McInnis warns of upcoming 527 ad barrage in U.S. Senate race

Former Congressman and onetime U.S. Senate candidate Scott McInnis said he expects liberal 527s to dump major amounts of money into the U.S. Senate race after Labor Day, according to the Grand Junction Sentinel's Political Notebook.

"My guess is the 527 in Colorado, if you could track it, on each side will spend a minimum of $5 million or more. ... I think Colorado's going to have a U.S. Senate race somewhere in the $15 (million) to $20 million range," McInnis said to told Political Notebook's Mike Saccone

"They'll spend millions," McInnis continued. "It's very unfortunate. That's money that doesn't have to be disclosed. Basically they can get away with very generous contributions (and) very limited disclosure."

McInnis offered the recent contests in state House District 55 - held by state Rep. Bernie Buescher's (D-Grand Junction) - as an example of how influential 527 ads can be. In 2006, Saccone pointed out, 527 ads crowded out ads by the campaigns themselves.