Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, is wading into the fight over Denver’s flavored tobacco ban, which is the subject of a ballot measure seeking to repeal.

Bloomberg contributed $1.5 million to Denver Kids vs Big Tobacco, according to Denver Searchlight, the city’s online database for campaign and finance disclosure.

Bloomberg, known for being anti-tobacco, has tried to advance policies that discourage the use of tobacco and tobacco-related products through his organization, Bloomberg Philanthropies.

That $1.5 million comes on top of an earlier in-kind contribution of $73,500 made to Denver Kids vs Big Tobacco, a campaign advocating to maintain the ban.

A fight over the sale of “candy-flavored” tobacco came to a head in December, when the Denver City Council voted to make it illegal for any retail tobacco store to “sell, offer for sale, give, barter, deliver or furnish any flavored tobacco product or samples of such products.”

In March, a group of vape shop owners — Phil Guerin, Ellen Rochelle, Shanna Finch, Kristen Hensel and Russel Hensel — pushed back by turning in 17,000 signatures to the city, almost twice the 9,500 needed, to put a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot that would repeal the ban.

Guerin, president of the Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance Board of Directors and owner of Myxed Up vape stores, said getting Referendum 310 on the ballot has been expensive — it cost his group more than $240,000, most of which went to pay the firm that collected and verified the signatures.

A “yes” vote on Referendum 310 keeps the ban in place, while a “no” vote repeals it.

City records show that, in September, Denver Kids vs Big Tobacco spent more than $500,000 on production and media advertising tied to the ballot measure.

As of Oct. 8, contributions to the campaign to keep the ban totaled more than $2 million, compared to $468,000 for critics who want it repealed.

Guerin said the money from Bloomberg is an effort to influence local politics without fully understanding “the nuances of our city.”

He said people who support the flavored tobacco ban because they are worried about kids getting hooked on nicotine and then smoking cigarettes should focus on banning cigarettes.

“It’s the same old argument,” he told The Denver Gazette. “We’re over here talking about vapes, and they’re over there talking about cigarettes, and cigarettes are still legal.”

Contributions to the Yes on 310 campaign have come from individuals, public health advocacy organizations and health providers, according to Jodi Radke of Tobacco Free Kids, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that supports the flavored tobacco ban in Denver.

“Our supporters are committed to protecting the health of Denver kids and stopping Big Tobacco from hooking them into a lifetime of nicotine addiction,” Radke said. “Meanwhile, Big Tobacco companies like Philip Morris International and Altria have joined forces with vape shop owners and other tobacco interests to pour money into defeating this lifesaving measure.”

Guerin’s group, Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance, has estimated the ban has affected close to 550 retailers that once sold flavored tobacco products and will cost Denver more than $13 million in lost sales tax revenue. 

“That $13 million is like 6% of what they (City and County of Denver) need to solve their (budget deficit) problems,” Guerin said.

Meanwhile, city officials and medical experts said the economic impact of flavored tobacco product consumption in Colorado amounts to $2.2 billion in annual healthcare costs, $4.4 billion in smoking-caused productivity losses and $415 million in estimated Medicaid costs, which they described as a $772 per household tax burden.

This is not the first time Denver has waged a battle over flavored tobacco products.

The City Council passed a measure in 2021 but then-Denver Mayor Michael Hancock vetoed it.

Ballots will be mailed to Denver voters on Friday.