The Colorado Money Race, Q1 2026: A Reader’s Guide (4/20/2026) - Colorado candidates and committees reported $64 million in receipts for the 2026 election cycle through the first quarter of this year — $48.4 million federal, $15.1 million state. That's the biggest Q1 total of any recent Colorado cycle, and the composition of it tells a consistent story across every level of the ballot. This is the first of three articles HCA is publishing today on what the Q1 numbers show, with additional data companions and an investigative piece to follow this week. Federal: $10 million added, fewer candidates spending it. Our federal analysis, [Colorado for Sale, Q1: $10 Million Added in Three Months], runs through the $48.4 million federal number and who's responsible for it. Eileen Laubacher, Gabe Evans, Manny Rutinel, Jason Crow, and Shannon Bird account for more than half of Q1 growth in the federal field — and they added that money as primary opponents around them were leaving the race. Hickenlooper still leads the state in total fundraising. Boebert is now the only Colorado federal candidate of either party running a majority-small-donor online fundraising operation. State: the Republican Party raised $1,243. Our state-level analysis, [Vegas Rules, Colorado Politics: the Republican Party Raised $1,243], leads with the state's… 
Colorado for Sale, Q1: $10 Million Added in Three Months (4/20/2026) - Colorado federal candidates have raised $48.4 million for the 2026 elections — up from $38 million at year-end, a 27 percent increase in three months. Democrats account for $37.2 million against Republicans' $11 million, a 3.4-to-1 advantage essentially unchanged from the ratio HCA reported in February. Senator John Hickenlooper leads every federal candidate in the state with $6.82 million raised — 214 times what the only remaining Republican Senate candidate has raised. Three of his top five individual donors give out-of-state addresses, including two from New York and California. With the June 30 primary ten weeks away, three races — CO-03, CO-04, and the Senate — have already narrowed to single-candidate primary situations with dominant fundraising leaders. Federal Fundraising Totals — Q1 2026 PartyAmount RaisedCandidatesAverage per CandidateDemocratic$37,226,54531$1,200,856Republican$10,973,30012$914,442Other$163,2952$81,648All$48,363,14045$1,074,736 The $10.4 million added in Q1 didn't come from a broadened field. It came from donor money consolidating into candidates whose primary opponents were leaving the race. Five candidates account for more than half of Q1 growth: Eileen Laubacher (CO-04) added $2.13 million; Gabe Evans (CO-08) added $1.21 million; Manny Rutinel (CO-08) $952,000; Jason Crow (CO-06) $939,000; Shannon Bird (CO-08) $560,000. Trisha Calvarese, John Padora, Jenna Preston, Ike McCorkle, Solomon Radner, Yadira Caraveo,… 
What the $64 Million Tells Us (4/20/2026) - Colorado candidates and committees reported $64 million raised for the 2026 election cycle through the first quarter — $48.4 million at the federal level, $15.1 million at the state level. That's the biggest Q1 total of any recent Colorado cycle. The Democratic side holds a 3.4-to-1 federal advantage and a 7.6-to-1 state advantage, numbers that echo ratios HCA has reported before. The ratios aren't the story. The story is what Q1 reveals about how the money reached the candidates who ended up with it — and three patterns cut across every level of the ballot. Pattern 1: Field consolidation via assembly. The April 11 Republican state assembly and the Democratic caucus process narrowed crowded filed fields into handfuls of primary ballot candidates. Fourteen people filed for governor; three Republicans and two Democrats ended up on the June 30 ballot. The Republican Senate primary collapsed to a single ballot candidate, Mark Baisley at $31,866. Four Democrats and two Republicans ended up on the AG ballot. One Democrat ended up on the Treasurer ballot. The fundraising consequence is consistent. Donors didn't leave when candidates did. Eileen Laubacher added $2.13 million in Q1 as Trisha Calvarese, John Padora, Ike McCorkle, Solomon Radner, and… 
Trump Launches “Major Combat Operations” Against Iran (2/28/2026) - The United States launched coordinated military strikes against Iran early Saturday morning in what President Donald Trump called a "massive and ongoing operation" to prevent the regime from obtaining nuclear weapons. Trump announced the attacks shortly after midnight Mountain Time in a video posted to Truth Social. The Pentagon named the campaign "Operation Epic Fury." Israel simultaneously launched strikes it initially called "Operation Shield of Judah," with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating the goal was to "remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran." Explosions were reported in Tehran, Qom, Kermanshah, Isfahan, and Karaj. Trump confirmed U.S. forces used Tomahawk cruise missiles and fighter jets in the strikes. Iran's internet was shut down nationwide, with connectivity dropping to four percent of normal levels. Trump warned Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces to "lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or in the alternative, face certain death." He urged Iranian civilians to remain sheltered, telling them "the hour of your freedom is at hand" and encouraging them to "take over your government" when strikes conclude. Iran responded with retaliatory missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. military bases. Explosions were reported at facilities in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and… 
Technical Issue: Please Resubmit Articles (2/7/2026) - An automatic system upgrade a few weeks ago sent incoming emails to spam. We rolled back the update and recovered what we could from the spam folder, but some articles are still lost in cyberspace. If you submitted an article or information and didn't hear from us, please resubmit. We're not ignoring you—we never received it. Our highly trained staff know what they are doing. —HCA Staff 
Colorado for Sale: $38 Million Raised, 3.5-to-1 Democratic Advantage (2/2/2026) - Colorado's federal seats are for sale to the highest bidders—and those bidders live in New York, California, DC, and Massachusetts, not Colorado. The 2025 FEC results show $38 million raised for 2026 federal races: Democrats $29.5 million, Republicans $8.4 million—a 3.5-to-1 advantage. ActBlue processed 26,303 transactions totaling $9.18 million. WinRed processed 3,953 transactions totaling $708,000—a 13-to-1 gap. Out-of-State Money Dominates Geographic data shows who's buying Colorado's representation. Jessica Killin (CD-5): 91.5% out-of-state—New York $173,000, DC $158,000, California $125,000. Manny Rutinel (CD-8): 88% out-of-state, 96.7% ActBlue dependency. Brittany Pettersen (CD-7 incumbent): 85% out-of-state—weakest Colorado base among all incumbents. John Hickenlooper leads all candidates with $7.6 million raised, 75.2% from outside Colorado. Julie Gonzales shows 66.6% out-of-state—but Massachusetts alone provided 62.7% of all her itemized contributions through ActBlue processing. Amie Baca-Oehlert (CD-8): 73.8% out-of-state, with Massachusetts providing 57.6% through ActBlue. Jason Crow (CD-6 incumbent): 66% out-of-state. Two Democratic candidates showed majority Colorado funding: Shannon Bird (CD-8, 94.7% Colorado, $1.21 million) and Dave Young (CD-8, 93.3% Colorado, $196,000). Both trail out-of-state funded competitors. Republicans show stronger Colorado bases where data exists. Jeff Crank (CD-5) received 71.3% from Colorado—strongest Republican base in competitive races. Hope Scheppelman (CD-3) shows 85.5% Colorado funding. Democratic civil wars… 
Colorado 2026 Federal Campaign Finance: Complete Data Analysis (2/2/2026) - The Data Companion to "Colorado for Sale" ⚠️ READER ADVISORY:This comprehensive data analysis is very long, over 5000 words long and contains extensive tables, financial breakdowns, and detailed candidate information. For optimal viewing experience, please read this article on a desktop or laptop computer. The tables and data formatting are not optimized for mobile devices. Grab a coffee, sit down at your desk, and prepare for a deep dive into the numbers. Links? No, we have not provided links. We spent over 70 hours reviewing this stuff and we are very grouchy. Oh, we are also not guaranteeing the accuracy, when we started it was with raw data since the FEC says it can take up to 48 hours for all the data to be processed. Some candidates still have not updated their information. You know who you are. This article provides comprehensive candidate-by-candidate financial data, geographic breakdowns, donor analysis, and ActBlue/WinRed transaction details for all major candidates who filed for Colorado's 2026 federal races. Coverage: January 1 - December 31, 2025. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Overall Fundraising Totals PartyAmount RaisedCandidatesAverage per CandidateDemocrats$29,539,48923$1,284,326Republicans$8,432,8705$1,686,574Total$37,972,35928$1,356,156 Democratic Advantage: 3.5-to-1 ActBlue vs WinRed PlatformTransactionsTotal AmountAvg per TransactionLarge Donors ($200+)ActBlue26,303$9,178,596$34970-99% (varies by candidate)WinRed3,953$707,916$17986.4% overall ActBlue Advantage: 13-to-1… Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent.
