2018 Who’s funding Cynthia Coffman’s campaign?

Total cash contributions*: About $85,000, plus $14,766 transferred from her Attorney General campaign fund.

Balance minus expenses: $85,415

Total raised by independent expenditure committee** on her behalf:

$158,000 — Stronger Colorado Ahead. Of that, $100,000 came from James Volker of Whiting Petroleum. Other large donors are Lowell Hutson of oil and gas exploration and production company HRM Resources II, which gave $25,000, and Carol Mizel, who also gave $25,000. Mizel is married to Walker Stapleton supporter Larry Mizel, who is chairman and CEO of housing development company MDC Holdings.  

General donor profile

Total raised from large contributors ($1,000 to the maximum allowable $1,150):  $72,550 — more than 70 percent of her total donations. Among those donors are David Blake, an attorney at Patton Boggs; Allan Hale, an attorney at Hale Westfall; Dan Ritchie, chancellor emeritus of the University of Denver, and Carol Mizel. 

Total raised from out-of-state contributors: About $20,000 —  20 percent of her donors.

Top three sectors associated with donors:

Mining/Energy — $20,450

Attorneys — $11,075

Financial Services — $8,050

Companies with greatest number of donors and/or donations:

Whiting Petroleum: six donors, $2,900 given

State Attorney General’s Office: four donors, $2,350 given

Noble Energy: three donors, $825 given

*Data compiled by Jentry Womack from Jan. 16, 2018 campaign disclosure statements, which cover the last quarter of 2017 and are the most recent candidate filings with the Colorado Secretary of State. The next filing deadline is May 7. 
**Independent expenditure committees can accept unlimited contributions, but how such committees spend that money cannot be controlled or coordinated by the candidate.

The research on the donations to the major candidates for governor of Colorado from both parties was conducted by graduate students in the precision journalism class at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The instructor is Burt Hubbard, former database reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post and Rocky Mountain PBS. The students providing the research are: Giselle Cesin, Amanda Clark, Crystal Eilerman, Joseph Getty, Anne Henning, Rey-Lynn Little, Shannon Mullane, Heather Sackett and Jentry Womack.

Photo via the Coffman campaign