National donors, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, are contributing to the state's high-dollar school board races in Denver and Douglas County.
Bloomberg, an independent, gave $75,000 to Great Schools Denver, an expenditure committee that helps the campaigns of Denver Public Schools board candidates who have aligned themselves with Superintendent Tom Boasberg's reform efforts.
Bush, a Republican and potential 2016 presidential candidate, gave $1,000 each to four conservative candidates for the Douglas County school board. He also publicly backed the district's voucher efforts and market-based pay system in a piece for National Review Online on Friday.
Campaign-finance reports, which were due by midnight Friday, offer voters a final look at such donations before Tuesday's election.
Nine candidates vying for a place on the DPS board raised more than $150,000 in monetary and nonmonetary donations during the latest reporting period, Oct. 11-27. That brings total contributions to about $880,000.
Candidates Barbara O'Brien, Mike Johnson, Rosemary Rodriguez and Landri Taylor raised more than $113,000 during the filing period, for a total of about $600,000.
Their campaigns will also get some help from Great Schools Denver, an expenditure committee