With five weeks to go until Election Day, the spending is ramping up for committees fighting for people’s vote.

And some interesting contributors have surfaced.

Proposition 131 leads the money race

Not surprisingly — and given the onslaught of television ads — Proposition 131, which deals with ranked choice voting, has brought in the biggest dollars.

The measure would set up ranked choice voting and open primaries for Colorado elections. While both major political parties oppose the measure, it has been endorsed by Gov. Jared Polis, the League of Women Voters, and on Tuesday, by U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.

Colorado Voters First, the issue committee behind Proposition 131, has now raised a total of $9.2 million, with $3.8 million collected in just the last 30 days.

While Kent Thiry, the former CEO of DaVita, has led the effort, he’s had help from some major contributors. In the last month, they included Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, who kicked in $1 million. Another $500,000 came from Kathryn Murdoch, a philanthropist who is married to James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch of News Corp.

Unite America, which was started by Thiry, also added another $1.17 million, bringing the total contributions to $4.68 million. 

Ben Walton, grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, gave another $750,000 in the last month, bringing his total to $1 million.

On the opposing side, Voter Rights Colorado has brought in a total of $109,000, with contributions in the past month coming from Progress Now Colorado, New Era Colorado, the Colorado Education Association and Coloradans for Accessible and Secure Elections, a dark money group that does not disclose its donors.

A new committee, First Choice Counts, is also raising money to oppose the measure, with just over $7,000 collected. Its major contributor is Candice Stuzriem of El Paso County at $5,415. 

Amendment 79 supporters haul in big bucks

The committee with the second largest bank account is Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, which advocates on behalf of Amendment 79. The measure would put the right to an abortion into the state constitution.

As with all the constitutional amendments on the November ballot, it requires 55% voter approval.

In the past month, the committee has added $2.13 million to its coffers, bringing the total to $8.1 million.

Contributors in the past month included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who gave $750,000, and the Open Society Policy Center of New York, which gave $1 million. Open Society was started by philanthropist George Soros.

The largest contributor to the committee remains COBALT, which has given $2.3 million in cash and in-kind contributions.

There are four issue committees opposing Amendment 79, but none is even close to raising substantial contributions.

Pro-Life Colorado  Fund, which is backed by the Archdiocese of Denver, has so far raised $80,921, with $50,000 from the archdiocese.

Vote No on 79 is backed by Colorado Right to Life and has raised just under $27,000 in the last month.

Coloradans for the Protection of Women and Children is backed largely by Andrew Wommack Ministries and has raised just over $65,000, including $10,000 in the last month.

Colorado Life Initiative has raised $41,887, mostly from individuals. It’s backed by Faye Barnhart and Angela Eicher, who tried in 2023 to get an anti-abortion measure on the ballot but withdrew it before getting to the petition phase.

Battle over Proposition 127 heats up

The battle over Proposition 127, which seeks to ban the hunting of mountain lions, bobcats and lynx, is being waged by Cats Aren’t Trophies and Colorado’s Wildlife Deserves Better, with the former leading the money race.

Cats Aren’t Trophies has raised nearly $2.3 million, with $1.4 million arriving in the last 30 days. Big contributors included the Animal Wellness Foundation and Animal Wellness Action, both run by former Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne Pacelle.

The group made its biggest contributions to the committee this election cycle in the past month, at $610,000, bringing its total to $875,000.

Colorado’s Wildlife Deserves Better has now raised $1.4 million, with its largest contribution to date from the Concord Fund, at $600,000. The money showed up on Sept. 25.

The fund was formerly known as the Judicial Crisis Network, and was started by Leonard Leo, the chair of the Federalist Society.

Proposition 129 opponents lead in fundraising

The ballot measure seeks to require Colorado to establish a veterinary professional associate degree to be offered at Colorado State University.

On the pro side, the issue committee All Pets Deserve Vet Care is being funded by the Denver Dumb Friends League and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). While the committee has raised a total of $1.4 million to date, it only took in $18,000 in the last 30 days.

Opposing the measure, the funding has ramped up for the committee Keep Our Pets Safe, which has now raised $1.9 million. The American Veterinary Association is the committee’s chief funder, with $1.8 million in contributions, including $850,000 in the last 30 days.

The big funders in other battles

Opposition to Propositions 128 and 130 comes from Coloradans for Smart Justice.

The first measure would require those convicted of the most serious crimes, such as murder and sexual assault, to serve 85% of their sentences. The latter requires the legislature to put more funding into law enforcement.

The committee has raised $102,335, with funding from the ACLU and the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. About half of that came in during the last 30 days.

No committee is registered to support the measures, which were both backed by the group Advance Colorado Action.

Amendment 80 — the third ballot measure from Advance Colorado Action — would enshrine school choice into the state constitution. It has an issue committee registered to back it, School Choice for Every Child, but it has yet to report a single contribution.

No committees have been registered to oppose the measure.

Lawmakers’ referred measures draw little interest, with exceptions

The General Assembly, in the 2023 and 2024 sessions, sent seven ballot measures to voters for this year’s election — five constitutional amendments and two statutory changes.

Most have drawn no interest from committees, with just a few exceptions, starting with Proposition KK.

If approved, the ballot measure would impose an excise tax on the purchase of firearms and ammunition, with the funding to pay for crime victim services and behavioral health.

Supporting the measure, Colorado Supports Crime Victim Services has raised just under $76,000, with funding from the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Violence Free Colorado, neither of which is required to disclose funders.

While an issue committee filed in August to oppose KK, Stop Tax Increases has yet to report a single contribution and has now missed three required filings with the Secretary of State.

Its registered agent is Jon Anderson, an attorney who once represented Magpul, a manufacturer of high-capacity ammunition magazines that left Colorado in 2015, two years after the 2013 law was passed to ban those accessories.

A measure to allow the state to retain all tax revenue from sports betting has support from a mix of groups that normally aren’t on the same side.

Yes on JJ has raised $490,000, largely from the Environmental Defense Action Fund and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The revenue goes to fund water projects. There isn’t a committee opposing the measure.

Freedom to Marry Colorado backs Amendment J, which would repeal a 2006 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The 2006 amendment was rendered moot by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015.

The issue committee has so fair raised $438,000, including $97,000 in the last month. Its largest donor in the last month is One Colorado, at $35,000, and it also received $15,000 from the issue committee Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom, which is backing Amendment 79.

Editor’s note: headline changed to correct identification of groups supporting Amendment 79.