Special Interest Money for Special Election
Campaign Financial reports for four issue committees related to the zoning referendum election were posted on February 6, 2026. The reports show a lot of non-Lakewood special interest money on one side.
campaign finance
Dark money donations allowed in Lakewood
New campaign finance rules for Lakewood define non-profits and corporations as people. The change allows large donations without individual disclosures. This is commonly referred to as dark money. The rule change follows 2010 changes at the federal level known as the Citizens United v FEC decision.
Shahrezaei and Councilor Bill Furman were beneficiaries of this change during the 2025 election. Each received $400 from the Metro Housing Coalition through the Metro Housing Coalition Political Action Committee.
Decision on Campaign Finance Violation
The independent hearing officer made a determination absolving Lakewood and the referendum petitioners in the campaign finance complaint. The complaint was registered by Kip Kolkmeier against the zoning referendum petitioners. The findings say that there is room for interpretation how to safeguard a democratic government.
All the information on this is included at this link to the independent hearing officer’s decision. The document is 197 pages in length but includes the original complaint, the City Clerk’s response to the Complaint, the 8 page hearing officer decision and the full transcript of the hearing.
Referendum Petitions Continue Despite Hurdles
There are several updates to the zoning referendum, including sufficiency, new legal challenges and the city staff writing new campaign finance law.
Zoning petition #3 has passed the count for initial sufficiency. Petition #3 was to repeal Ordinance O-2025-29, replacing Article 3 of the zoning code concerning a lot of single-family zoning provisions. Petition #3 will join 1 and 2 in waiting for final approval before going to City Council.
Zoning Petition #4 has been submitted to Lakewood. That completes the signature gathering process to repeal all parts of the newly passed zoning code.
There are rumors that all petition signatures have been challenged and will require a new hearing and costly legal defense. Details pending.
Campaign Finance Challenge
Finance Complaint Against Referendum Fizzles
Hard-working, grassroots volunteers working on a popular referendum were hit with a campaign finance complaint from a political insider. The complaint alleges that money spent on getting a referendum printed needs to be documented through a campaign finance committee. The City Clerk deemed otherwise.
The original complaint was filed on October 20, 2025 by Kip Kolkmeier, former Chair of Lakewood Planning Commission and a vocal supporter of the zoning overhaul. He said that money spent on things like the extremely popular yard signs should be documented for transparency. He gathered pictures of many yard signs as evidence of improper behavior. He did not document that signs were meant to influence City Council votes before the referendum. Kolkmeier no longer lives in Lakewood.
The City Clerk filed the required response on October 23. The determination reads (in part and emphasis added):
“The Clerk further notes that Petitioners previously reached out to his office desiring to register as an issue committee prior to circulating their referendum petitions for signature.
Corrections on Contributions
Thanks to a reader we have more information on campaign contributions. The previous statement that Jacob LaBure and David Rein were self-funded was incorrect. Their campaigns were “terminated” and no longer linked from the city site.
Donations to their committees show that they were largely funded by Lakewood residents, putting them in the same category as Glenda Sinks and Paula Nystrom.
Another reader pointed out Wendi Strom also received a large donation from the National Association of REALTORS Fund. Double checking revealed that had been missed in the compilation. That $15,000 special interest contribution pushes Strom over the edge into mostly outside and special interest donations.
Council Beholden to Housing Special Interests
Lakewood City Council may be beholden to housing special interests for their place on council. Overall campaign contributions to sitting Lakewood City Council are about 38% from local residents, and 62% from non-resident or special interest donations. This raises the question of whether these special interest obligations are influencing local Lakewood zoning decisions. The National Association of Realtors is the biggest named contributor with the Metro Housing Coalition being the second largest.
Note these numbers do not reflect current campaigns.
Councilors Sophia Mayott-Guerrero and Jeslin Shahrezaei did not receive any local resident donations.
ZERO