June’s special election where Colorado Springs will vote on whether to continue with the Karman Line annexed development that already has drawn in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

At the beginning of the year, the Colorado Springs City Council approved a flagpole annexation of 1,876 acres east of the city for the development of more than 6,000 new homes and a supporting commercial district on Bradley Road. County residents and other opponents of the project gathered signatures in February to force a voter referendum.

The special election for the Karman Line annexation will be held June 17. Ballots will be mailed out Friday to Colorado Springs voters.

Norris Ranch Joint Ventures, one of the development groups behind the Karman Line project, provided $200,000 to the committee Stand Against Monopolies to get voters to support the annexation. The committee spent more than $100,000 on digital ads in April and tens of thousands more on mailers and signs, according to campaign finance filings published Monday.

Ads from Stand Against Monopolies specifically attack the Norwood Development Group as much as they argue the need for more housing and the city having enough water to sustain it. The ads make the pitch that keeping the Karman Line development is needed to prevent Norwood from freezing out competition in Colorado Springs’ family housing market.

The committee opposing the annexation, Citizens to Stop Illogical Growth, received $470,000 of in-kind contributions in February from Defend Colorado, a dark money group that has been involved with Colorado elections for several years. Defend Colorado provided $375,000 for the signature gatherers that helped get the annexation onto the special ballot, as well as providing signature verification and consultation.

Citizens to Stop Illogical Growth reported another $7,130 in donations and in-kind contributions from residents in Colorado Springs and the county. The group argues that Karman Line’s distance from the rest of the city makes it an illogical addition and would strain the city’s water supply and first responders.

The two committees’ contributions for the special election has already equaled the amount that was spent during Colorado Springs’ City Council elections in April. The council election ended with around $700,000 going to the various candidates and committees, city campaign finance records show.

The election fundraising in April included $78,000 raised to oppose the repeal vote on recreational marijuana before the measure was pulled from the ballot.