Messenger: Colorado Republican Committee IEC

Candidate: Brittany Pettersen

Contest: Senate District 22

Affiliation: D

Date delivered: Oct. 18, 2018

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Message type: mailer

Message tone: negative

About the message:

This mailer from the Colorado Republican Committee's super PAC notes that Colorado has seen huge economic growth, then criticizes  state Rep. Brittany Pettersen, saying she wants to raise taxes. Pettersen is running for an open state Senate seat in southern Jefferson County against Republican Tony Sanchez.

The claims cited:

• Her vote for a measure to improve family leave by charging an insurance premium of less than 1 percent of wages for all employees in Colorado. Because the program would have been considered an enterprise under state law, it wouldn't have qualified as a tax. It would not have cost a family $25,000 a year, but might cost that much over, say, 25 years. A fiscal analysis suggested the highest cost would be $990 for someone earning $100,000 a year. 
• Her vote for a program to create a program to help Coloradans with high health-care costs. It aimed to get federal grants to reduce health insurance costs in areas where they are high, and also would have levied a fee on health insurers.
• Her 2017 vote against an amendment to a transportation bill that would have required the use of existing revenue for roads and bridges. The measure asking voters to increase taxes for transportation failed in the state Senate.

About the messenger:

The Colorado Republican Party's independent expenditure committee takes unlimited contributions and may spend unlimited amounts. But the committee isn't supposed to coordinate with candidates.

The messenger's money:

Big donors include Anschutz Corp. at $300,000, Pete Coors at $250,000, J. Martin Landis at $150,000, and Extraction Oil & Gas and DCP Operating Co. at $100,000 each. The Republican Attorneys General Association gave $215,000.