Nearly $30,000 combined has been spent by the eight candidates running for a seat on the Summit School District’s board of education in the November election, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s up until Oct. 30.

Almost half of that is from one candidate, Breckenridge resident Leigh Sargent, whose campaign is almost completely self-funded and who reported spending $14,887. That is four to 14-times that of most other candidates.

“I have the ability to do that,” Sargent said in response to his spending, adding, “I’m putting money where my heart is, which is with the kids.”

Several of his large expenses include $2,400 on “media consultants,” $2,200 on “other promotional expense,” $1,381 on “other communications expense,” $1,308 on “advertising expense” and $1,368 on “yard signs,” according to the filings.

While Sargent has spent the most of any candidate, a Colorado-based social justice organization has invested even more money into promoting four other candidates.

Voces Unidas, a Latino-advocacy nonprofit based in the Rocky Mountain region, has spent roughly $22,000 to boost the campaigns of two board incumbents — Consuelo Redhorse and Julie Shapiro — as well as Vanessa Agee, a Frisco town official, and Gayle Jones Westerberg, a former district staffer. Those expenses include mailers, text messages, phone banking and digital advertising. All of this was reported in the organization’s filings to the Secretary of State’s Office.

The nonprofit made those payments through its campaign arm, the Voces Unidas Victory Fund, which is funded through donations and member fees collected by its political action committee. The victory fund is classified as an independent expenditure committee, meaning it does not coordinate with the candidates it is promoting, said Voces Unidas President Alex Sanchez.

“The candidate cannot influence or drive any of that work,” Sanchez said. “We work independently of the candidates.”

It means candidates themselves do not have to disclose this funding in their own finance reports to the secretary of state, though Redhorse, Shapiro, Agee and Westerberg did each report individual donations made to their campaigns by Voces Unidas.

The Summit Daily News could not find an organization spending anywhere near that amount on the other four candidates, Jenniffer Gonzalez, Danielle Surette, Michael Atkinson and Sargent. Sanchez added his organization is also unaware of such funding for those candidates.

Still, “I think this is shaping up to be one of the most expensive school board races in Summit County,” Sanchez said.

Candidate donations and spending

Following Sargent, the second-highest spender in the race is Shapiro, who spent $4,295 and raised $5,105, according to the most recent finance filings. Most of that has been spent on promotional materials, including over $1,000 on radio advertisements.

Most of Shapiro’s contributions came from county residents, with one high-profile donor being Dillon resident and Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie, who gave $50.

Redhorse raised $3,585 and spent $3,350. Her two largest expenditures were for 5,000 flyers, 600 postcards and radio advertisements. Notable donors include two current board members, Lisa Webster and Chris Guarino, who contributed $91.80 and $50, respectively.

Gonzalez, a family coordinator for the Summit County government, was the fourth-highest spender. She reported expenditures totaling $1,647 and contributions totaling $3,650. Two of her biggest expenses were $559 for door hangers and $415 for yard signs. Many of Gonzalez’s donations came from retirees who live in the county, though $250 came from a retiree in Snowmass.

Surette, a district parent who ran for school board in 2021, spent $1,572 and raised $3,525. Large expenditures included door hangers and yard signs. Similar to Gonzalez, Surette received a large portion of contributions from retirees, more than $1,500.

Atkinson, a longtime county pastor who founded the Summit County Christian School, spent $1,476 and raised $6,170. His spending includes $700 on business cards and door hangers and nearly $200 on “communication services.” He also saw a large amount of donations from retirees, about $2,600, $1,000 of which came from one Breckenridge resident, Don Hughes.

Agee, the second-lowest spender, reported expenditures totaling $1,348 while raising $4,939. Practically all her spending went to advertising, her website, postcards and printing costs. Agee received a $2,500 contribution from Breckenridge resident Hans Wurster, her single-largest donation, as well as $50 from Guarino, the board member.

Westerberg spent the least of any candidate, $627, all of which went to advertising. She raised $2,727.

Many candidates also received donations from several high-profile residents and organizations. Redhorse, Shapiro, Agee and Westerberg each reported a $1,000 contribution from Paul Finkel, a registered resident in Silverthorne and community philanthropist. Finkel has been a large donor for local organizations and programs in the past, particularly for education-related initiatives.

Voces Unidas also donated $800 to Redhorse, $500 to Shapiro, $400 to Agee and $500 to Westerberg.

Sargent, Gonzalez, Surette and Atkinson each received a $45 contribution from Allen Bacher, a Summit County resident who ran as the Republican candidate against Democrat Elisabeth Lawrence in the 2022 commissioners race.

Political ties

Though the race is non-partisan, meaning candidates are not running as a member of a political party, some financing has come with political-ties.

The Summit County Democratic Party has provided about $240 each in non-monetary contributions to Redhorse, Shapiro, Agee and Westerberg.

That came in the form of campaigning by the Democratic Party on behalf of the four candidates, such as through flyers and radio advertisements. Between Oct. 18-25, the party spent $960 on mailing and radio broadcasting to promote the candidates, the value of which was provided to each candidate who then disclosed the amount in their finance reports.

Speaking with the Summit Daily, Redhorse said, “I’m sure there’s a political perception” regarding the contributions.

“Although it is a non-partisan race, I would say that education is absolutely political,” Redhorse said, adding that the Democratic Party is “an organization that I’ve fallen in line with with my values.”

Three other candidates, Atkinson, Gonzalez and Surette, have paid fees to an online website, Anedot, that facilitates donations and has been heavily used by national Republican officials as well as conservative groups such as Turning Point USA, the National Association for Gun Rights and the Republican Governors Association. The site charges a small processing fee for donations which is reflected in the three candidates’ expenditures.

In 2020, the site’s founder, Paul Dietzel, told the newsite Inside Sources that Anedot “currently serves more than 1,500 Republican candidates and elected officials” and is “the only privacy-focused payment processor built and owned by conservatives.”

In a text message response to questions from the Summit Daily, Gonzalez said she was not aware Anedot was serviced by conservatives.

“I chose it because it provides the service that we need for the campaign. I am not a political person, since this is my first year running and I am just doing it because of the kids. No interest in politics at all,” Gonzalez said.

Summit Daily has also been made aware of anonymous text messages and physical signs that have been created during this election cycle without disclosure of how those messages were paid for.

According to county spokesperson Sarah Wilkinson, the first sign to be posted, a large, blue sign with misleading information about the school district’s performance, was in a Colorado Department of Transportation Right of Way. It was posted at the intersection of Colorado Highway 9 and Swan Mountain Road.

Wilkinson, in an email, stated that county officials received “several complaints over the course of approximately a week” and a “message was sent to all candidates to inform them of the sign regulations.”

“There have been signs on different peoples’ properties, and the planning department has spoken to a few different landowners,” Wilkinson stated. “The planning department informed them of the sign regulations, notified them the signs were not in compliance, and that the signs needed to be removed. All property owners promptly complied.”

Election Day is Nov. 7. More information, including how to vote and other relevant news and opinion content, can be found at SummitDaily.com/election.

Published on SummitDaily.com.