Treasurer Kennedy touts responsibility, goes after Stapleton on priorities

Democratic State Treasurer Cary Kennedy is pulling down cash this week and getting up on air with a new campaign ad. She touts her record of responsible investing on behalf of Colorado taxpayers during the financial crisis and recession. She also hits GOP opponent Walker Stapleton hard. Her fundraising drive pokes fun at the Wall Street-style bonuses Stapleton has received and poured into his campaign. Her TV ad spotlights Stapleton’s Wall Street-style approach to the office, where education would compete directly for funding with sectors like corrections.

The ad comes on the last day of the Kennedy campaign’s “Bust the Bonus” donation drive, which staffers launched last Wednesday and which asks supporters to match the bonuses Stapleton has pulled down as CEO of his wealthy family’s business, SonomaWest Holdings. The “Bust the Bonus” drive has been a fat success, expanded from a three-day $10,000 ask to a five-day $30,000 ask.

Stapleton’s SonomaWest company rents land to California vinters. The Stapleton family owns 48 percent of shares in the company, according to the Denver Post, and paid Stapleton $395,000 in salary last year. The Kennedy campaign maintains that Stapleton has been paid $500,000 in bonuses in the last four years.

An email record of the Kennedy “Bust the Bonus” campaign.

October 6:

Over the past four years my opponent, a wealthy CEO, has received almost $500,000 in bonuses. He is using that bonus money in an attempt to buy this election. In fact, as of this week, Walker has bankrolled his campaign to the tune of nearly $500,000.

I need your help to “BUST THE BONUS.” Help me raise $10,000 by this Saturday! BUST THE BONUS!

October 7:

Amazing! We thought we were shooting for the stars with a goal of $10,000 in four days, but we surpassed that goal in just 12 hours! Because of your support we have raised $11,959 so far. Thanks to each of you who made a contribution and forwarded Cary’s email to your friends. Every dollar will help Cary’s re-election campaign.

Because “BUST THE BONUS” has already been such an overwhelming success, our goal now is to raise $30,000 by this Saturday!

October 9:

Today is the last day of our “BUST THE BONUS” campaign. We have raised $26,202 of our $30,000 goal. THANK YOU for making it such a success. It is only with YOUR help that we’ll reach our goal $30,000 by midnight tonight! Please make a donation today and forward this to your friends, neighbors and family members!

Kennedy has pulled down endorsements from five newspapers in the state over the last couple weeks, all of them celebrating the returns she earned for the state when other states saw investments plummet or disappear into the sinkhole of risky Wall Street products.

“In 2007, before the downturn, I moved the state into safer investments,” Kennedy told the Colorado Independent after a debate in Colorado Springs two weeks ago. “The state had $2 billion invested with one bank and it had been that way for several years. That money was all placed with Morgan Stanley. That wasn’t acceptable to me.

“[Colorado] has made it through the worst downturn in 60 years. We have been fiscally responsible. We have balanced the budget and stayed out of the Wall Street mess. I limited the state’s exposure to derivatives and structured investments and securities lending,” she said.

Newspapers so far endorsing Kennedy include the Denver Post, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Longmont Times Call and the Boulder Weekly.

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