Democratic businessman Noel Ginsburg announced today he would exit the 2018 gubernatorial primary, citing that he does not have the cash to compete. Ginsburg was considered to be the unusual reasonable Democratic candidate. While Ginsburg contributed $370,000 to his campaign last year, he had less than a quarter million in the bank as of the end of the year and he’s going up against millionaire Jared Polis, whose net worth is estimated to be nearly $400 million. Ginsburg would have the same problem that Democrats Mike Johnston and Cary Kennedy will have – running headfirst into Polis’ giant wall of cash.
It’s true that, at some point, there are diminishing returns on campaign spending (See: Amendment 66, which spent $12 million to try to increase taxes by $1 billion and lost two-to-one), but there is a threshold at which one cannot compete without enough cash. Perhaps not a coincidence, today, Polis also announced that he had reserved $1.6 million in ad buys for June. The question is whether Johnston, who is relying on Bloomberg cash via an outside group to support his campaign; Kennedy, who is relying on union power; or Donna Lynne, who recently surfaced by submitting her signatures, has the firepower to fend off what is expected to be huge spending by Polis. We’ll be watching….
On the Congressional side, Democrat David Aarestad (who?) also has exited the race due to lack of funds and has endorsed Crow. Aarestad never really got the traction – financial and otherwise – he needed to be a legitimate competitor. Besides, this primary is really between Jason Crow and Levi Tillemann (Dick). While Tillemann Dick may have the hearts of the grassroots in the Sixth Congressional, Crow has the endorsements and cash from the Democratic establishment. We suspect Crow, who until recently did not even live in the district, will have the resources to finish strong.
Will Republicans who have failed to gain traction in their own gubernatorial races begin exiting the race or are all them just waiting for someone to pick them as Lieutenant Governor?