Messenger: Unclear

Candidate: Ron Hanks

Contest: U.S. Senate

Affiliation: R

Date delivered: June 11, 2022

Click here for message

Message type: mailer

Message tone: contrast

About the message:

This mailer, the source of which isn't identified, contrasts Republican U.S. Senate candidates Joe O'Dea, a construction company owner, and state Rep. Ron Hanks on gun issues. It notes that O'Dea contributed to former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who signed stricter gun control laws, while Hanks opposes such laws.

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.