Colorado governor candidate hasn’t disclosed campaign spending

Democrat Erik Underwood’s campaign for Colorado governor looks dormant.

In the eight months since he entered the high-profile race, he has not reported a single contribution or expenditure for his campaign.

But from the start, Underwood told The Denver Post, he spent his own money to hire staff, print campaign materials and travel the state — a total that now reaches into “the six figures.”

The failure to report his campaign activity is a violation of state law, according to the Colorado secretary of state’s office. Underwood formed a candidate committee in August, records show, and triggered a requirement that he must disclose personal contributions and campaign expenditures.

“Anybody who spends money in support of their candidates, from county office to governor, they do have to report those expenditures,” said Steve Bouey, the campaign finance manager for the secretary of state’s office.

In interviews this week, Underwood repeatedly rejected the suggestion that he needed to disclose his contributions, saying he didn’t need to because he was the only contributor. But even self-funded candidates must reveal their spending.

“I don’t want people to know that I’m spending my money and how I’m spending it,” he said. “I can assure you I am well within the law by not disclosing my own personal money or spending.” But when The Post told him Thursday that the secretary of state’s office required disclosure, he changed his stance, suggesting that he would amend the two reports he filed for 2017. “That’s news to me — if that’s the case, we’ll comply,” he said.

Underwood — who already faces a $50 fine for filing a late report in January — could face additional penalties for his failure to report campaign activity in 2017.

The secretary of state’s office is not empowered to sanction a candidate for violating disclosure rules, Bouey said, but accepts complaints filed by any member of the public and forwards them to an administrative law judge. If Underwood is found noncompliant, the judge could impose penalties as much as two to five times the amount of the transactions in question.

Underwood did not say how much he spent in 2017. The disclosure form for the first four months of 2018 is due May 7.

The technology entrepreneur from outside Boulder is not a first-time candidate. In 2016, he ran in the U.S. Senate race as a Republican but received only six votes as a write-in candidate at the party convention.