Outside groups have spent at least $2.87 million as of June 25 – nearly $1 million of that just in the last two weeks, according to Colorado’s campaign finance database.  

The hottest race on the GOP side – at least in terms of independent expenditure committee (IEC) spending – is the Republican primary contest between House Minority Leader Hugh McLean and Austin Hein, a former communications director for the House GOP caucus, TRACER data show.  

That $460,000 in spending in House District 51 overwhelmingly favors McKean. Indeed, less than $20,000 has been spent to support Hein or oppose McKean. Those backing Hein include the Make Liberty Win PAC, part of a national group that backs Republican candidates in several states. Hein is also backed by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and Coloradans for Safer Neighborhoods, which is run by RMGO’s Taylor Rhodes. Hein works for the gun group’s affiliate, the National Association for Gun Rights. 

McKean’s backers include the National Association of Realtors and the Colorado Association of Realtors through their independent expenditure arm, Prosperity Through Property Rights; Ready Colorado Action Fund, which has spent $94,000 and is funded by the Colorado Association of Homebuilders, among others; and, the IEC Centennial Values, which includes among its donors former DaVita CEO Kent Thiry.

Other GOP primaries point to how the caucus could align come January. Most of the hottest primary races are for safe seats for their respective parties, meaning the victors tonight will likely win the general election in November.

Some of the same backers for McKean or Hein are also putting money into races in Douglas County.

Candidates Lisa Frizell and Bill Jack are facing off in House District 45, which includes Castle Rock, and is the seat currently held by Rep. Patrick Neville, who was McKean’s predecessor as minority leader until 2020.

Frizell’s candidacy has benefitted from almost $370,000 in spending by outside groups, with the biggest dollars coming from Ready Colorado. RMGO has been the only outside group to back Jack with $731 in spending.

The same shows up for House District 44, currently held by term-limited Rep. Kim Ransom of Littleton. The race is between Anthony Hartsook and Terry Dodd, with Ready Colorado spending more than $80,000 to back Hartsook and RMGO in Dodd’s corner with $621.

In the Colorado Springs House District 21, the race is between Rep. Mary Bradfield and Karl Dent, but outside spending, which now stands at $143,503, favors Bradfield. The activities are from the same IECs that back McKean, Frizell and Hartsook.

On the Democratic side, the biggest spending remains in House District 6, the contentious primary between progressive Elisabeth Epps and former legislative aide Katie March. More than $470,000 has been spent by outside groups on the race.

Two weeks ago, the independent expenditure committee (IEC) total spending stood at around $270,000, with $173,000 favoring March. It’s now much more lopsided – thanks to spending by Democrats for Progressive Leadership, which is doing most of the spending for March. Outside spending for Epps is at $144,000, while for March, it’s at $326,000.

Epps’ backers include Colorado Working Families, which has spent $140,000 to back her candidacy.

Spending has heated up in a couple of other Democratic primaries, notably in House District 42, where Rep. Mandy Lindsay, who won her seat through a vacancy committee last January, is in a rematch with Gail Pough. Spending now totals $189,000, with Lindsay backed by IEC-affiliated unions, such as Service Employees International Union, which is tied to the state employee union, Colorado Wins, and Colorado Labor Action. The two IECs have collectively spent $163,000 to back Lindsay. Pough’s support is coming from Raising Colorado, which is tied to Democrats for Education Reform. The group has spent $26,000 to back Pough.

In House District 57, in northwest Colorado, the Democratic primary between Elizabeth Velasco and Cole Buerger has generated $225,000 in spending from outside groups, with the money favoring Velasco, and largely from the same groups backing Lindsay.

House District 34 is also a dogfight between IECs backing Jenny Willford or Sam Nizam. Collectively more than $325,000 has been spent by outside groups, relatively evenly split between the two candidates. Union-affiliated IECs are backing Willford, while Nizam is supported by the Colorado Democracy Project, another IEC that is getting donations from Thiry. Rep. Kyle Mullica, D-Thornton, the district’s incumbent, is running for the state Senate.

In the Senate, only two races generated spending from outside groups – the GOP primary in Senate District 9, based in north El Paso County, and the Democratic primary for Senate District 11, in south Colorado Springs.

Sen. Paul Lundeen of SD 9 is backed by IEC groups Ready Colorado and the Colorado League of Charter Schools, which have spent $83,000 in the race. Rep. Tony Exum, in the SD 11 Democratic primary, is backed by Raising Colorado, which has spent $27,000.