Millions in out-of-state money funnel into Colorado Senate race between Hickenlooper, Gardner

COLORADO SPRING, Colo. (KRDO) -- Federal Election Commission data shows Republican incumbent Senator Cory Gardner and Democratic former Governor John Hickenlooper are neck and neck in their fundraising efforts for Colorado's 2020 Senate election.

However, a KRDO analysis of the federal election data shows that millions of dollars of out-of-state money are being thrown into both Gardner and Hickenlooper's campaign accounts.

Many political analysts believe Democrats have the ability to flip the Senate seat, but Republicans aren't backing down

The contentious race, with national interest and impact, may explain why so much money from people outside of Colorado is going to their campaigns.

In last 18 months, Gardner has raised $14.5 million for his Senate bid. Gardner has received over $3.1 million in donations from individual Coloradans.

But people from all over the country, with the exception of Vermont, have contributed to his campaign.

Floridians were the second-largest group of individual donors for the incumbent senator, with over $800,000 in donations.

Gardner received campaign money from oil and energy companies, large banks, and pharmaceutical companies, according to FEC data.

Gardner's campaign responded late Monday evening with a statement on the federal election records.

"The Gardner campaign enters the general election with a massive advantage over Hickenlooper's campaign, with our campaign reporting more than double Hickenlooper's cash on hand. Hickenlooper's campaign continues to burn through cash at an alarming rate to bail out their ethics-plagued candidate." 

Election data shows over 1,400 Colorado Springs residents donated to Gardner, compared to nearly 550 Colorado Springs residents that donated to Hickenlooper.

Hickenlooper, who has pledged not to accept corporate PAC money, raised over $14.2 million in the last ten months.

Individual Coloradans account for over $3.1 million of the donations reported by the FEC. Californians and New York state residents combined have donated more than $2.7 million to Hickenlooper's campaign.

Several large PACs aimed at flipping the Senate majority to Democrats are among Hickenlooper's largest financial supporters.

Hickenlooper's campaign released this statement about their fundraising efforts Monday afternoon:

"Governor Hickenlooper is proud to be the only candidate in this race who is not taking a single dime from corporate PACs. While Senator Gardner is the biggest beneficiary of corporate PAC money in Colorado Senate history, 95% of recent contributions to our campaign are from grassroots donors, and we're proud to have raised support from all 64 counties.”

The election is set for November 3.