Campaigns halt ads and events in Colorado
(CBS News) Aurora, CO - In the wake of last week's deadly shooting, the Romney and Obama campaigns both say they are keeping their ads off the air in Colorado at least through Friday.
In addition to pulling their commercials off the air, the Obama campaign has also cancelled all events statewide through the week. They currently have 29 offices open across the state and were supposed to open offices in Highlands Ranch and Pueblo last Friday. The openings were postponed, however, as news of the mass shooting at the Century Cinema in Aurora broke early that morning. The rampage left 12 dead and 58 more injured.
The Romney campaign, which has 10 offices in Colorado, has also halted all robo-calls and phone-banking in the state for the time being. At a fundraiser last night in San Francisco, Mitt Romney commended President Obama for meeting with victims on the ground in Aurora earlier in the day, calling it "the right thing for the president to be doing on this day."
(Obama salutes U.S. veterans killed in shooting at VFW on Monday.)
Super PACs supporting both candidates -- the pro-Romney American Crossroads and pro-Obama Priorities USA Action -- have also pulled their ads down statewide for the time being. Priorities co-founder Bill Burton tweeted Friday: "Our prayers are with the victims of this horrible tragedy."
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(Romney called for unity following the shooting on Friday.)
Given its early primary voting status - Colorado's caucuses were held on February 7 - voters in the state have been inundated with commercials touting and flanking various candidates tirelessly since last year. Since May 1 alone, the Obama campaign has spent $9,569,327 on advertising, according to the National Journal. In the same time period, the Romney campaign has spent $3,957,525.
Around 80 percent of Colorado's voting population is in the Denver Metro area, which includes critical swing counties Jefferson and Arapahoe, where residents are heavily courted by both campaigns. Aurora sits right on the northwest corner of Arapahoe, and right below it is Centennial, where gunman James Holmes is currently being held.
Denver is host to both campaigns' state headquarters, as well as a presidential debate in October.