A campaign finance complaint has been filed against the independent expenditure committee Colorado Dawn, IEC. The expenditures at the heart of the complaint were paid for by Colorado Dawn’s 501(c)(4), at $872,000 for text messages and campaign flyers in support of the school choice amendment on the November ballot.
Colorado Dawn is a 501(c)(4), and according to 2022 tax returns, it is chaired by Steve Durham. Durham has been a member of the state board of education, including serving as its chair, since 2014. His term expires in 2029.
Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen of Monument was listed as vice chair of Colorado Dawn. Michael Fields of Advance Colorado Action, the leading proponent behind Amendment 80, was listed as its treasurer.
The 2022 tax returns were filed on Nov. 15, 2023, according to ProPublica. The original ballot measure was filed with the Secretary of State on Jan. 5, 2024.
Daniel Cole, a “general consultant” to Colorado Dawn, told Colorado Politics that the same-named independent expenditure committee, which he said doesn’t have a board, is not connected to the IEC. It’s a “separate and non-connected entity,” Cole said. Cole Communications, which is owned by Daniel Cole, received $872,790.48 for the text messages and mailer.
But the IEC and the 501(c)(4) have the same address: 100 East Saint Vrain, Suite 105, Colorado Springs. According to the Secretary of State’s business database, Cole Communications has the same address.
It is also the same address as Victor’s Canvassing, one of the groups hired to collect petition signatures for Amendment 80.
The address is also listed for Unite for Colorado Action, which was the subject of three campaign finance complaints between 2020 and 2023, one of which included Field’s Advance Colorado Action, which is the trade name for Unite. The first complaint, which went all the way to the Colorado Court of Appeals, found that Unite had violated campaign finance laws by failing to register as an issue committee, a decision announced in March 2024. Unite was fined $40,000.
The matter is now on appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court.
The second complaint, filed in 2021, was on similar grounds, and Unite was again found to have violated campaign finance law by not filing as an issue committee. The complaint is still open, with a stay tied to the first complaint, and another $40,000 in fines was levied.
The third complaint was filed in 2023 against Advance Colorado Action, which the complaint said is a registered trade name of Unite for Colorado. This complaint focused on expenditures made to oppose Proposition HH in the 2023 election. The complaint alleged Unite and Advance Colorado Action failed to register as an issue committee and did not disclose contributions nor expenditures. It is also on hold, pending state Supreme Court action on the first complaint.
The Colorado Dawn 401(c)4 expenditures last week on Amendment 80 have already generated a campaign finance complaint against the independent expenditure committee. Under state law, IECs can only make expenditures on behalf of candidates, not issues.
The measure would enshrine school choice, which has been in state law for over 30 years, into the state constitution.
But it’s not just about public or charter schools; according to the measure, school choice would include private schools, home schools, open enrollment options, and “future innovations in education.” It also says that parents have the right to direct their children’s education.
Critics allege Amendment 80 would open the door to taxpayer funding for private schools and could result in a significant hit to the state’s public school funding. It comes in a year when the General Assembly finished paying off a more than $1 billion debt to K-12, known as the budget stabilization factor.
The Colorado Dawn 501(c)(4) made five expenditures between May 14 and July 23 to canvass companies to put Amendment 80 and Proposition 128 (on changes to parole) on the ballot, spending $2.7 million for the petition-gathering process.
State law, both in statute and in the constitution, defines an independent expenditure committee as “one or more persons that make an independent expenditure in support of or in opposition to a candidate in an aggregate amount in excess of one thousand dollars or that collect more of one thousand dollars from one or more persons for the purpose of making an independent expenditure.”
The Constitution similarly points out that independent expenditures are made on behalf of candidates. Issue committees, defined in both the Constitution and state law, work to support or oppose ballot measures.
That’s the first part of the complaint filed by former state Rep. Bri Buentello, the director of government affairs for Stand for Children. The organization is one of the funders of Public Schools Strong, the opposition committee to Amendment 80.
The complaint’s second part concerns text messages, believed to have been sent by Colorado Dawn. One message said Kevin Vick, the president of the Colorado Education Association, supports school choice, followed by a message in support of Amendment 80. The CEA is also a funder of Public Schools Strong.
According to the complaint, the text message did not identify who was paying for it, a potential violation of campaign finance law.
At least three mailers have been sent out supporting Amendment 80 and paid for by Colorado Dawn 501(c)(4).
This is the third campaign finance complaint filed against Colorado Dawn. In 2022, the IEC sent out mailers supporting Republican Matt Solomon in Senate District 8 without the required “paid for” language. The mailer, which the IEC spent $17,700 on, also did not have the required language that said no candidate authorized the communications.
The Elections Division settled with Colorado Dawn IEC, which paid a fine of $1,239.
In May, a second complaint was filed against the IEC, tied to a mailer for a Lone Tree candidate for city council. However, it was dismissed because the complainant failed to state the specific violation of campaign finance law.
Editor’s note: story clarified on the difference between the IEC and the 501(c)(4).