A nonprofit that helped unseat left-leaning Democrats in Denver politics is the chief financial backer of a proposal to change how some local elections work.
Referred Question 2G is a ballot measure that would change how the Denver City Council’s at-large seats are elected.
The campaign in favor of 2G is called Majority Vote Denver. It has received just more than $100,000 from Forward Denver, which describes itself as supporting “common-sense approaches” to the city’s problems.
The group’s tax filings link it to efforts to unseat former councilmember Candi CdeBaca and former state Rep. Elisabeth Epps. Forward Denver gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Citizens For a Great Denver, which was involved in both of those campaigns.
Wynn Howell, who is leading the opposition campaign to 2G, said the fundraising numbers were more proof that the proposal is meant to change the dynamics of the city’s at-large elections.
“We see major corporate interests trying to change the way we do elections in order to make it harder for community candidates to win. I think that’s less about ideology and more about corporate power and more about corporate special interests,” said Howell, who is also state director of the Working Families Party.
The backers of 2G say that’s not the case. They argue the change is meant to make at-large elections simpler — and to force candidates to appeal to a wider range of voters.
“As for the funding, I guess my reaction is so what?” wrote Councilmember Kevin Flynn, a chief backer of the proposal, in an email. “I’m a lifelong Democrat, and at the municipal level labels lose much of the meaning they have in D.C. If progressive candidates don’t think they can win a citywide majority, that’s on them. Frankly, I don’t see why they can’t.”
Flynn and a narrow majority of the city council voted to put the measure on the ballot.
Who else has given to support and oppose 2G?
The pro-2G campaign also collected $76,000 from a national group linked to Republicans. Safe Streets Safe Communities, based in Washington, backed the successful effort to flip a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania last year.
Other 2G backers included R. Stanton Dodge, the chief legal counsel for DraftKings, who gave $25,000, and One Main Street Colorado, the business-oriented political group, which gave about $11,000.
- Related: While 2G has stirred fierce debate in political circles, we found that it has hardly been a blip for many voters.
The opposition campaign is known as Hands Off Denver Elections. It has collected about $16,000 in cash and in-kind donations.
The largest sums came from Working Families Power, an arm of the progressive Working Families Party. It also received $2,000 each from local unions for teachers and government workers.
