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Both Andrew Romanoff and Michael Bennet have dipped into their personal accounts during the final stretch of the Democratic primary campaign for U.S. Senate.
But while Romanoff went so far as to sell his Washington Park home for hundreds of thousands in much-needed campaign spending money, Bennet simply wrote himself a check.
The sitting U.S. senator, who was appointed last year by Governor Bill Ritter, has loaned his campaign $300,000 for a final advertising spree before the completion of the August 10 mail-ballot primary, reports The Denver Post, which adds that the cash infusion likely means Bennet has spent nearly $5.8 million, a record for Colorado Senate primaries.
Bennet feels he’s been attacked by Romanoff in ads and wants to respond: “I’d expected in the general election you’d see attacks like this but that you wouldn’t expect it in a primary.”
Romanoff, who is leading Bennet in the latest SurveyUSA poll, has sworn off using political-action-committee money from corporations and interest groups, leading Politico to ask: If Romanoff defeats Bennet next week, how will he fund his general election campaign against the GOP candidate, either Ken Buck or Jane Norton?
Some Romanoff supporters point to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic National Committee for cash, although party leaders all the way up to the White House tried to stop Romanoff from launching a challenge to Bennet.
On the other hand, an endorsement from President Barack Obama is very much a mixed blessing for politicians these days. As The Wall Street Journal writes, the president’s support of Bennet “isn’t doing the senator much good.”
Meanwhile, in the race for Colorado governor, donations are significantly up for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the lone Democratic candidate, and notably down for Republican candidates Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, according to The Denver Post.