary of State’s Office suggest that proponents did indeed raise significantly more than opponents though opponents had solid resources of their own.

Proponents raised nearly $5 million over the course of the election. But opponents had their own war chest, with more than $1.7 million in contributions.

Amendment 70 passed last month with 55 percent support. It gradually raises the minimum wage to $12 per hour by January 2020. The current minimum wage is $8.31 per hour; the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.

The opposition campaign appeared more worried than proponents at the end of the election. Between Oct. 27 and Nov. 30, opponents reported $73,850 in contributions, to proponents’ $16,389.

Opponents were boosted by contributions from groups representing the hospitality and other business industries. Right-leaning organizations also helped, including the Virginia-based Workforce Fairness Institute, which contributed $650,000.

Proponents were buoyed by unions and left-leaning groups dedicated to a national effort to raise the minimum wage. The Amendment 70 campaign made no secret of the fact that the Colorado effort was part of a national union agenda.

The Brooklyn-based Center for Popular Democracy, a network of progressive groups, contributed more than $1 million to Colorado Families for a Fair Wage. The California-based Fairness Project, which is dedicated to higher wage issues, contributed $911,233. The Washington, D.C.-based SEIU union of service employees contributed $725,148. The New York-based Civic Participation Action Fund, dedicated to economic opportunity, donated $700,000. And the Washington, D.C.-based National Education Association-the nation’s largest teachers union-contributed $630,000.