Colorado's Regional Transportation District spent $1.3 million on a publicity blitz using paid Instagram and TikTok influencers ahead of a November ballot measure that would fund the Colorado Connector passenger rail project, and more than a dozen of those sponsored videos never disclosed they were paid promotions at all. The campaign, which planned to hire more than 20 influencers to produce over 60 posts, targeted travelers, foodies, athletes and other niche audiences with content that blurred the line between lifestyle recommendations and political messaging.
According to Axios, the videos appeared alongside ordinary food recommendations and lifestyle content, making it difficult for scrolling viewers to separate organic opinion from a taxpayer-funded sales pitch. Some posts carried the sponsorship label #cocopartner, but others carried no label whatsoever, and the exact portion of the $1.3 million media-buying budget that went directly to creators remains unclear, per the same report. The influencer push ran until the Front Range Passenger Rail District formally referred the tax measure to voters on August 27.
A Much Larger Price Tag Behind the Scenes
The influencer spending was only one slice of a far bigger outreach effort. Denverite reported that the rail district's overall public engagement budget drew on a $3 million grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation plus $3 million authorized by the RTD board in May, ahead of the tax vote.
The branding itself has roots stretching back months. The Front Range Passenger Rail District formally adopted the name Colorado Connector, shortened to CoCo, in March following a statewide public naming contest designed to boost engagement, according to KUNC. That contest was part of a broader strategy to build regional brand identity across the 13 counties the district serves, ahead of referring the sales tax measure. The rail district itself was created by the Colorado General Assembly in 2021 under Senate Bill 21-238, establishing a 17-member board representing those 13 counties along with non-voting seats for freight railroads BNSF and Union Pacific, tasked with building a 190-mile passenger line along the Interstate 25 corridor, per Mass Transit Magazine.
Where State Law Draws the Line
Colorado law bars government entities from using public money to urge voters to support or oppose a ballot measure, a restriction rooted in the state's Fair Campaign Practices Act. Under Colorado Revised Statutes § 1-45-117, public entities are strictly prohibited from spending public funds to push electors toward a yes or no vote on certain ballot issues before referral, including issues submitted for title designation or with a title designated and fixed, as well as after a measure has been referred, though the law still allows agencies to issue neutral factual summaries, according to Justia's summary of the statute. Colorado administrative law judge rulings and state court precedent have gone further, establishing that government messaging can violate the act if it is overly slanted or persuasive even without explicit vote-yes or vote-no phrasing, a standard that has previously forced public officials to reimburse funds when outreach drifted into promotional territory.
Front Range Passenger Rail District general manager Sal Pace said the campaign was designed to educate and gather public input, not sway voters, per Denverite's reporting. That framing sits at the center of the legal gray zone described in the statute and its enforcement history, since the district maintains its outreach was informational even as critics question why a transit agency needed more than 20 paid influencers producing over 60 posts to get that message across.
A Playbook Borrowed From City Hall
RTD and the rail district were not the first Colorado government effort to lean on influencers. Denver voters approved Mayor Mike Johnston's $950 million Vibrant Denver bond package in November 2025 to fund 58 municipal projects, after a campaign backed by major developers and cultural groups paid local influencers to help pass it, as Westword has reported. That measure passed overwhelmingly, and its success established something of a blueprint for later ballot campaigns trying to reach younger urban residents through the same channels.
Haley Metzger said people have the attention of online audiences, especially young people, who turn to TikTok and Instagram rather than CNN or the news, according to Axios. The campaign used TikTok and Instagram to reach audiences.
Disclosure Rules Have Not Caught Up
National political campaigns are increasingly paying influencers to reach voters because the approach often costs less than traditional advertising, Axios reports, but the regulatory framework meant to keep that spending transparent is full of gaps. No federal rules specifically require influencers to disclose paid political endorsements, and only a handful of states require disclosure for state and local races — Colorado is not one of them.
Undisclosed posts can leave voters struggling to identify paid political content. Suzanne Lambert said people no longer know what is real, a sentiment that captures the uncertainty now surrounding a campaign tool regulators have yet to fully address.
