Douglas County has been the target of dark-monied, GOP-backed education reform ideologies since the 1980s. These dollars have funded dozens of favored, agenda-driven candidates, as well as divisive culture war issues - anti-minority stances, critical race theory, COVID measures, school vouchers, among others.
Other than renaming existing PACS, and starting a complex web of astroturf non-profits, nothing has changed with dark sources of outside money flowing into Colorado's education-related elections.
For decades, the Koch network and corporatists have poured resources into defeating pro-public-school candidates and ballot initiatives intended to dry-up public-school funding.
JSNE pulled three excellent articles that describe in detail the dark money funneling through a complex and often hidden set of fake non-profits to pro-charter school candidates.
Sources of outside dark-monies includes the Koch network, Americans for Prosperity, Colorado League of Charter Schools, Philip Anschutz, the Walton Foundation, Daniels Fund, among many others.
Numerous current local candidates on the receiving end of these donors include George Teal, Lora Thomas, Priscilla Rahn, Mark Burcham, Bradley Bradley, Kevin VanWinkle, John Carson, others. All are affiliated with the GOP.
There’s absolutely no indication that outside, dark-monied interference will abate in Douglas County politics.