Jen Schumann - Rocky Mountain Voice

How Colorado’s caucus system works—and why the 2026 midterm elections start now

21Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

How Colorado’s caucus system works—and why the 2026 midterm elections start now

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice If you’ve ever heard the word “caucus” and quietly thought, I’m not entirely sure what that actually means, you’re not alone. Even Eric Trump has admitted he had to ask. While campaigning for his father during the 2016 election, he recalls turning to organizers and asking, “Can someone finally explain what this caucus is?” The room laughed. Not at him—more in recognition. And relatable. A lot of politically engaged adults only learn what a caucus is once they’re already in the middle of politics—sometimes years into voting. Sometimes only after they’re standing in a room where decisions are being made. And sometimes even after they’ve gone a few times. In Colorado, that late learning comes with consequences. This is ...

A new session, same defiance: How Colorado’s immigration policy put ideology over enforcement

20Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

A new session, same defiance: How Colorado’s immigration policy put ideology over enforcement

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado lawmakers are walking into the 2026 session with the budget already tight. They’re also bracing for more legal fights with Washington. New bills tied to ICE enforcement are moving early, including one that would expand the state’s ability to sue over immigration-related rights claims. That push comes as Colorado is already in federal court over immigration laws passed last session. In Senate Appropriations on April 11, Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer zeroed in on SB25-276's price tag, asking whether its costs would come out of the legislature's roughly $7.5 million set-aside for new mandates and litigation risks. The answer was a quick "Yes"—no hesitation, no alternative funding source offered. Democrats introduced Senate Bill...

“You don’t get to ride both horses”: Appeals court presses both sides in Tina Peters case

15Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“You don’t get to ride both horses”: Appeals court presses both sides in Tina Peters case

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice “Reset the clock.” Defense attorney John Case used a football analogy as the Colorado Court of Appeals sorted out timing for oral arguments in Tina Peters’ appeal. It had nothing to do with the case itself—just how much time each side would have. But the aside drew a brief laugh before judges turned to a record years in the making. Defense attorney Peter Ticktin, who represents Peters and spoke with RMV after the hearing, said the depth of the judges’ questions tracked the briefs closely. “This is a big file,” Ticktin said. “This isn’t something you can read in an afternoon. They clearly did the work. They were chasing down each avenue and each argument that we had in our briefs.” Watch the full oral arguments below ...

Behind the zero: What Colorado’s opening day didn’t say about the true cost of lawmaking

14Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Behind the zero: What Colorado’s opening day didn’t say about the true cost of lawmaking

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice “Governor Polis told us we should please work together,” Sen. Janice Rich said Wednesday, recounting a recent exchange as she stood on the Senate floor during opening session. Inside the chamber, legislative leaders spoke about shared goals and economic pressure on families. What didn’t make it into the speeches, according to Rich, was where many of the real financial consequences of those bills are already hiding. Rich, the Senate Minority Whip and vice chair of the Statutory Revision Committee, said the optimistic tone often masks how legislation actually moves once the gavels come down—particularly in how costs are presented, debated and ultimately shifted onto taxpayers and local governments. “They say they want to work...

Griswold, county clerks urge Polis to reject clemency for Tina Peters ahead of appellate arguments

14Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Griswold, county clerks urge Polis to reject clemency for Tina Peters ahead of appellate arguments

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice With Peters’ appeal heading into oral arguments, Griswold and the Colorado County Clerks Association put it in writing for Gov. Jared Polis: don’t step in. The Jan. 13 letter carries three signatures: Griswold’s, Jackson County Clerk & Recorder Hayle Johnson’s and Colorado County Clerks Association executive director Matt Crane’s. In it, the group asks Polis not to grant clemency, warning that doing so would have consequences beyond Peters’ case. “In 2021, then-Clerk Tina Peters coordinated the breach of her own election equipment in the nation’s first public elections insider threat,” the letter states, asserting that her conduct placed the security of Mesa County elections and public confidence in democracy at risk. The a...

How Colorado laws are really made: What Rep. Matt Soper says voters rarely see

13Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

How Colorado laws are really made: What Rep. Matt Soper says voters rarely see

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado legislature is about to gavel in for another 120-day sprint, and with it comes a flood of bills most Coloradans will never see until the consequences land. What many don’t see is how quickly ideas move, who pushes them forward—and why outcomes can feel disconnected from public input. Few lawmakers are positioned to explain that gap as clearly as Matt Soper, now the longest-serving Republican in the House and widely regarded inside the building as the caucus “dean.” With term limits constantly churning the legislature, Soper has watched the same policy ideas cycle through multiple sessions, often repackaged and moving faster each time. “There’s the textbook version of how a bill becomes a law that everyone...

Counties told to fix energy policy they didn’t create: Mesa commissioner pushes back

12Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Counties told to fix energy policy they didn’t create: Mesa commissioner pushes back

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Mesa County Commissioner JJ Fletcher said he wasn’t looking to start a political fight when he published a recent op-ed questioning Colorado’s rapid move away from natural gas. What he wanted, Fletcher said, was to put a practical concern on the record—one he hears repeatedly from rural counties. Fletcher said the problem has become harder to ignore in recent weeks. With power shutoffs in December, higher utility bills and public anger spilling into regulatory hearings, he said counties are being asked to answer for decisions they didn’t make. In an interview with RMV, Fletcher said the message from state leaders has been consistent: counties are expected to deal with the impacts of electrification, even though they don’t contr...

Defense reply raises stakes in Peters appeal, asks court to order immediate release

9Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Defense reply raises stakes in Peters appeal, asks court to order immediate release

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice With oral arguments just days away, Tina Peters’ legal team has raised the stakes in her appeal, filing a reply that no longer asks the Colorado Court of Appeals simply to weigh jurisdiction—but to declare it already lost and order her immediate release. The reply, filed on the Jan. 8 deadline, directly challenges the Attorney General’s position that the court retains authority over the case and frames Peters’ continued imprisonment as unconstitutional. 2026-01-08 A Peters Reply to Peoples ResponseDownload Her attorneys explicitly say the appellate court should find that it lacks jurisdiction and that Peters “must be released from custody forthwith.” The filing follows Peters’ Dec. 23 motion challenging the cou...

“I’m not a politician”: Montrose commissioner Sean Pond enters U.S. Senate race

8Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

“I’m not a politician”: Montrose commissioner Sean Pond enters U.S. Senate race

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice “I’m not a politician,” Sean Pond said. “I’m just that guy that stood up and said no to federal overreach.” Pond said that decision eventually led him beyond local fights. Appointed to the Montrose County Commission in February 2025, Pond said the conversations didn’t stop once he took office. A question sits at the center of Pond’s campaign launch video, released Sunday, and the conversations he said ultimately pushed him into the U.S. Senate race. “What keeps you up at night?” https://youtu.be/mV7iEAuX-fM Pond said the question at the center of his campaign launch video wasn’t new. He said he began asking it months earlier, including on social media, as a way to hear directly from Coloradans about what felt...

If you’re not at the table: Why Matt Soper says counties need leverage now

7Jan

By Jen SchumannNo Comments

Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

If you’re not at the table: Why Matt Soper says counties need leverage now

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Unfunded mandates have become a flashpoint between Denver and Colorado’s counties, with local governments warning they are being asked to do more with less. State Rep. Matt Soper has been vocal in support of counties banding together through the Fix It or Fund It coalition. He represents Delta and Mesa counties in the Colorado House and is serving his fourth term, with term limits preventing another run. The Delta County commissioner seat he is pursuing is also opening due to term limits. “It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent Delta and Mesa Counties in the Colorado House of Representatives,” Soper said in a campaign announcement. “As the pressures from Denver spill over into Delta County, it is important t...

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Author: Jen Schumann

How Colorado’s caucus system works—and why the 2026 midterm elections start now

A new session, same defiance: How Colorado’s immigration policy put ideology over enforcement

“You don’t get to ride both horses”: Appeals court presses both sides in Tina Peters case

Behind the zero: What Colorado’s opening day didn’t say about the true cost of lawmaking

Griswold, county clerks urge Polis to reject clemency for Tina Peters ahead of appellate arguments

How Colorado laws are really made: What Rep. Matt Soper says voters rarely see

Counties told to fix energy policy they didn’t create: Mesa commissioner pushes back

Defense reply raises stakes in Peters appeal, asks court to order immediate release

“I’m not a politician”: Montrose commissioner Sean Pond enters U.S. Senate race

If you’re not at the table: Why Matt Soper says counties need leverage now

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