Messenger: Unclear

Candidate: Lori A. Saine

Contest: 8th Congressional District

Affiliation: R

Date delivered: June 3, 2022

Click here for message

Message type: mailer

Message tone: contrast

About the message:

This is the third mailer to Republican and unaffiliated voters in the 8th Congressional District contrasting Republican Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine with Democratic state Rep. Yadira Caraveo on issues of gun control, abortion and support of former President Donald Trump. The union insignia and the mailing code indicate it comes from Democratic interests, but the lack of the "magic words" — vote for or vote against — means it's likely sent by a nonprofit that doesnt' have to disclose its donors. The Federal Election Commission requires disclosure of such communications that total $10,000 or more within 24 hours for the 30 days before the primary election. Disclosures for these mailers have yet to be filed.

About the messenger: If there's no indication of who delivered the message, well, it's unclear. This means there's no revelation on a robocall or "paid for by" on a mailer or door literature.

And, in fact, there's a loophole in Colorado law that doesn't require disclosure if a message doesn't explicitly say "vote for" or "vote against." And even candidates don't have to say if they delivered a message, according to the Secretary of State.

According to the Campaign Finance Institute, Colorado was one of only 10 states with such a loophole in 2016.

The messenger's money: This is the definition of "dark money." There's no way to know who paid.