With less than a week to go before Denver’s mayoral election, Kelly Brough stood in front of the Denver City and County building with dozens of green-t-shirted supporters and held up a signed Alex English basketball in a nod to the Nuggets’ first NBA Finals.

Just as Denver’s pro basketball team is making history, Brough’s supporters said it’s time to elect the city’s first female mayor.

“LeBron James is a nice man. A great basketball player. But I’m pulling for the Joker. Let’s break the damn glass ceiling once and for all! Give the woman a chance! She’s ready!” said Syl Morgan-Smith, a deacon at New Hope Baptist Church and one of Colorado’s first African American TV news anchorwomen.

Brough called the press conference to criticize her opponent, Mike Johnston, for the millions of dollars that out-of-state funders have poured into outside groups supporting the former state senator.

“It’s shocking and it’s not fair to Denver voters. Races should be won based on people locally saying, ‘This is what we care about. This is our city. Our future is tied to it and this is why we are supporting a candidate,’” she said.

Johnston is not all about the outside money, according to his spokesperson, Jordan Fuja, who said the candidate has received 4,000 donations from Denver residents and “is proud to have the lowest average donation in the race.” His campaign also said that, unlike the people who gave to the pro-Brough outside groups, the individuals who contributed to the independent entities supporting Johnston “have no vested interest in what the next mayor can do for them.”  

Both candidates, in fact, have benefited from outside entities that are heavily engaging in electioneering activities. By law, these independent expenditure groups are prohibited from coordinating with the campaigns. As such, their messaging, backed by significant resources, can supplement, supersede or event contradict their preferred candidate’s campaign narrative.      

As of Thursday, the independent expenditure groups backing Johnston have raised $4.2 million, according to the Office of the Denver Clerk and Recorder. The entities backing Brough, on the other hand, have collected nearly $1.4 million.   

Of the outside money, former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg forked out half a million dollars in contributions and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman gave more than $1.3 million to Advancing Denver, the independent expenditure group supporting Johnston’s campaign. 

On the flip side, Peter Coors gave $50,000 to A Better Denver, the outside entity standing behind Brough’s run for mayor. Denver developer Cal Fullenwider also contributed $50,000 to ABD.

Fuja defended Johnston’s outside money, saying the people contributing to Advancing Denver “are not prominent Republican donors.”

She added that, unlike A Better Denver, the pro-Johnston Advancing Denver does not have business in front of the city of Denver, describing the independent expenditure group as being made up of “long-time progressive donors who regularly give to progressive candidates who can make a difference.” 

Johnston’s donors want to see Denver “become a proof-point for the rest of the nation in how to successfully fund a progressive city that takes on tough challenges,” Fuja said. 

Independent groups have so far spent a total of $5.5 million on Brough and Johnston’s campaigns.

Laws allow the independent expenditure groups to receive big money from anybody, but Brough insists that the large dollars going to the IE entity supporting her are different than the ones going to the pro-Johnston IE. She used the Coors family as an example, saying he and his family “live here and is probably trying to raise grandchildren here and to go our schools and our parks.”

“I think it’s a huge difference,” Brough said.

From April 5 to May 30, Brough has benefited from more than $380,000 in outside spending from A Better Denver, while Johnston has gotten a boost from more than $1.6 million from Advancing Denver.

There were plenty of Denver political heavyweights in at Brough’s Thursday presser, including former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, fresh into town from a trip to England, where he was hospitalized for a respiratory issue. He was helped from a chair to the podium by his wife, former state Rep. Wilma Webb.

“I got up out of a hospital bed to come here,” said Wellington Webb, who won a familiar close race 30 years ago with a last-minute come-from-behind win over Denver District Attorney Norm Early. He held up a direct-mail add from Johnston’s campaign to criticize it, as well excoriate Brough’s opponent for using out-of-state money.

“Denver is not for sale,” Webb said. “We don’t do it that way in Denver.”

Meanwhile, Johnston spent his Thursday-before-the-election speaking with Teamsters Local 455. He will cast his vote Sunday. 

The two front-runners emerged from an original field of 17 candidates after 38% of Denver voters turned out for the general election held April 4. So far, 15% of Denver’s registered voters have turned in their ballots. The runoff election is on Tuesday, June 6.

Until then, expect foot soldiers from both campaigns to be on the phones and stomping the pavement at coffee shops and farmers markets to encourage voters.

“It’s total field from here,” said Brough campaigner Juanita Chacon. “It’s a hustle.” 

Reporter Kyla Pierce contributed to this article.