2024 state campaign spending hit $121M in Colorado
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The Proposition 131 campaign to overhaul Colorado elections spent $15 for every vote it received — and still lost by a wide margin on Election Day.
Why it matters: The cost-per-vote is relatively high, an exclusive Axios Denver analysis finds, and underscores how big-moneyed interests pushed the far-reaching measure to the ballot.
State of play: Total spending in the 2024 election reached $121.6 million, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed Tuesday.
Yes, but: Big spending didn't necessarily lead to big wins.
- Prop. 131 easily stood as the most expensive fight at $21 million. Most of that total came from supporters who pumped $20.5 million into the contest. It lost by 7 percentage points.
- Other big-dollar spending came from dark-money political committees supporting Republican candidates for the state Senate. The party failed to pick up any seats.
- The supporters behind a ballot measure to ban hunting of big cats also lost their bid and raised the majority of the $ 6.4 million spent in the campaign.
The intrigue: Only three of the top 10 donors saw wins after their big spending: the National Education Association, which opposed a school choice measure; abortion rights group Cobalt Advocates; and the Dumb Friends League, which supported a new veterinary assistant position.
- The top spender in the election was Kent Thiry, the former DaVita CEO who led the Prop. 131 campaign. He spent $7.6 million but did get back an $887,000 loan repaid by the committee.
- Thiry, who previously told Axios he wouldn't be the top donor to the campaign, was not immediately available for comment, a spokesperson said.
Between the lines: The top spending corporation was Chevron at $2.8 million, much of it late in the campaign.
- The oil and gas company put $1 million toward Prop. 131 and $1.8 million toward electing Senate Republicans. The remainder went to an oil and gas political committee and the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show the Proposition 131 campaign spent $15 (not $87) for every vote it received.