A state lawmaker who wants to set limits on contributions to school board candidates hopes what happened in Denver’s race this year will spark support for her measure.
Candidates racked up thousands of dollars in donations amid accusations of attempts to buy three seats on the Denver school board.
Other school districts also saw expensive school board races.
Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver, tried but failed to establish limits in 2010. She will try again when the session opens Jan. 11, but this time she faces even tougher odds: Democrats no longer control the House.
Unlike most elected positions in Colorado, there are no caps on donations to school board candidates.
“It’s preposterous that we don’t have them already,” said Emily Sirota, who raised more than $100,000 to campaign for the unpaid job and was still outspent nearly 2-to-1.
McCann said her bill is still in draft form, but she is considering a limit of $1,000 that likely would impact most school district races.
In addition to school board candidates, her bill would include candidates for the Regional Transportation District, which runs bus and light-rail service in the metro area. They also don’t have limits.
Rep. Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, said if next year’s bill is anything like McCann’s previous proposal, he won’t support it.
“I don’t believe in campaign limits,” he said.
Actually, McCann’s not a big fan either. Like Waller, she thinks limits helped lead to the proliferation of usually untrackable money being spent for nasty attack ads.
But, McCann said, Coloradans like limits, twice voting to establish caps for most elected positions, ranging from governor to attorney general to state lawmaker. The cap to lawmakers is $400.
In the Denver school board race, Anne Rowe, Jennifer Draper Carson and Allegra “Happy” Haynes ran on a reform platform and easily outraised their opponents. Rowe and Haynes won.
Rowe raised nearly $198,000 to Sirota’s $107,585.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
