KOA Interview: The Campaigns Shift to Sprint Over Memorial Day Weekend

After a year of campaigning by many gubernatorial candidates, the Memorial Day holiday marks the beginning of a sprint to the June 26 primary for the eight candidates, four in each party. In a KOA weekend interview with Jerry Bell, the following points were made:

The race is considered competitive in each party, with upward of a third of partisans still making a decision. An additional unknown factor is how many unaffiliated voters will return a ballot. For the first time, all 1.1 million will get a ballot and can select which party primary to participate in. Polls and early ballot requests indicate upward of 200,000 could vote, with a Democratic ballot being selected by about 60 percent of unaffiliated voters.

Ballots will be mailed starting Monday, June 4, about a week away. Voters can expect to be flooded with mailers, robo calls, and Internet, TV and radio advertising for the remaining weeks. A record $20 million is expected to be spent by the campaigns. Congressman Jared Polis has just put another $2 million into his campaign as it approached $10 million.