A Colorado administrative law judge has ruled that a Republican political committee created to raise money for Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) as well as several state and local Republican candidates, violated multiple laws and campaign finance rules. The administrative court has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 2 to determine the appropriate number and amount of fines to be assessed.
The violations stem from Douglas County Victory Fund (DCVF), which brought in nearly $57,000 at a single fundraising event in Larkspur on July 2, 2024. DCVF raised money for multiple Colorado Republican candidates.
The event’s donor list included two prominent developers and longtime GOP funders Larry Mizel ($5,000) and Harold Smethills ($7,500). State law requires that committees register with the Secretary of State before accepting any such contributions.
Two months later, Utah-based campaign finance compliance firm McCauley & Associates filed the DCFV’s initial paperwork, which listed former state Rep. Kim Ransom, a Republican from Littleton, as treasurer, with the Federal Election Commission. The committee’s address appears to be the home address of a longtime county party activist.
This isn’t the first time Boebert has had problems with McCauley. She previously ditched them after her first year in office, after multiple reporting errors.
Neither Boebert nor the compliance firm responded to email requests for comment. This article will be updated with any responses received.
The judge ruled that DCVF never registered with the state, nor reported its contributions to the Colorado Secretary of State as required by law. Additionally, it appears to have violated campaign finance law by overpaying one GOP candidate, 23rd Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, well over the maximum amount allowed by law. DCVF contributed $755.56 to the committee for George Brauchler’s campaign for 23rd District Attorney — exceeding the legal limit of $450. In January 2025, after the complaint was initially filed and the Secretary of State’s office opened its investigation, Brauchler attempted to refund the excess $305.56, and reported this to the Secretary of State via TRACER, though his campaign’s reimbursement check may not have been cashed.
The rest of the GOP candidates receiving funds from DCVF included Dougco state Reps. Lisa Frizell, Anthony Hartsook, Brandi Bradley and Max Brooks, as well as now-County Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle.
According to DCVF’s FEC filings, the committee terminated itself in December 2024, a few weeks before the campaign finance complaint was lodged. Reached by phone, DCVF treasurer Ransom, also a former state legislator, says the decision to register and file reports only with the FEC and not the state was a matter of efficiency not an attempt at secrecy.
“I can tell you we’re not trying to hide anything,” says Ransom. “All the money that was received for the fund, we wanted to make sure that people were able to trace the money. This isn’t dark money. When you look at the amount of dark money that is running to campaigns or by campaigns or that helps candidates — we’re not trying to hide things at all. I think it’s more just a question of where should it be reported and should it been reported twice? Should people that are volunteers that are just trying to help out the county party and a few candidates, should they have to write everything down twice and submit it twice? Or can it be cross-referenced? Because the FEC — all the money is very visible there and always has been. Those filings were all made.”
“Ultimately, anybody can find where the money came from into the fund, and then where it went out from the fund — even if you have to look in two different websites — you can still find it. And again, when you are combining both federal and local candidates, there very well might be some questions when you have multiple candidates. Do we want to have a chilling effect on these types of joint fundraising agreements? I think both parties- I think everybody would like us to be able to get together with other candidates — especially if they’re like-minded — and be able to partner up, because folks that are interested and willing enough to want to write a check to candidates or causes that match with their belief systems would like to be able to do that.”
As part of his Jan. 7 ruling, the administrative law judge ordered DCVF to file documents with the state within 10 days. As of publication, no such filings appear on TRACER, the state’s campaign finance website.
Ransom referred specific questions about whether DCVF has yet filed with the state as per the order to the committee’s attorney, Chris Murray, now with First and Fourteenth law firm, but formerly the longtime counsel of the Colorado GOP. Murray did not respond to an email request for comment. This article will be updated with any response received.
While the Administrative Law Judge ruled in favor of the complaint, he wrote that too much information on DCVF’s political contributions was missing to determine the appropriate penalties.
“The facts surrounding appropriate civil penalties and monetary sanctions, however, are in dispute. A fuller record is required for me to exercise appropriate discretion as to the amount of any civil penalties,” he wrote.
Noting that his list was not comprehensive, he detailed 21 questions of fact that he needs answered or resolved at the Feb. 2 hearing in order to rule on penalties. They include:
What was the idea behind the formation of the Douglas County Victory Fund? When was the DCVF established and who or what committees participated in its founding? When did this entity spring into being, and what is the evidence of its existence?
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By what means did Respondent make the monetary distributions to political and candidate committees?
Why did Respondent choose to report transactions involving Colorado political and candidate committees on the FEC website?
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What legal services of First and Fourteenth [law firm] are attributable to the state political and candidate committees? What of the firm’s legal services are attributable to the federal candidate?
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What happened to the $305.56? Where is it now? Has the check from the Brauchler for Colorado Committee been paid? Who benefitted from the repayment?
