Nearly $11 million in dark money had outsized influence on the outcomes of the 2018 state elections. The money came literally out of the blue from a social investment fund in Washington D.C. The fund supported three election issues and Democratic candidates in legislative and statewide races.

The Sixteen Thirty Fund and its “investors” won each of these elections.

What’s known about the Sixteen Thirty Fund? It’s a 501c4, meaning it can give lots of money to causes and candidates without revealing donors. Its donors are wealthy individuals. It’s run and funded by Arabella Advisors, led by Eric Kessler, a former Clinton administration and League of Conservation Voters staffer. He describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur” and his funds represent political “social entrepreneurs.”

Sixteen Thirty contributed over $2 million to Coloradans to Stop Predatory Payday Loans, about 90 percent of its budget. The Fund put $3.5 million into Save our Neighborhoods to defeat the mineral property rights amendment sponsored by the energy industry. Both committees filed their reports by the book. Sixteen Thirty is cited as a contributor but its investors are not.

Independent Expenditure Committees (IECs) are in a separate class. They receive donations, not contributions. They can support candidates but they can’t coordinate with candidates. They can receive unlimited amounts of money and, as with issue committees, donors within donors remain invisible. So Sixteen Thirty gave Coloradans for Fairness, an IEC supporting Democratic state Senate candidates, $2.5 million, more than double the amount the four Democrats in the most contested Senate races raised.

The progressive Sixteen Thirty led a diverse pack of bedfellows to Democratic Senate victory through Coloradans for Fairness. Energy companies Anadarko, Extraction Oil, and PDC Energy pitched over $110,000 to the IEC. They joined with the Conservation Colorado Victory Fund and the Environmental Defense Fund that combined for $190,000. Money from Coloradans for Fairness produced a video ad against Sen. Tim Neville, pounding him for taking thousands in donations from oil and gas.

Education Reform Now Advocacy out of New York City and Stand for Children, both charter school supporters, donated $400,000 to Coloradans for Fairness, and the National Education Association, the large teacher’s union, gave $150,000. Donations and reporting were by the book of the now-terminated IEC.

Our Colorado Values supporting Democratic House candidates received $500,000 from Sixteen Thirty. Apparently Colorado’s values support non-disclosure of whose money funds elections. Justice Colorado took in $900,000 from Sixteen Thirty to elect the new state Attorney General, Phil Weiser. Good Jobs Colorado received $920,000 from Sixteen Thirty in support of Gov. Jared Polis. As with the dubiously named Coloradans for Fairness, each of these committees performed their disclosures by the book.

Republicans got hammered in 2018 in part because their large secret funders, especially Americans for Prosperity, took a pass on the state. They’ve resisted campaign finance reform. Maybe the party will revisit its position now that they’ve experienced the consequences of unfettered dark money.

Democrats typically argue against dark money, though Sixteen Thirty’s progressive managers are making lots of income exploiting campaign finance rules allowing non-disclosure of its investors. Its wealthy “social entrepreneurs” exploit their anonymity to influence elections with an Adam Smith-like invisible hand.

Some believe that shining light on the darkness will make this state of election affairs better. This theory says that if voters know exactly who’s pitching in the dough, that’s enough accountability. It’s a start, but probably won’t ensure that our Colorado values include fairness in elections. It will be interesting to see how much election reform the secretary of state, legislature and Governor, now in Democratic control, will allow.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.