Each election season brings on disingenuous activity. Some action crosses the line into unscrupulous, possibly illegal activity.

An example of unscrupulous behavior is sending out text messages to thousands of voters suggesting the president of the Colorado Education Association supports Amendment 80 on school choice when he vehemently does not. This particular electioneering text message is unattributed to a sponsor — a campaign finance no-no.

The Amendment 80 text message caused a flurry of questions to the Colorado Education Association. Has the newly elected president of CEA really switched positions? He, along with CEA, does not support Amendment 80 on school choice, especially as it likely embeds state funding for private schools in the state constitution.

The National Education Association has fully disclosed its contributions to oppose Amendment 80 as has the Colorado Education Association. Whoever put out the text message remains anonymous.

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The text message resulted in a complaint to the Colorado Secretary of State. The complaint points to Colorado Dawn, whose chair of the board is Steve Durham, GOP member of the state Board of Education from Colorado Springs. Minority State Senate Leader Paul Lundeen is also on the board of Colorado Dawn. Both are ardent advocates of school choice and support Amendment 80.

Daniel Cole, consultant to Colorado Dawn, explained Colorado Dawn as an independent expenditure committee is somehow unconnected to the Colorado Dawn with Steve Durham as board chair. Cole is a GOP operative who tries to stay under the radar, but who, after the 2018 wipeout of Republicans in the state legislature, averred the GOP would make a comeback. Amendment 80 is apparently one of the issues designed to generate that result. Cole received $872,790 from a Colorado Dawn entity to produce mailers and text messages supporting the amendment.

Advance Colorado Action, an organization led by Michael Fields of the conservative Advance Colorado, is cited as a main sponsor of Amendment 80. That organization financed the amendment’s signature gathering. Research in the Secretary of State campaign finance platform does not show Advanced Colorado’s expenditures after October 2023. Fields denies sending the text message.

Dirty tricks are obviously not unknown in politics. Neither are sleight-of-name gimmicks. Proposition 127 offers an example. The proposition to ban wild cat hunting has two campaign committees: “Cats Aren’t Trophies” and “Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better.” One committee supports the ban on wild cat hunting and the other opposes the ban. Forgive the voters who might think both committees are on the same side.

Give credit to Mark Truax at Pac/West Strategies for coming up with the “Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better” slogan. His company has taken in $1.32 million as of the latest Secretary of State Expenditure filing, to kill, literally, Proposition 127. The out-of-state conservative Concord Fund is the biggest donor to oppose a wild cat hunting ban at $600,000. No surprise, its president is Carrie Severino, a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Rocky Mountain Elk has pitched in $100,000 and Safari Club International has thrown in another $150,000.

The biggest donor to “Cats Aren’t Trophies” is The Wild Animal Sanctuary out of Keenesburg at about $965,000, with Animal Wellness Action at $730,000.

“Colorado’s Wildlife Deserve Better” has accumulated a total of $1.6 million as of the latest filing in support of hunting more than 1,300 wild cats per year. “Cats Aren’t Trophies” has brought in $2.4 million. To be clear, this wild cat proposition is not like the wolf introduction initiative that has created much consternation. Wild cats currently live in Colorado. They are a critical predator in the state’s ecosystem. If a wild cat preys on farm or ranching animals, it will be “controlled,” as per state laws and regulations.

Another animal initiative is Proposition 129, the Veterinary Professional Associate initiative. “All Pets Deserve Vet Care” is competing with “Keep Our Pets Safe.” “All Pets Deserve Vet Care” has taken in more than $2.2 million in contributions while “Keep Our Pets Safe” has taken in $1.48 million. “All Pets Deserve Vet Care” receives most of its funds from the ASPCA at $400,000 and the Dumb Friends League at about $1 million. “Keep our Pets Safe” gets most of its funds from the American Veterinary Medical Association. The proposition focuses on how to provide affordable medical care to pets.

The naming conventions of issue committees are too often confounding to voters. “Progressives Supporting Teachers and Students” and “Public Schools Strong” seem to share common goals, but they do not. “Progressives” is a pro school choice advocacy entity and “Public Schools Strong” focuses on funding for traditional public schools.

“Colorado’s Voters First” and “Voter Rights Colorado” by name shouldn’t be too different in mission, but they are currently in opposition over Proposition 131, ranked-choice voting, with Voters First in support and Voter Rights in opposition.

Voters need to do careful diligence to decipher “who’s on first” and “what’s on second” so “I don’t know” is not their final answer to this year’s proposition conundrums.

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