Five days left to hit goal of $40.6 million

Hickenlooper heads to Kansas City as part of bid to tie up DNC fundraising

By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 12, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Mayor John Hickenlooper mum on fundraising since saying city was short.

The math is simple -- one mayor plus five days to get to $40.6 million in cash.

Well, maybe not quite that simple.

The long journey that began more than a year ago comes to an end Monday when the Denver 2008 Host Committee is supposed to have $40.6 million in the bank for the Democratic National Convention.

Mayor John Hickenlooper and the host committee have placed a lid on fundraising information since the mayor disclosed last month they were $15 million short.

Hickenlooper has been the tip of the fundraising spear, traveling around the country trying to raise the $40.6 million - plus roughly another $10 million of in-kind services for the Aug. 25-28 event at the Pepsi Center during which Democrats will nominate Barack Obama.

Today he heads to Kansas City to try to shake loose a few more dollars. And, like Gov. Bill Ritter - who also has dedicated time to raising money for the convention - he's hoping now that the party has settled on a nominee, the money will come in a little easier.

A little more than a month ago, though, the fundraising didn't look good.

Hickenlooper said they were short because of a variety of factors, including the protracted primary between Hillary Clinton and Obama.

Host committee spokesman Chris Lopez also said potential donors were struggling because of the sluggish economy. The host committee recently announced plans to scale back parties for delegates during the convention.

Despite that, Lopez said there will be plenty of parties throughout the city and that the convention will not be affected.

"The fundraising efforts of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee have been well-documented over the past 12 months," Lopez said. "The host committee will continue to raise the necessary financial resources to support the Democratic National Convention objectives and activities."

Ritter, at a recent news conference to endorse Obama, said the fundraising was comparable to where Boston was at the same time in 2004 when that city was set to host the Democratic National Convention.

Some officials say Denver is actually ahead of Boston's fundraising pace.

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