42 minute read
LOCAL
DA clears Commerce City o cers in 2021 Fairfax Park shooting
BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
District Attorney Brian Mason cleared Commerce City police officers who were involved in a shooting last year. He released an explanatory letter June 22.
“There is no reasonable likelihood of success of proving the elements of any crime beyond a reasonable doubt against the involved officers,” read the letter to Commerce City Police Chief Clint Nichols. “Therefore, no criminal charges will be filed against the law enforcement officers involved in this incident.”
The incident happened late in the afternoon Aug. 3, 2021, in the 7100 block of Grape Street. When officers arrived, they found a man who had died of gunshot wounds. Mason’s letter said witnesses described a potential suspect and directed them to nearby Fairfax Park. One witness identified Andrew Reineke as the suspect.
As officer Don Calvano searched the area, he heard gunshots from close range. He wasn’t hurt but realized a bullet “perforated the sleeve of his uniform,” the letter said.
Other officers radioed they saw Reineke in the backyard of a home in the 6900 block of Fairfax Street. The letter said Reineke fired at Calvano and again missed him. Calvano shot nine times before his rifle malfunctioned.
“Although Officer Calvano was also armed with a 9-mm semiautomatic handgun, he did not fire it during the encounter,” Mason’s letter read.
Detective Cody Nau was also at the suspect’s location but on the opposite side of the residence. Nau saw the suspect come out from behind the residence.
“He saw the suspect raise a firearm and point it at him,” the letter read. “Detective Nau aimed his Glock 9-mm semi-automatic handgun at the suspect and fired two times but missed.”
Two other officers, Officer Marie Anders and Sgt. Megan Cordova, parked in the area of East 69th Avenue and Fairfax Drive. They reported that gunfire struck an Adams County sheriff’s deputy vehicle and they thought the gunfire hit their car, too.
“The officers ... saw the suspect climb over a privacy fence onto the driveway of the residence nearby,” the letter read. “The suspect was armed with a black handgun. The officers called out to the suspect to put his hands up. The suspect noticed the officers, raised the handgun and pointed it at them.”
Officer Anders fired one round from a .223-caliber rifle. Her weapon malfunctioned after the one shot. Sgt. Cordova fired two rounds from her Glock 9-mm semi-automatic handgun.
SEE SHOOTING, P5
Commerce City police searching for 2 burglary suspects
Detectives recover half a million dollars in stolen property
STAFF REPORT
COMMERCE CITY -- Police are looking for at least two suspects involved in a series of commercial burglaries and auto thefts over the past several months in the Denver area.
Commerce City detectives identified Esequiel “Zeke’ Gomez, 32, and Demi Christian Maestas, 29, in a press statement June 24. There may be others, according to the press release.
Spokesman Travis Huntington said the group ran into a business after hours. The suspects, who were seen carrying firearms, stole items and then left the business. Huntington said the suspects often steal an extra vehicle.
The thefts have occurred in Commerce City, Denver, Thornton, Aurora and as far east as Sterling. Officers’ attempts to stop the suspects have failed, and the suspects drove away in a stolen vehicle.
Huntington said detectives found Gomez in a residence in the 64600 block of East 69th Avenue and drafted a search warrant.
“Since he was suspected of being armed, detectives had SWAT officers attempt to serve the search warrant,” Huntington said. “Gomez spotted the SWAT officers approaching the residence and got into the passenger side of a newer model stolen Audi, grey in color, and fled eastbound on East 69th Avenue.”
The warrant turned up several stolen items, including a pair of stolen trucks, a stolen camper, a pair of stolen assault-style rifle and property from six burglaries in four areas of metro Denver.
“The total value of the recovered stolen property is believed to exceed half a million dollars, not including the value of the stolen vehicles,” Huntington said. “Also recovered were 60 suspected fentanyl pills and approximately two ounces of suspected methamphetamine.”
Huntington said Gomez may have committed an additional commercial burglary in Greenwood Village after escaping the East 69th Avenue address.
Those with information on this case should call the Commerce City Police Department’s tip line at 303289-3626. If you see either Gomez or Maestas, call 911.
“Do not attempt to contact them, as they are considered armed and dangerous.,” Huntington said.
Farmer, community member started well-known farm with just 40 acres
BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
“An extraordinary person who lived an extraordinary life.”
“A man who was dearly loved.”
“An innovator.”
Those were some of the tributes for Brighton resident and farmer Bob Sakata, who died earlier this month at the age of 96. The speeches were part of a June 20 memorial service at Brighton Presbyterian Church, where Sakata was a member for more than 65 years.
“Bob was a good friend of mine,” said former Brighton physician Dr. Rod Fair. “When I think of Bob and the hours I spent with him, I think of how fortunate I was to have known him.”
Fair recapped the early stages of Sakata’s life, which began in 1926. He was just fi ve years old when he lost his mother to pneumonia.
“He was led by his sisters, his brothers and his father. He learned the art of farming, and it’s one he learned well,” said Fair, who retired in 2011.
When the Second World War broke out, Sakata – like others of Japanese ancestry – was taken from California to an internment camp. His was in Topaz, Utah.
Sakata earned an early release by working on a dairy farm in Brighton where Sakata lived in the dairy barn. In 1944, the dairyman loaned Sakata the money to buy 40 acres of farmland in Brighton. Today, the farm spreads out over more than 2,400 acres.
Sweet corn innovator
Colorado’s former agriculture commissioner, Don Ament, called Sakata “an innovator.”
“He knew how to pick sweet corn without hand labor,” Ament said. “He knew. He had different preps for the ears of corn so they were ready to eat.”
Ament was the emcee for the Colorado Agricultural Hall of Fame ceremonies in 1999 when Sakata and his wife, Joanna, became members. The same year, the Sakatas were inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame.
“As I sat at the agricultural hall of fame ceremony, looking through the program, I realized that the Sakatas were the only people of Asian-American culture to be inducted into the business hall of fame,” Ament said. “Rest in peace, Bob. You certainly earned it.”
Former Platte Valley Medical Center President John Hicks said Sakata served several agencies – the 27J board of education, First National Bank One Corp. and the Colorado Food Safety Task Force, among others.
“He didn’t want to be a politician,” Hicks said. “But this guy could infl uence a lot of things. He and his family believed in the good old-fashioned ‘Get ‘er done and be responsible once you do it.’”
Sakata was a major force behind two fundraising drives for the medical center, including the one that allowed the facility to move to its present location in the Prairie Center in 2007.
“He looked over the top of his glasses and said, ‘You want to do what?’” Hicks said. “Bob was not afraid of trying something. He dreamed big.”
“Over the years, he told me, ‘People can take material things. But knowledge is the one thing that can never be taken away,’” said his son-in-law, David Dolifka. “It’s with me. It’s with you. We laugh. We talk. That’s what we are here to celebrate.”
In a series of letters that began in 2010, Lani Dolifka said her father explained to her why she became what she is.
“Dad loved to laugh,” she said. “He said I got 100 percent of my beauty from my mother and zero percent from him. I was grateful for that. He never washed his hair. He said I got 75 percent of my intelligence from my mother and 25 percent from him.
“He gave himself 5 percent credit for being a good mother.”
Sakata sustained burns over more than 80 percent of his body, the result of a farming accident.
“When he walked away from you or toward you, you heard the clip-clap of his braces,” Hicks said. “It’s a sound families have heard from sons, daughters, wives, friends, loved ones. For me, that sound cries out persistence, determination, grace.”
Survivors include Sakata’s wife, Joanna, his sister, Mistie, a son, Robert (Julie Kerr), a daughter, Vicki, a daughter Lani (Don Dolifka) and grandchildren David Dolifka and Madison Dolifka.
Robert Sakata told his mother, “This has been the hardest on you.”
“I’m sure he wondered several times what he did so well to deserve someone as special as you,” Robert Sakata said.
His parents, his brother, Harry, and a sister, Fusie, preceded Bob Sakata in death. In lieu of fl owers, send donations to Platte Valley Medical Center Foundation in memory of Bob Sakata, 1600 Prairie Center Parkway, Brighton 80601. Make online donations at https://www.sclhealth.org/locations/ platte-valley-medical-center/foundations/donate/.
“Dad didn’t share his personal life,” said Lani Dolifka. “Parts of it were painful. You look at his upbringing in a traditional Japanese home. He persevered through diffi cult times. There is no rug big enough to brush it all under. He needed hope, forgiveness, love. And he found it through God. That’s how he reconciled his past with his present.”
“He helped me for the years I knew him,” Hicks said. “Bob .. thank you for making a difference in our community, for showing me how to make a difference in my life, my community.”
Bob Sakata
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United Power joins Southwest Power Pool
STAFF REPORT
BRIGHTON – Brighton’s United Power became the fi rst distribution utility in the Western Interconnection to join the Southwest Power Pool, according to a press statement.
SPP is a regional transmission organization, a nonprofi t corporation mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure, and competitive wholesale electricity prices on behalf of its members, the statement said.
United Power is planning to leave its present supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, in 2024.
“It is important that we seek out memberships and partnerships that will help us assure a reliable power source at the lowest cost possible,” according to a press statement from Mark A. Gabriel, United Power president and CEO. “Our membership with SPP is one of the critical pieces we wanted in place as we move toward a new energy future for our members.”
The statement said SPP works as an aggregator of generation resources, dispatching the power where it is needed. United Power offi cials said membership in a regional transmission organization, offers United Power advantages.
“The power pool is charged with building reliability and predictability into their power marketplace and helping to reduce the risks that come with varying weather conditions,” the United Power statement said. “It is also committed to providing the lowest cost power available to serve its members, minute by minute.”
United Power offi cials said SPP members have an active role in determining new transmission locations.
“Membership matters. Our membership in SPP means we will have a meaningful say in the strategic direction of the organization,” Gabriel said in the statement. “Members have an active role in determining how this new energy market develops and how the organization grows. We will be able to directly represent the interests of all United Power members.”
Summer lunch program
The Adams County 14 School District will provide free meals this summer through its Summer Food Service Program. It contnues through June 30.
Lunch will be available from noon to 12:30 p.m. four days a week at Alsup Elementary School (4413 E. 68th Ave,), Central Elementary School (6450 Holly St.), Kemp Elementary School (6775 Oneida St.), Monaco Elementary School (7631 Monaco St.), Rose Hill Elementary School (6900 E. 58th Ave,), Adams City High School (7200 Quebec St.) and the Suncor Boys & Girls Club (6201 Holly St.)
From July 11 through July 29, meals will be available four days a week at Central Elementary School (noon to 1 p.m.) and the Suncor Boys & Girls Club (noon to 12:30 p.,m.
Call 303-853-7929.
Music in the Park
Commerce City’s Music in the Park series returns in 2022.
Scheduled concerts include Quemando Salsa (Thursday, July 28, Turnberry Park, 10725 Wheeling St.), Chris Daniels and the Kings, Thursday, Aug. 4, at Alsup Elementary School Park, 4413 E. 68th Ave.) and Groove n Motion (Thursday, Aug. 11, Fronterra Park, 10020 Joplin St.).
Teen police academy
The Brighton Police Department and the Adams County Sheriff’s Offi ce are co-sponsoring a teen academy for four days starting Tuesday, July 26, at the police department and the sheriff’s offi ce’s FlatRock Regional Training Center.
Participants have to be sophomores, juniors or seniors in high school, and they have to pass a modifi ed background check.
Call 303-288-1535 or 303-655-2300.
Gummball 5K
The fi fth annual Gummball Rally will be Saturday, Oct. 1 at Adams County Regional Park, 9755 Henderson Road, Brighton. The 5K walk/run is in honor of former Adams County sheriff’s deputy Heath Gumm, who died in the line of duty in 2018.
The cost is $30 for racers 13 and older and $10 for 12 and younger. Those 12 and younger get in free. Each includes a shirt/swag bag guaranteed with entrry by Sept. 14.
Packets will be available for pickup at 4201 E. 72nd Ave. from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30. Proceeds benefi t a nonprofi t that supports law enforcement and fi rst responders.
Questions? Email tracykilgore71@ gmail.com.
ONGOING
Vaccination clinic
Adams County and the Tri-County Health Department are offering free vaccination clinics from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Anythink Commerce City, 7185 Monaco St.
Walk with a doc
Platte Valley Medical Center’s cardiac rehab team and Walk With A Doc will host monthly walks with Dr. Christopher Cannon, an interventional cardiologist at Brighton Heart and Vascular Institute.
This is a walking program for everyone interested in taking steps for a healthier lifestyle. After a few minutes to learn about a current health topic from the doctor, spend the rest of the hour enjoying a healthy walk and fun conversation. It’s a great way to get out, get active and enjoy all the benefi ts that come from walking.
Boards/commissions’ openings
Commerce City has openings for several of its boards and commissions, including the city’s cultural council, the housing authority and the Derby review board. Visit https:// www.c3gov.com/Home/Components/Form/Form/70316b05422c44849 2c51da0f0e0fd86/ to sign up.
Legal self-help clinic
The Access to Justice Committee hosts a free, legal self-help clinic from 2 to 3:30 p.m. the fi rst Tuesday of every month.
The program is for those who don’t have legal representation and need help navigating through legal issues.
Volunteer attorneys are available to discuss such topics as family law, civil litigation, property and probate law. Call 303-405-3298 and ask for the Legal Self-Help Clinic at least 24 hours in advance.
Help for vets
Qualifi ed Listeners, a veteran and family resource hub serving northern Colorado and southern Wyoming, has a number of power chairs, power scooters and electric wheelchairs available.
To fi nd the closest facility to you visit www.va.gov/fi nd-locations.
Qualifi ed Listeners also need volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, handyman services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries and veterans to be trained to become qualifi ed listeners. Call 720-600-0860.
COVID-19 testing
Here’s where you can receive a test for COVID-19:
Brighton Advanced Urgent Care, 2801 Purcell St. Call 303-659-9700 or visit https://advurgent.com/locations/brighton/
Brighton Salud, 1860 Egbert St. Testing is available on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Visit https://www.saludclinic.org/covid-testing
Fort Lupton Salud, 1115 Second St. Testing is available on Tuesday and Thursday. Call 303-697-2583 or visit https://www.saludclinic.org/covidtesting online.
Volunteers needed
Qualifi ed Listeners needs volunteers to drive veterans to and from appointments, run errands for veterans who cannot get out, handyman services, help administer veteran and family resource guide inventory in local libraries and veterans to be trained to become qualifi ed listeners.
Visit qualifi edlisteners.org/volunteerapp and fi ll out the form or call 720-600-0860.
Mental health
Community Reach Center offers in-person intake assessments from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays at the Brighton Learning and Resource Campus, 1850 E. Egbert St. in Brighton. Call Community Reach Center at 303-853-3500.
For walk-in intake, bring an ID and insurance information. For those who would prefer to complete the intake forms and schedule an appointment, the intake forms are available online at www.communityreachcenter.org. There will be a short screening for fl u-like symptoms before the entrance to the center to ensure safety and wellness for everyone.
Anyone feeling unsafe or suicidal should call Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-8255, text 38255, or visit the Behavioral Health Urgent Care (BHUC) Center at 2551 W. 84th Ave., Westminster.
Warm Line up and running
Community Reach Center is offering a Warm Line (303-280-6602) for those who want to talk to mentalhealth professionals about anxiety, lack of sleep and strained relationships, among other topics. The professionals can facilitate referrals to other programs for assistance.
A press statement said the line is not for crisis intervention.
Those feeling unsafe or suicidal should call Colorado Crisis Services (1-844-493-8255) or text 38255 or visit the Behavioral Urgent Care Center, 2551 W. 84th Ave., Westminster.
Also, the center’s COVID-19 Heroes Program is set up to assist healthcare workers during the pandemic. Those who live or work in Adams County can receive up to six free counseling sessions. Use the Warm Line for support and free counseling.
Brighton’s community intake location is at 1850 E. Egbert St., on the second fl oor. It’s open from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesdays.
Food distribution
27J Schools have free grab-and-go meals for youngsters up to age 18. Drive-by or walk up between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Vikan Middle School, 879 Jessup St., Overland Trail Middle School, 455 N. 19th Ave., and at Thimmig Elementary School, 11453 Oswego St. Food for Hope is the sponsor.
St. Augustine food pantry, 129 S. Sixth Ave., offers food Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Brighton residents who love between Quebec St. and Cavanaugh Road and between Weld County Road 4 1/2 and 96th Ave.
Chapel Hill Church, 10 Chapel Hill Drive, Brighton, hands out one box of food per family the second and fourth Wednesdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and alternating Saturdays at 9:30 a.m.
Calvary Chapel Brighton Food Pantry, 103 E. Bridge St., Brighton. Open from 4 to 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month.
Community Baptist Church Food Pantry, 15559 Weld County Road 2, Brighton. Open from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays.
SHOOTING
Two more offi cers, Michael Gray and Sgt. Nicholas Arias, parked their patrol car in the Fairfax Park parking lot. Gray heard more shots.
“Offi cer Gray and Sgt. Arias believed the suspect was engaged in a gun battle,” the district attorney’s letter read. “So, they turned their attention in that direction. The offi cers saw the suspect climb a fence while holding a handgun.”
Reineke got hung up on the fence, and Offi cer Gray thought Reineke was going to shoot at the offi cers again. He fi red his POF USA 5.56-caliber rifl e six times at the suspect. After Arias saw the suspect point his gun in the offi cers’ direction, Arias fi red two shots at the suspect from his Sig Sauer 9-mm semi-automatic handgun.
Reineke had gunshot wounds to his arms and legs. Offi cers apprehended him in the driveway of the home at 6900 Fairfax Drive.
“Under Colorado law, a law enforcement offi cer may use an amount of force, including deadly physical force, when it is reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances,” Mason’s letter read. “Additionally, under Colorado law, police offi cers, like any other individual, have the right to defend themselves or others from the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force.
“I fi nd the actions of these offi cers to be justifi ed, necessary and appropriate,” the letter added. “The prosecution cannot prove that the involved offi cers were not justifi ed in using reasonable force. The evidence does not support the fi ling of criminal charges.”
Reineke is due in Adams County District Court at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 26, for a review hearing.
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A legal newspaper of general circulation in Commerce City, Colorado, Commerce City Sentinel Express is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 143 S. 2nd Pl., Brighton CO 80601. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT Commerce City and additional mailing o ces.
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Community fi reworks will be set off at dark from the Coyote Creek Golf Course.
Adams County Stars and Stripes
Adams County’s annual Stars and Stripes event kicks off at 4 p.m. July 3 at the Riverdale Regional Park, 9755 Henderson Road, Brighton.
The county’s popular Stars and Stripes 5K race for runners, walkers or riders returns after its debut last year. Both adult and youth sections are scheduled to take off at 7:30 a.m. and registration is $30 for adults, $20 for youth. Registration includes a T-shirt, multiple water stops and a post-race goodie bag. All proceeds will benefi t Warrior Now in its mission to help veterans across Adams County and the state of Colorado.
The daylong cornhole tournament. which benefi ts nonprofi t A Precious Child, returns. Registration is $50 per two-person team. Each team plays a minimum four games in round robin format, with the top 32 teams competing for cash prizes in a double elimination bracket.
The tournament will be played by offi cial ACL rules found at IplayCornhole.com. Players should download and sign into the ScoreHolio app to register.
The county’s Stars and Stripes Celebration proper runs from 4-10 p.m. at Riverdale Regional Park with food and beer vendors serving at 4 p.m. and live entertainment with The Junebugs and special guest Caitlyn Ochsner, beginning at 6 p.m. The night will end with musical fi reworks at 9:30 p.m.
Parking at Riverdale Regional Park is free for all the events.
For the safety and comfort of pets, animals should not be brought into the park and remember that most fi reworks are illegal in Adams County. Call the Adams County Regional Park at 303-637-8000 or visit the county website, www.adcogov. org, for more information.
County offi ces will be closed on July 4.
Music on the 4th in Brighton
The City of Brighton’s annual Fourth of July festival will be returning to Carmichael Park at 650 E. Southern St. at 5 p.m. July 4. The evening will feature live entertainment, starting with DJ TidalWave, followed by a headliner performance at 7 p.m. by Sisters of Rock. Once the concert concludes, attendees have the opportunity to view one of the largest fi rework displays in the region.
Commerce City 4th Fest and the Rapids
Commerce City’s July 4 festivities focus on soccer as much as fi reworks.
The city’s 4thFest is free and open to the general public.
The Colorado Rapids and Commerce City will host a family festival at 5 p.m. at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park that will include live music, a bounce house, soccer darts, a rock-climbing wall, a mobile ropes course, an Alpine tubing slide, a mechanical bull, a trackless train, pedal carts and a toddler zone among the activies.
The Rapids are hosting a block party as part of the overall festival along the south side of the stadium. That will include a live DJ, drinks, food trucks and an LED wall that will stream the Rapids’ game live.
Tickets for the Colorado Rapids vs. Austin FC soccer match are still available. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. It will be followed by what is being billed as the largest public fi reworks show in the state. Fireworks begin around 9:30 p.m. following the game, and the parking lots will be open to non-ticket holders at 7 p.m. for the fi reworks show.
Northglenn family picnic on July 4
Billed as Northglenn’s largest family picnic, the annual Independence Day celebration returns to E.B. Rains Jr Park, 11800 Community Drive, on July 4. Residents are invited to bring their picnic baskets, blankets, chairs and canopies and spend the day at the park. Residents can also reserve a pavilion for the day on a fi rst-come, fi rst-served basis. Payment is due at time of registration. Call 303-450-8800 for more information about pavilions.
Festivities get underway at noon with the annual car show near the basketball court on the East side of the park. Car show registration begins at 10 a.m., and categories include new, classic, antique, vintage, hot rod and rat rod cars as well as motorcycles and trucks. Details about arrival times and location will be sent with registration. Drivers should enter off of 117th and Washington and west to the park, where the street dead-ends.
Car show awards will be made at 2:30 p.m.
The beer garden and food vendors also open and begin serving at noon. In addition, pedal boats will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and there will be a bounce house for kids from noon to 8 p.m.
The main stage opens at 2:30 p.m. with a performance by Reveal and Company and Ron Ivory and One on One Motown Review at 4:30 p.m. That is scheduled to be followed by a military recognition by Northglenn American Legion Post #22 at 6:30 p.m. and fi nal concert at 7 p.m. featuring Thumpin Band.
The annual duck derby race is split into two — a race featuring corporate-sponsored ducks at 3 p.m. followed by a public duck race at 4 p.m. The duck derby is hosted by the Northglenn Thornton Rotary Club.
Fireworks are scheduled to be launched between 9 and 10 p.m. depending on the weather. If the fi reworks are not held July 4, they will held at 9:30 p.m. July 5.
A dropoff zone will be available to drop off people or large items in the west parking lot of EB Rains Park. Parking is available behind City Hall, at the Recreation Center and in the Wagon Road RTD Lot at 120th and North Melody Drive. Fees may be required at RTD. Handicapped parking is available in the west and east lots of EB Rains Park with placard as well as the south lot of City Hall.
Skydivers the prelude to Thornton fi reworks
Thornton’s Fourth of July Celebration culminates in parachutists dropping in to kick off the city’s fi reworks show July 4.
Carpenter Park itself will be open all day but the festivities get underway at 4 p.m.
All festivities are centered in Carpenter Park Fields, 108 Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, beginning at 4 p.m. That’s when the community beer garden opens and food vendors begin serving.
The celebration takes a patriotic turn at 5:15 p.m. when the Thornton Community Band, bolstered by an Independence Day Festival Chorus, will perform. That leads into a performance by the Kory Brunson Band at 7:30 p.m.
The parachutist drop is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. followed immediately by city’s Red White and BOOM fi re-
Cornhole players line up to compete at Adams County’s Riverdale Regional Park cornhole tournament in 2021. The tournament returns to the park July 3 this year.
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Various Democratic groups are airing ads and sending mailers that describe three candidates — state Rep. Ron Hanks in the U.S. Senate contest, Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine in the 8th Congressional District race and former Parker mayor Greg Lopez in the gubernatorial race — as “too conservative.” All three are steadfast in their denial of the 2020 presidential election results.
Mario Nicolais, a campaign finance attorney who also writes opinion columns for The Colorado Sun, called the ads an example of “Reverse Psychology 101,” and argued they would push undecided Republicans to support those candidates.
There’s nothing new about political parties spending on advertising to affect the other side’s slate of candidates. But this year’s spending by Democrats comes earlier and is more extensive than in the past, Nicolais said.
“This is by far the most we’ve ever seen in Colorado,” Nicolais said.
One election-denier candidate who hasn’t been promoted in Democraticbacked ads is indicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, the Republican building her campaign for secretary of state on a false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Promoting Peters appears to be a step too far for Democrats, Nicolais said.
Grossman and Nicolais said that even a remote risk of an election denier defeating a Democrat in the fall is unacceptable.
“As much as I disagree with traditional conservative Republicans, I think for the good of the country we need to make sure that they restore their own party,” Grossman said.
Missives draw complaints at federal and state level
Recently, U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over several mailers that contrast him with Hanks, his GOP primary opponent. The mailers falsely claim the Colorado Republican Party has endorsed Hanks. The state party is prohibited from endorsing primary candidates by its bylaws.
“Contrary to what the mailers state: the Colorado GOP has not endorsed any candidates in the primary nor are we the ones sending these mailers to voters,” Republican Party Executive Director Joe Jackson said in a written statement.
O’Dea is suing the Iowa printing company behind the mailers for defamation.
The mailers, which don’t suggest people who receive them should vote for or against either candidate, contain no disclosure of who sent them. But FEC regulations don’t require electioneering reports for mailers or digital ads.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which supports GOP U.S. Senate candidates, said Monday that it, too, plans to file an FEC complaint over the mailers.
Liberal nonprofit ProgressNow Colorado faces a campaign finance complaint with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office in connection with a mailer it sent contrasting Lopez with Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on abortion.
The complaint, filed by an Englewood woman, says the mailer doesn’t include the name of the registered agent for the group, Colorado Voter Guides, which was recently created by ProgressNow Colorado. And the complaint alleges the group failed to report the cost of the mailer as an electioneering communication, as required by state law.
After the complaint was filed — and several days after the state’s 48-hour deadline — Colorado Voter Guides reported spending more than $116,000 on the mailer. The group has since reported spending another $233,000 on mailers for a total of $349,000.
The complaints aren’t limited to Republicans and Democrats duking it out. There are intraparty controversies too.
The Public Trust Institute, a conservative nonprofit, filed a complaint against state-level super PAC Citizens for Election Integrity, which is supporting Peters, for failing to report campaign donations in its Monday filing and also failing to report independent spending within 48 hours as required by law. Citizens for Election Integrity filed reports Thursday, a few days after the deadline, showing it had spent more than $99,000.
The group is airing TV and digital ads and has produced a website opposing Republican Pam Anderson’s bid for secretary of state. While it hasn’t disclosed its donors, the people who registered Citizens for Election Integrity have worked for other election-denying Republican candidates in the past. And Peters tweeted the group’s TV ad approvingly soon after it came out.
In El Paso County’s 5th Congressional District, state Rep. Dave Williams is asking for a criminal investigation of TV ads from incumbent U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s campaign. Williams says the ads make false statements about him, which would be a violation of state law. But it’s unclear if that state law has ever been enforced.
Nicolais, an unaffiliated voter who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2014, filed a complaint against mailers in his contest, which he said were nastier than anything he’s seen yet in 2022. Action on complaints won’t be
Other messages are also unidentified
Last week, a group called TopLineVote.com sent a mailer to El Paso County voters endorsing county and statewide candidates, all of whom deny the results of the 2020 presidential election and oppose coronavirus prevention measures.
TopLineVote.com is not registered with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office as a political committee or as a business, nor is the website hosting it, getknown.net, nor is InterGalactic Advertising, the business advertised on the main site.
The website says “This website was created by patriots. It is not approved by any candidate or candidate’s committee. WE DO NOT ACCEPT DONATIONS.” The Sun sent a message to the email address listed for the advertising firm (the address is a UPS Store in Colorado Springs) and were told the group didn’t spend more than $1,000 on the messaging. The person responding wouldn’t reveal their name. That spending would indicate the mailers went out to fewer than 1,000 people.
A group called El Paso County Republican Strategy Forum is running the same ad on Facebook, spending less than $100 thus far.
Several anonymous mailers went to unaffiliated and Republican voters in the 8th Congressional District contrasting Saine, one of four GOP primary candidates, with Democratic nominee state Rep. Yadira Caraveo. Those mailers appear to come from a Democratic group based on union insignias and mailing permits. But they don’t endorse either candidate, thus haven’t been disclosed to the FEC.
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