An independent expenditure committee tied to former DaVita CEO Kent Thiry has invested $1.08 million in state House and Senate races in the past few days, backing more moderate Democrats and Republicans in a dozen races.

The committee Let Colorado Vote Action was filed just one week ago, on June 17. On June 19, the committee reported a dozen expenditures, covering TV and internet ads, in the dozen hottest contested primaries going into Tuesday’s election.

Spending favored Democrats, at $780,000, plus another $300,000 on five Republican primaries. 

Who is funding Let Colorado Vote Action won’t be known for several weeks after the election.

Thiry said through spokesman Curtis Hubbard, “It’s time for many of us to stand up for the majority in the middle. We are supporting responsible candidates in each party who believe in civil and bipartisan behavior and who believe they represent all the votes in their districts. We are proud to tell their stories.”

What’s notable is that every race pits progressive Democrats against moderates and far-right Republicans against conservative or more establishment-backed members of the GOP.

The largest spending, at $150,000 each, was to support three Democratic candidates: retired appellate judge Cecelia Espenoza in Denver’s House District 4. Espenoza is challenging Rep. Tim Hernández, who defeated her in a hotly contested vacancy election last August.

Another $150,000 went to support Michael Carter, who is running for the open seat held by term-limited Rep. Mike Weissman. Carter is up against progressive Bryan Lindstrom for the Aurora House seat. The third is for Rep. Lindsey Daugherty of Arvada, who’s running for the seat held by term-limited Sen. Rachel Zenzinger. Daugherty faces Westminster City Councilman Obi Ezeadi.

The next largest is $125,000 to support Rep. Lisa Frizell for the Douglas County Senate District 2 seat held by term-limited Sen. Jim Smallwood of Parker. Frizell faces Tim Arvidson, a small business owner with a lengthy criminal and civil court history of tax problems, DUIs, restraining orders, and other legal issues.

Sen. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, faces two challengers for his Senate District 10 seat: David Stiver and Rex Tonkins, husband of El Paso County GOP chair Vickie Tonkins.

Liston was formally censured by the state GOP last year for pursuing criminal charges against Rex Tonkins following an alleged altercation at a county party meeting presided over by Vickie Tonkins. After a jury acquitted Rex Tonkins on misdemeanor harassment charges last summer, the state party voted in November to rebuke Liston for “using his political influence” to encourage the prosecution. The party also issued an apology to Rex Tonkins for the ordeal.

The committee also spent $100,000 each to support Sean Camacho in House District 6, who faces Rep. Elisabeth Epps for the Denver district, and Rebekah Stewart in House District 30, who faces Kyra deGruy Kennedy for the seat held by Rep. Chris deGruy Kennedy of Lakewood.

The committee also backed state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Weld County, who faces a primary challenge from business owner Natalie Abshier of Mead.

The fund also supported Ethnie Groves Treick, a Democrat running in House District 52 (Fort Collins) against Yara Zokaie. Rep; Judy Amabile is running for the seat held by term-limited Senate President Steve Fenberg of Boulder. Amabile faces Jovita Schiffer.

Idris Keith, a Democrat running against Weissman for Senate District 28 in Aurora, is also backed by Let Colorado Vote Action. Max Brooks, who is running against Bill Jacks in the Republican primary, is running against Frizell in House District 45, Frizell’s former seat.

Finally, Republican Mark Roeber of Paonia is running in House District 58, which includes Montrose and Gunnison, and against Larry Don Suckla of Cortez. Roeber is also backed by Let Colorado Vote Action.

Let Colorado Vote Action is not the only IEC getting into the primaries.

Pro-business IECs are working behind the scenes to elect moderate Democrats.

Progressives for Accountability and Real Change has spent $160,794 during June to back Carter, Daugherty, and Jacqueline Phillips in the Adams County HD 31 Democratic primary and against Rep. Julia Marvin, who defeated Phillips in a vacancy election in January.

The committee has reported raising $80,000 from the We Are Colorado Business Coalition, whose registered agent is former state Sen. Cheri Jahn of Wheat Ridge. Jahn, a pro-business Democrat, switched to unaffiliated weeks before she left the Senate due to term limits at the end of 2017.

We Are Colorado Business reported that it raised $258,000 from an action fund for the Colorado Hospital Association. Raising Colorado and Education Reform Now Advocacy are both tied to Democrats for Education Reform, a pro-privatization group, and Moving Colorado Forward, whose donors include Education Reform Now, the Colorado League of Charter Schools, and the Colorado Association of Home Builders.

Representation Matters IEC is spending entirely on one race to support Keith in Aurora’s Senate District 28. The organization has invested $518,386 in the race, including more than $75,000 in the last week.

However, just who is funding the IEC remains hidden. Its funders are Brighter Colorado Futures 527, which reports its money came from a related group with the same name, and Democracy Wins of Washington, D.C., for which there is little information other than opposition to U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Wellington.

Servicios Sigue Action Fund has spent $154,500 in the last two weeks entirely to support Camacho in HD 6. Their money comes from various dark money groups, including One Main Street Colorado and A Whole Lot of People for Change. The latter has raised $920,000 this year, largely from other dark money groups. One Main Street, which has raised $950,000, is funded primarily by the Apartment Association of Metro Denver and various unions, including firefighters and plumbers.

The IEC Coloradans for Conservative Leadership is spending in favor of conservative Republicans who are not aligned with state GOP chair Dave Williams. That includes Brooks in HD45, Frizell in SD2, Jarvis Caldwell in HD20, and Lori Garcia Sander in HD65.

Its biggest funders are the Colorado League of Charter Schools and Ready Colorado, funded by the homebuilders Committee, Homes for All Coloradoans (another home builders committee), and Kent Thiry.