Update: NRCC to spend $661K on ad buy for Coors
DENVER — Republican Joe Coors, who’s challenging Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter in Colorado’s 7th district, wrote his campaign a $1.3 million check during the last fundraising quarter, federal disclosures show.
The National Republican Congressional Committee gave no money to Coors last quarter, although his campaign insists he’s still getting its help, despite a Democratic memo issued Monday that Coors is being abandoned as the NRCC looks to spend its money on more competitive races over the final month of the campaign.
“It looks like Joe Coors may be too extreme even for his own party,” said the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Stephen Carter. “Because of his extreme views on women’s health and his agenda that only looks out for millionaires like himself, Republicans know Joe Coors can’t win and have abandoned him.”
Carter notes that the NRCC hasn’t funded a television ad on Coors’ behalf, as it does for other candidates; although Coors is still part of the NRCC’s “Young Guns” program, which prioritizes resources for top GOP challengers, according to his campaign.
“Joe’s proud to be the most senior member of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Gun program,” said Michelle Yi, Coors’ campaign spokeswoman. “Furthermore, the Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee even hosted a successful fundraiser for Joe on top of all the morale support he’s given him since the beginning of the campaign.”
Coors’ quarterly financial disclosure report shows that Coors raised $421,335 from private contributions, which, added to Coors’ own $1.3 million check, gives the campaign a $1.7 million haul for the quarter, despite no money from the NRCC.
Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for the NRCC, says that the committee isn’t at all abandoning Coors, who they believe is actually leading Perlmutter at the moment.
“Joe is a fantastic candidate. We’ve worked with him for months. He’s got a great campaign and has made this into a very competitive race,” Scarpinato told FOX31 Denver. “We actually believe he’s winning. They know they’re in trouble in a district they didn’t expect to have to work in.”
Scarpinato wouldn’t say whether Coors’ ability to self-fund much of his campaign is a major reason why the NRCC hasn’t felt compelled to write him checks thus far.
“We are continuing to place television around the country on a weekly basis,” he said. “We do things differently than the Democrats. They lay down their buys early so they get media coverage and cheaper rates, but they’re the ones pulling money and abandoning races now. We do some initial placements and then we build upon those. We still have millions to spend. There’s still stuff that may come.
“We’ll look at the whole picture: is this the district we can win and can we make a difference?”
UPDATE: On Thursday, the NRCC confirmed to FOX31 Denver that it has spent $661,150 on an ad buy on behalf of Coors. The new spot, which isn’t finished and wasn’t yet available, will run starting Monday, Oct. 22 through Election Day.
