Four days before District Attorney Ken Buck scored an upset victory in the Colorado Senate Republican primary, the campaign committee charged with electing Republicans made a $42,600 donation to his opponent, Lt. Governor Jane Norton.
The disbursement by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, made on August 6, was the largest allowed by law and provides yet another indication that the party establishment was wary of Buck's chances in a general election contest.
The committee has lost a host of primary contests this election cycle but, in many of them, it largely shielded itself from incurring financial losses by not making major investments. The one major exception would be Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, whom the committee sent $10,000 before he bolted the Republican Party. The NRSC, since then, has donated heavily to Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate in the Florida Senate race,
Following Buck's primary win on August 10, the NRSC fully embraced the Tea Party backed Republican, though they did not donate to his candidacy during the August fundraising period, according to the campaign donation reports (September donations have not yet been reported). Buck, meanwhile, remains positioned fairly well in public opinion polls in his contest against one of the Democrats' most-endangered incumbents: Sen. Michael Bennet.
A spokesman for the NRSC did not immediately return a request for comment but it is also worth noting that the committee is already on air in Colorado and has reserved more than $3 million in television advertisements for Buck -- among the most for any candidates so far this cycle.
Below is a copy of the donation made to Norton.