Left Wing Money To Pour Into Republican Primaries Next Year
by Glen Richardson
Who Does He Work For: Jon Caldera of the free-market Independence Institute, who is not a Republican, is lobbying hard for Colorado Republicans not to opt out of open primaries. The principal beneficiary of his lobbying is Kathryn Murdoch, the wealthy highly progressive New York Democrat.
According to Jon Caldera of the Independence Institute, a self-described free market think tank in Denver, the seemingly moribund Republican Party of Colorado is on the verge of a great victory in Colorado in 2022. He stated so in an opinion piece in The Denver Post and in emails to everyone of the approximately 520 Republican State Central Committee members. What is surprising about the communications is that Caldera is not a Republican, and moreover almost no other political commentator in the state believes the Republicans are on the verge of victory in Colorado. True, the 10-year reapportionment of Congressional, State House and State Senate districts is being done this year by an independent commission, from one that was gerrymandered heavily in favor of Democrats, but little else seems to favor Republicans in Colorado.
Since the advent of mail-in balloting and ballot harvesting along with open primaries where unaffiliates can vote in Republican primaries, Republicans have lost almost every statewide election along with the State Senate. The number of registered Republicans in Colorado is plummeting and has dropped by over 22,000 voters so far in 2021 alone. So, what is going on?
The Colorado Republican primaries are becoming more and more lucrative for consultants and others. Kathryn Murdoch of New York City, the extremely wealthy and very progressive daughter-in-law of billionaire Rupert Murdoch, has decided to become a major player in Colorado Republican primaries. As outlined in an article in the Colorado Sun, Murdoch funded, through a series of corporations including Unite Colorado, over two million dollars to five Republican primaries in Weld and Jefferson counties (HD22, HD48, HD49 HD63 and SD63). She did so in order to ensure conservative Republicans would not win in strong Republican districts. She sought Republicans who would help Democrats get progressive legislation passed at the State Capitol.
Murdoch Five: The five Republican liberals were elected over conservatives in primaries in Weld and Jefferson County with massive cash infusions on behalf of their candidacy by Kathryn Murdoch and Unite Colorado.
Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer
Representative Dan Woog
Representative Tonya Van Beber
Representative Colin Larson
Representative Michael Lynch
Unite Colorado was spectacularly successful getting Colin Larson, Michael Lynch, Tonya Van Beber, and Dan Woog to be the Republican nominees to the State House, and Barbara Kirkmeyer to the State Senate. Since all were in strong Republican districts, the “Murdoch 5” won their general elections. One of the first actions was to replace conservative Patrick Neville of Douglas County as Republican minority leader in the House with more Democrat friendly Hugh McKean of Loveland.
The enormous success of Murdoch in Colorado was spearheaded by Terrance Carroll, the former Democratic Speaker of the Colorado House who became the president of Unite Colorado in 2019. Flushed with success, Kathryn Murdoch is expected to provide many more millions to Carroll to help turn the Colorado Republican party blue. The roadmap is generally not to challenge incumbent conservative Republicans, but rather to wait until
Biggest Republican Primary Donor: The wealthy New York progressive Democrat Kathryn Murdoch is the biggest donor to Republican primaries in Colorado. She is determined to get Republicans elected in strong conservative districts who will help Democrats pass highly progressive legislation.
they are term limited. Non-incumbents seldom have many resources and therefore the Murdoch candidates will have an enormous advantage over any non-incumbent conservatives. Moreover, the Murdoch candidates almost never run as liberal Republicans and their campaign literature is seldom any different from conservatives. It is estimated that Murdoch and Carroll will take the 2022 and 2024 election cycles to complete their work in taking over the Colorado Republican Party
King Of Republican Primaries: Terrance Carroll, the former Democrat Speaker of the State House, has more money to spend in Republican primaries in Colorado than anyone else in the state thanks to New York progressive Kathryn Murdoch.
In response, grassroot Republicans have begun a campaign to only allow Republicans and not unaffiliated voters to vote in Republican primaries and thereby greatly reducing the influence that Murdoch and Carroll would have in Republican primaries. This so-called Opt Out campaign (which the publisher of this paper has supported) is greatly opposed by some large Republican donors and their consultants, believing it would reduce their influence over the party, and believing they could work with Murdoch and Carroll easier than with the grassroots of the Republican party.
That is where Jon Caldera and the Independence Institute comes in. The Independence Institute is not required and does not reveal its donors, but it is assumed it is the same as the wealthy donors to the Republican and Democratic parties and may include Kathryn Murdoch. It would appear Caldera’s job is to convince Republicans that withstanding every indication to the contrary, Republicans in Colorado are on the verge of victory but only if they do not Opt Out. The opportunity to Opt Out under state law occurs only every two years. If Caldera is successful, Murdoch and Carroll will have ample time to successfully complete their endeavors. Of course, behind the scenes many top Democratic operatives are cheering Caldera and the Independence Institute on. The Democratic operatives believe that if Caldera and the Independence Institute are successful in stopping the Opt Out campaign it could guarantee a very progressive future for Colorado for decades to come.