Campaigns surrounding the 14 issues on November’s ballot have collected more than $10 million, mostly in large donations from Denver and Colorado Springs.

And while three-quarters of the money raised comes from Colorado, almost none of it is from the southwest corner of the state, according to a Durango Herald analysis of campaign data kept by the secretary of state. The big numbers are nothing new.

“Sad to say, it’s not completely atypical or out of line,” said Eric Sondermann, a Denver political consultant. “Every cycle, we say, ‘This is the worst, this is the ugliest it has ever been, this is the most expensive.’ That’s not necessarily the case.”

Looking for a few big checks

As of last weekend, 19 different groups had collected $10.6 million.

Of that, about 70 percent is in the form of documented, hard-money donations of $20 or more. The rest comes from small donations or in-kind contributions, such as the donation of labor, supplies or services.

The Herald tracked the cash donations and found that nearly 90 percent of the money came from donations of $10,000 or more.

People from the Four Corners are keeping their checkbooks closed. All the campaigns combined collected a paltry $2,075 from zip codes in Southwest Colorado.

The numbers were current as of Oct. 20, said Dana Williams, spokeswoman for the secretary of state.

Gay issues attract most cash

The gay marriage debate has people reaching for their pocketbooks more than any other issue.

Coloradans for Fairness – the group that supports domestic partnerships (Referendum I) and opposes a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage (Amendment 43) – has collected the most money and has by far the biggest donor list of any of the ballot campaigns. The group had collected $3.8 million and had 2,054 separate contributions. Some people contributed more than once.

Of that, $2 million came from in-kind donations by gay-rights activist Tim Gill.

But the anti-gay marriage campaign ranks second, in terms of money collected and popularity. Coloradans for Marriage lists 307 donations for $270,000. But most of the campaign is paid for by Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs-based evangelical group that has made $875,000 in donations to a third group, Colorado Family Action, in support of Amendment 43 and in opposition to Referendum I.

“I’m surprised that the Focus on the Family side did not engage earlier and somewhat more aggressively,” Sondermann said. “They’ve engaged now, but they let the Tim Gill side run unopposed for well over a month.”

Issues motivate voters

A “Defense of Marriage amendment” on the Ohio ballot in 2004 helped turn out conservative voters, giving a boost to President Bush, said Thad Kousser, a political scientist at the University of California-San Diego.

Kousser co-wrote a paper that argues Colorado Democrats benefited from two 2004 initiatives, in favor of renewable energy and mass transit in Denver.

The trend continues this year, he said.

“You see a lot of minimum wage initiatives that are put on the ballot to try and bring Democrats out. I’m not saying (backers) are insincere on their policy goals,” Kousser said.

Of the seven citizen-sponsored initiatives on the ballot, conservatives are pushing four (petition rights, school finance, term limits and gay marriage), and liberals two (ethics and minimum wage). One – marijuana legalization – has supporters from all ends of the political spectrum, but it has been disavowed by both Democratic and Republican leaders.

Campaigns scramble for attention

Aside from the gay issues, no other campaign has cleared the million-dollar mark in cash donations. Two campaigns have raised more than $800,000 – in favor of term limits for judges and against a 65 percent classroom spending requirement for schools.

Bringing up the rear is Veterans for Referendum E, with $4,075. Referendum E would give a property tax break to disabled veterans.

About half of the voters will vote before Nov. 7, which changes the strategy for the initiative campaigns, Sondermann said.

“Election Day is not a one-shot deal,” he said.

During the last two weeks, campaigns will do whatever they can to keep their message at “high volume” in news stories and advertisements, Sondermann said. jhanel@durangoherald.com