Kent Thiry is mulling over a run for Colorado governor as a Republican, and the people giving him advice are some in the best GOP operative game. His membership in the state party, though, is still brand new.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office says Thiry changed his affiliation to Republican on March 31.

Kate Roberts, a senior political operative at EIS Solutions who worked with Thiry on the successful Raise the Bar ballot amendment last year, said Thursday he has “been a registered Republican much of his life.”

“He’s a fiscal conservative but not a traditional partisan. He registered as an independent when he moved to Colorado, but the Democratic Party has moved so far left in wake of the last election he re-affiliated,” Roberts said.

His company’s political action committee has given fairly evenly to Republicans and Democrats, with a tilt to the right — $223,250 last year to Republicans and $192,500 to Democrats, according to the website OpenSecrets.org.

Davita also gave $100,000 to try to pass Amendment 66, the failed 2013 ballot question would have raised income taxes by $950 million a year.

A PAC. however, isn’t the same as personal pocketbook, and dollars follow business interests and board votes more than partisan hot takes.

In Colorado, Thiry has handed about $2.4 million in political donations, most of it to help pass last year’s Raise the Bar to make it harder to amend the state constitution and Let Colorado Vote to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the state’s new presidential primaries.

Some interesting names among his personal donations, including to former Democratic Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien’s campaign for Denver Public School Board  and $400 to Denver Rep. Alec Garnett, who is the former executive director of the state Democratic Party.

“He’s so much bigger than the petty politics all around us. Kent has relationships with many notable Republicans, as well as some Democrats, some of whom he’s contributed to, but that doesn’t make him any less a fiscal conservative,” Roberts said in response to Thiry’s bipartisan giving.

“Warren Buffet is one of Kent’s biggest investors, but that doesn’t mean Thiry agrees with Buffet’s big government tax policy. He’s been a Republican much of his life, but when he moved to Colorado he registered as an independent and fought to give independents a greater voice in the election process.  Kent just doesn’t get caught up in the small ball partisanship that can oftentimes drown out real reform.  That’s why he’s been more focused on achieving policy reform through the initiative process than running for elected office himself.”

Editor’s note: This blog was corrected to note Alec Garnett is the “former” executive director of the state Democratic Party.