Kelly Brough is the first mayoral candidate to cross $1 million in total contributions. The former Denver metro chamber CEO also had her biggest fundraising month in February.
At the moment, the race to fill Mayor Michael Hancock's seat is looking like a two person race -- at least in terms of money.
Brough collected $163,748 in contributions last month; $47,506 came from outside the city of Denver, mostly from Englewood, Centennial, Greenwood Village and Littleton.
Meanwhile, an independent expenditure committee that supports her, A Better Denver, reported another $578,175 in total contributions. That included a large single donation of $150,000 from the National Association of REALTORS Fund on March 2.
Like Brough, former state senator Mike Johnston also had his biggest month in direct contributions. He raised $160,635 in February, with $40,319 coming from out-of-state, primarily from Texas, California, and New York.
Johnston also has an independent expenditure committee supporting him called Advancing Denver. That group reported $380,000 in contributions last month.
Eric Sondermann, a political consultant and analyst, is cautious about reading too much into big money totals.
"That doesn't mean it's unimportant, but it is far less definitive," Sondermann said. Municipal elections, he said, are closer to voters. "It's much more about voter contact. It's much more about activating a few constituency groups. It's just much more grassroots focused."
The next closest candidate in direct contributions, State Rep. Leslie Herod, raised only about a third of Brough and Johnston's totals last month, pulling in $55,699. While February was the best fundraising month for Brough and Johnston, it was Herod's third best month of the campaign.
"I think Herod has to be a little worried that the momentum she had seems to have stalled somewhat," Sondermann said. "At least in terms of dollars."
An IE supporting her called Ready Denver reported $160,000 in dark money contributions. That IE has not disclosed the names of donors.
State Senator Chris Hansen gambled by spending big to get on TV first, but it appears he may not have a lot of cash left for the home stretch. Hansen has collected a total of $443,012 in contributions and Fair Elections Payments and has spent $393,572 so far, with four weeks until election day.
"He burned through a lot of cash," Sondermann said. "Does he have enough cash to stay on the air and stay in front of voters?"
Hansen raised $53,438 in February in direct contributions, so it doesn't appear that the early ad led to a subsequent influx of money.
The rest of the field
Businessman Andy Rougeot only raised $11,705 last month. However, his campaign is self-funded, and he has personally loaned his campaign $750,000 total.
Councilwoman Debbie Ortega is still struggling to raise money, but she did log her best month since September, collecting $29,804 in February.
Activist and former city council aide Lisa Calderón has raised the least money among the top candidates, but she has steadily increased her contributions every month. She raised $22,186 in February, the most for her campaign in the election cycle so far.
However, Calderón finished third in the mayor's race in 2019 despite struggling to fundraise that cycle as well.
"The kind of campaign that Calderón runs has never been a money campaign," Sondermann said. "Now, whether she can get into the top two, I'm very dubious. But the lack of money in Calderon's case is less telling to me than the lack of money, for instance, in Ortega's case."
The top two candidates after the April 4 election will face off in a two month runoff. Ballots for the first round of voting go out in the mail next week.
