Mayoral hopeful Mike Johnston outraised rival Kelly Brough in direct contributions by almost $55,000 between March 30 and April 30, the last reporting period shows. 

With matching funds, however, Brough netted just over $34,000 more.

All told, Brough saw a $20,000 dollar disadvantage in fundraising during this period. 

Still, Brough leads in cash on hand, holding $38,000 more than Johnston as of April 30.

Brough’s Fair Election Fund total stands at $937,500 — in line with meeting the matching fund limit, plus a 25% lump sum — while Johnston lags behind by roughly $150,000, only netting $766,000. 

The Fair Elections Fund is a voter-approved public financing model that matches contributions of up to $50 at a ratio of 9 to 1. During the runoff, mayoral candidates received a lump sum equal to 25% of their general election total, according to Lucille Wenegieme with the Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office. 

“If a candidate got $750,000 from the Fund, they automatically got $250,000 for the runoff,” Wenegieme said. “The Fund is not matching contributions in the runoff, and hasn’t since the cutoff on Feb. 28.” 

So far, contributions from supporters and public financing gave Brough and Johnston a total of $3.5 million to spend on their mayoral campaigns. Brough holds a slim lead overall, raising just over $1.8 million, with Johnston trailing at just under $1.7 million. 

In terms of outright contributions from Denverites, Johnston led, hauling in $932,000, against Brough’s $895,000. Both candidates are participating in the Fair Elections Fund. Brough received significantly more than Johnston and was the only candidate to reach the $750,000 maximum during the general election. 

Independent expenditure groups — outside entities operating autonomously from the campaigns — aggressively support both candidates.

And here Johnston’s backers are pulling away by almost two times, getting $2.2 million compared to Brough’s supporters at just over $1 million. 

Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn, contributed almost $1 million to Advancing Denver — the IE supporting Johnston — dwarfing the largest contributions made to the outside entity backing Kelly, called A Better Denver.

The total $904,679 in contributions to Advancing Denver accounted for close to half of the independent expenditure money for Johnston, and almost equaled A Better Denver’s total.

Other contributors included Steve Mandel, a hedge fund manager living in Connecticut, who — in two contributions — sent $250,450 to Advancing Denver.

The largest contributor to A Better Denver is the National Association of REALTORS, which made three $150,000 contributions. Still, that $450,000 is less than half of Hoffman’s donations to Advancing Denver.

Other contributors to A Better Denver included developer Lloyd Fulenwider and the Colorado Construction Industry Coalition, who have sent $50,000 and $40,000 respectively. 

Previous polling and fundraising data hinted at a tight race but on election night in April. Johnston secured the most votes. Brough, who came in second to Johnston, fended off a late surge from Lisa Calderòn, securing her a spot in the runoff. 

Both Johnston and Brough have aggressively courted endorsements.

Brough secured the endorsement of former Denver mayor Wellington Webb, former state rep. Wilma Webb, Sen. Chris Hansen, former Mayor Bill Vidal and Thomas Wolf, among others.

Johnston is endorsed by former mayor Fredirico Peña, Rep. Leslie Herod, former Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll, former Colorado Senate President Peter Groff and former First Lady of Colorado Dottie Lamm. 

The runoff election is on June 6 and ballots will begin mailing to voters by May 15.