Frazier vs. Hogan in Aurora

Steve Hogan started his campaign for Aurora mayor more than a year ago and gathered significant endorsements from the Aurora municipal power structures and development interests. But, Ryan Frazier has had his strength in name identification from long service on the Aurora City Council and his unsuccessful 2010 congressional race.

In the two of three most important metrics available in the race, Frazier has dominated. A poll circulated in August showed him ahead and the latest fundraising numbers put his October contributions at nearly two-to-one over Hogan.

Hogan has been aggressively on the negative the entire month of September with criticism of Frazier, which culminated in a TV commercial attacking Frazier for absenteeism, votes on employees’ bonuses and “sending jobs overseas.” Clearly, Hogan believed he was behind and intended on winning with a negative campaign. Hogan claims to have closed the gap and is now in a tie at 20 points each with Frazier (34% undecided).

After years of the Tauer family dominating Aurora politics, the city is reverting to the campaign style of Denver, but with a lot less money.