Ritter campaign tallies $400,000 in 2nd quarter fundraising, launches Website

Gov. Bill Ritter’s re-election campaign raised over $400,000 in the three months ending in June, his campaign announced in a release and e-mail to supporters Wednesday. That’s “[d]espite a tough economy and the impacts of Amendment 54, which has limited donations to elected officials across the state,” says the Democratic incumbent’s campaign manager, David Kenney.

According to unofficial figures released by the Ritter campaign, 1,299 separate donors gave an average $315. Doing the math, that would total $409,185 in donations. The Ritter campaign added more than $35,000 in a last-minute push as the reporting period closed June 30, according to an e-mail sent to supporters reproduced on the left-leaning Square State political blog.

The most recent fundraising report filed with the Colorado secretary of state showed Ritter with $125,609.21 on hand at the end of March. His campaign’s next report is due July 15 and will cover the second quarter’s fundraising. Ritter filed paperwork to run for a second term in March.

At the same time it released the fundraising numbers, the Ritter campaign unveiled its 2010 Web site, chock full of endorsements, videos and an application to attend something called a Ritter Retreat, touted as “advanced grassroots activist training” and scheduled for July 25 and 26.

The site also includes a jibe at Republican challenger Scott McInnis and his misstep last week when his newly unveiled campaign site featured a photo of the Canadian Rockies behind the question, “What do you want for the future of Colorado?”

Evergreen businessman Dan Maes is the other Republican officially in the race. Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry plans to announce his intentions Saturday.

Square State proprieter johne praises the Ritter campaign site, which is using Wired for Change Web development tools (not Blue State Digital tools, as originally reported). But a diarist at the Square State blog who goes by the name JO doesn’t cotton to the Ritter site’s extensive use of cowboy hats.

“I associate the picture presented by the Guv’s new new Web site with the 19th century, not vision of a 21st era state fueled by high-tech industry, a multicultural America of the future,” JO writes, suggesting a bicycle is more appropriate to modern Colorado than a horse.

CORRECTION: This post originally said incorrectly that the Ritter campaign was using a Blue State Digital platform for its Web site. The campaign is using Wired for Change.

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