Broomfield City Council campaigns see close to $200k in donations, $130k spent
Broomfield’s 12 City Council and mayoral candidates have spent more than $130,000 so far in combined campaigning.
The first contribution and expenditure report was due Oct. 12 and reflect money received and spent since each campaign’s start through Oct. 7. In total, the 12 candidates have so far received $192,822.74 in donations and have spent a combined $130,713.03.
Mayor Guyleen Castriotta has had the most money come in and out, listing $57,675 in contributions and $31,054 in campaign expenses. Mayoral opponent Kimberly Groom has collected and spent the second largest amounts of money, with $32,964.67 collected and $29,682.44 spent, public documents show.
The largest single donation mayoral candidate Castriotta received came from Christopher Woods, of Boulder, who donated $5,000. Ryan Aweida of Precision Industries donated $4,000 to her campaign. She’s received $1,000 donations each from Christine Bondi, Brad Gibson, Merle Chambers, Karla Jurveston and Marcy Willard, and two $1,000 donations from Jay Hormel.
While Castriotta has donors listed with addresses from as far as Rhode Island to California, all but two of Groom’s donations are from Broomfield residents.
Resident Ben Vagher has donated the most amount of money overall, records show, which includes the largest one-time donation of $10,000 he made to Groom’s campaign. He also donated $1,000 to Ward 1 candidate Chriss Hammerschmidt, $2,500 to Ward 2 candidate Brent Hultman and $2,500 to Ward 4 candidate Mindy Quiachon. Katherine Vagher, who lives at the same address as Ben Vagher, donated $1,000 to Ward 5 candidate Grayson Hofferber, documents show.
Steve and Paula Reynolds, whose occupation is listed as geologist for Infinity Oil & Gas, have donated $5,000 to Groom’s campaign, a total of $3,500 to Ward 3 candidate Brian Peotter’s campaign and $5,000 to Quiachon’s campaign. Resident Brent Bickel has donated $970.70 to Groom, $1,000 to Hammerschmidt, $5,000 to Hultman and $5,200 to Hofferber. Quiachon donated $100 to Hofferber before she announced her campaign, and Hammerschmidt donated $25 to Peotter before she announced her campaign.
The Metro Housing Coalition political action committee has donated $2,500 to Castriotta, $1,000 to Deven Shaff, $2,500 to Hammerschmidt, $1,000 to Hultman and $1,000 to Hofferber. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 7 donated $1,500 to Castriotta and Todd Cohen, and the union also donated $1,000 to Shaff, data shows.
The issue committee Better Ballot Broomfield has received $16,064 in contributions and has spent $13,115, with $13,000 of the expenses going to direct mail, records show. The political committee Citizens for Broomfield, which lists Ben Vagher as its agent, has received $4,200 in contributions and has spent $2,590.96. Data shows $2,000 of the committee’s expenses were contributions to Hultman’s campaign.
The political action committee Consumer Fireworks Safety Association has received $750 in contributions, all of which was donated to Castriotta’s campaign.
Candidate Bruce Leslie so far has garnered $20,810 in donations — almost twice as much as the nine other Council candidates. He’s received $2,000 from Ron and Manya Segal, $2,000 from Gary and Ruth Gallagher, $2,000 from Anya Berchtold and $5,000 from James Stewart, data shows.
Elections Manager Todd Davidson said in a campaign finance training presentation there is no contribution limit in Broomfield campaign finance.
Former Mayor Pat Quinn has donated $500 to Castriotta’s campaign and $50 to Shaff’s, data shows. Mayor Pro Tem Stan Jezierski has donated $100 to Castriotta, $100 to Shaff and $100 to Cohen. Councilman William Lindstedt donated a total of $300 to James Marsh-Holschen, $200 to Castriotta, $150 to Austin Ward, $100 to Shaff and $50 to Cohen. Shaff donated $100 to Castriotta before he filed to run, data shows. Councilwoman Jean Lim and Charlie Lim donated $25 to Cohen and Charlie Lim donated $50 to Shaff. Councilwoman Laurie Anderson donated $100 to Castriotta and $50 to Shaff. Councilwoman Heidi Henkel has donated $250 to Castriotta, $100 to Marsh-Holschen, $100 to Shaff and $200 to Cohen. Cohen donated a total of $75 to Castriotta, and candidate Leslie donated $500 to Castriotta before he entered the Ward 4 race, records show.
Groom, Hultman, Peotter, Quiachon and Hofferber are affiliated with the Republican Party, and Hammerschmidt is unaffiliated, according to voterrecords.com. Castriotta, Marsh-Holschen, Ward, Shaff and Cohen are affiliated with the Democratic Party and Leslie is unaffiliated.
The second round of reporting is due Oct. 29, and will include contributions and expenditures from Oct. 8-24. Another report is due Dec. 2, which will include data from Oct. 25 through Nov. 27. For more information or to view campaign finance fill-ins, visit votebroomfield.com.
By the numbers, as of Oct. 12
Mayor:
Guyleen Castriotta — Raised $57,675 and had $1.78 on hand, spent $31,054.37
Kimberly Groom — Raised $32,964.67, spent $29,682.44
Ward 1:
James Marsh-Holschen —Raised $10,705 and had $1,797.28 on hand, spent $11,357.64
Chriss Hammerschmidt — Raised $7,675, spent $6,487.17
Ward 2:
Austin Ward — Raised $2,625, spent $2,117.82
Brent Hultman — Raised $11,874.99, spent $9,061.33
Ward 3:
Brian Peotter — Raised $10,234.85, spent $6,996.69
Deven Shaff — Raised $11,205 and had $3,364.76 on hand, spent $7,424.97
Ward 4:
Bruce Leslie — Raised $20,810 and had $20 on hand, spent $10,826.60
Mindy Quiachon — Raised $8,640 and had $1 on hand, spent $5,638.07
Ward 5:
Grayson Hofferber — Raised $11,803.23 and spent $6,778.03
Todd Cohen — Raised $6,610 and spent $3,287.90