Editors note: This is the Cortez Journals weekly roundup of campaign news.
Big money on both sides is now flowing into the 3rd Congressional District race.
A week after the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform announced it would buy $1.3 million of television ads for Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, his Democratic challenger, Sal Pace, got help, too.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee bought at least $376,000 worth of ads against Tipton, airing a spot that highlights Tiptons vote to end the federal subsidy to Planned Parenthood.
Paces campaign is at a severe disadvantage to Tipton, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.
Tipton entered October with $1.2 million in his campaign account, while Pace had just $79,000 in the bank at the end of September.
U2, Blues Traveler, Mitt: Republican Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan announced they will campaign Tuesday in Denver at Red Rocks. The outdoor amphitheater is one of the countrys most famous concert venues. Blues Traveler often plays a July 4 show there, and U2 stepped onto the road to superstardom with a rainy show in the early 1980s.
Romneys rally starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Poll position: Romney held on to his narrow lead over President Barack Obama in an average of Colorado polls this week.
Romney led by just 0.2 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of polls taken in Colorado. Individual new polls this week were divided, but all recent surveys show a very close race in the Centennial State, with no candidate ahead by more than 3 percentage points.
Countdown: 17 days until Election Day. Two days until early in-person voting begins. Mail voting began Monday.
joeh@cortezjournal.com