With three weeks to go, spending in Denver school board races has topped $1.3 million

Image by RikkisRefuge Other via Flickr:Creative Commons
Image by RikkisRefuge Other via Flickr:Creative Commons

Welcome back to Chalkbeat’s campaign finance tracker. We’ll track how much each of the nine Denver school board candidates has raised and spent in the runup to the Nov. 5 election, when three seats on the seven-member board are up for grabs.

We’re also tracking spending by political committees, sometimes referred to as “outside money.”

With three weeks until Election Day, spending by candidates and committees combined has topped $1.3 million.

The data comes from campaign finance reports that candidates and committees file with the state. The latest campaign finance reports cover fundraising and spending through Oct. 9.

Because the election is less than 30 days away, candidates must also file reports of contributions of $1,000 or more within 24 hours. Committees must file reports of independent expenditures of $1,000 or more within 48 hours. The totals below reflect those reports, as well.

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There are several types of committees. Students for Education Reform Action Committee, Better Schools for a Stronger Colorado, Students Deserve Better, and Ready Colorado Action Fund are independent expenditure committees. They can spend an unlimited amount of money but cannot coordinate with candidates.

The DCTA Fund and the Public Education Committee are small donor committees. They can give directly to candidates. These two particular committees are associated with Colorado teachers unions, as is the Students Deserve Better independent expenditure committee.

The Denver teachers union endorsed a slate of three candidates: Tay Anderson for an at-large seat representing the entire city, Scott Baldermann for a seat representing southeast Denver, and Brad Laurvick for a seat representing northwest Denver.

The committees associated with teachers union are supporting those three candidates.

The other committees are supporting some of their opponents.

The Students for Education Reform Action Network and Stand for Children, which is associated with the Better Schools for a Stronger Colorado committee, endorsed Alexis Menocal Harrigan for the at-large seat, Diana Romero Campbell for the southeast seat, and Tony Curcio for the northwest seat.

Below, see how much the candidates have raised and spent themselves.

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Originally posted on Chalkbeat by Melanie Asmar on October 16, 2019. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Melanie Asmar covers Denver Public Schools. Asmar previously worked as a reporter for Westword newspaper in Denver and for a daily newspaper in her native New Hampshire. She joined Chalkbeat Colorado in 2015.