Denver campaign to save flavored tobacco ban gets $2.2 million more from Michael Bloomberg

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg has written more checks totaling $2.2 million to help buttress the campaign to save Denver’s flavored tobacco ban, according to a new finance report. Bloomberg donated that amount directly to the pro-Referendum 310 campaign during the last two weeks of October, as Tuesday’s election approaches. The report filed late Friday for the supporters’ campaign, “Denver Kids vs Big Tobacco,” also included a $49,500 in-kind donation from Bloomberg cited for research. Then-Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg campaigns and opens his Denver field office on Feb. 1, 2020. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post) The former New York City mayor, a staunch opponent of the tobacco industry, is now responsible for just shy of $5 million of the $5.8 million in fundraising by the Denver campaign, which has lately aired TV ads. Much of the rest of its support has come from the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund, according to Denver’s campaign finance dashboard. The Bloomberg money has dwarfed fundraising by the main opposition campaign nearly 9-to-1. That group, called “Citizen Power!”, has raised 646,311, including 91,181 during the Oct. 15-29 period covered by the reports due Friday. A leader of that campaign previously characterized the fight as a “David vs. Goliath story.” The opponents filed the petition to put Referendum 310 on the ballot, in hopes of overturning an ordinance passed by the City Council late last year. The ballot measure asks Denver voters whether to retain the ordinance, which bans sales within city limits of most flavored tobacco and nicotine products, from flavored vapes to menthol cigarettes. Because of the way it’s worded, a “yes” vote would keep the ordinance and a “no” vote — which is urged by the petitioners — would repeal it. Colorado voter guide: Stories and explainers for the 2025 election /*! This file is auto-generated */!function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i