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Update: Republican Dan Woog expands lead in tight House District 19 overnight
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Update: Republican Dan Woog expands lead in tight House District 19 overnight

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice In a race Republican Dan Woog once trailed, he is beginning to look like a winner by continuing to add votes to a tight margin. His lead grew by 21 votes as of Wednesday morning to a margin of 228 votes over Democrat Jillaire McMillan in House District 19, which includes electorate in Boulder and Weld counties. On Tuesday evening, a Colorado House Republican strategist termed the race still too close to call. Woog holds 50.2% of 55,686 votes. He added 0.02%, or two-hundredths of a percent, to his margin since late Tuesday. In the other race of interest, Republican Rebecca Keltie continues to lead Democrat Steph Vigil by 21 votes in House District 16. There was no change overnight in that race as of early Wednesday. The El Paso County House...
Kalam: How Denver became a city of plywood and hollow plinths
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Kalam: How Denver became a city of plywood and hollow plinths

By Ahnaf Kalam | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In the heart of Denver, what once stood as a mosaic of statuesque history and pride has become a city of empty plinths, iron bolts and plywood cover-ups—monuments, not to the past, but to a peculiar present. The city, known for the quiet dignity of its Pioneer Monument, Civil War memorials and an enduring homage to figures of historic Colorado, has found itself sacrificing the aesthetic that once conveyed its cultural soul. In a surge of post-George Floyd “anti-racism,” Denver’s leaders have erased long-standing symbols, replacing artful bronzework with exposed screws and fenced-off pedestals. Denver, it seems, has become a city obsessed with forgetting. In the summer of 2020, the removal of Kit Carson’s statue at the Pioneer...
Republican strategist to grassroots: ‘Help cure ballots’ in tight HD 16, 19 races
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Republican strategist to grassroots: ‘Help cure ballots’ in tight HD 16, 19 races

Republicans Rebecca Keltie, Dan Woog can eliminate Democrats' Colorado House supermajority with wins By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice If Republicans are able to hang on to razor-thin leads in two Colorado House races, it would prevent veto-proof Democrat supermajorities in both state legislative chambers. As of late Tuesday, Republican Rebecca Keltie led Democrat Steph Vigil by 21 votes in House District 16, while Republican Dan Woog led Democrat Jillaire McMillan by 207 votes in House District 19. "These two races are still too close to call and will come down to the wire," said Tyler Sandberg, chief campaign strategist for Colorado House Republicans. The El Paso County House District 16 was separated Monday evening by 0.06%, or six one-hundredths of one percent after...
Northwest Colorado open to prospect of nuclear power generation, survey says
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Northwest Colorado open to prospect of nuclear power generation, survey says

By Lindy J. Browning | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice With the impending closure of the Craig and Hayden Power Stations, the closing of the coal mines in Northwest Colorado and the state and federal push to rid the area of traditional fossil fuel base load generation,  Rio Blanco, Moffat, and Routt county governments are trying to figure out how to replace the imminent job loss, revenue loss and tax loss that are certain to devastate their local governments and the residents in those communities that have relied on a fossil fuel economy for decades. To that end, Northwest Colorado energy Initiative (NCEI) was formed under the auspice of Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (AGNC) to educate and survey area residents concerning the possibility of bringing nuclear power gene...
Colorado announces possible release areas for next wave of introduced wolves
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado announces possible release areas for next wave of introduced wolves

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials met Friday with commissioners from four counties where the agency plans to release wolves — a new approach after state authorities previously released the animals in secret. Garfield, Pitkin, Rio Blanco and Eagle counties are in the running as drop-off points for the 10-15 wolves the agency will source from British Columbia during the 2024-25 capture-and-release season starting in December. The counties are within the agency’s northern release zone.  The early engagement comes after a rocky start to Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program in part, say critics, because of the agency’s lack of transparency starting with the release of five wolves in Grand County on Dec. 18, and five in Summit County on D...
Gabe Evans on his 8th District victory, immigration and plans for Congress
Approved, kdvr.com, State

Gabe Evans on his 8th District victory, immigration and plans for Congress

By  Gabrielle Franklin | Fox 31 News It’s a Colorado race that has shaken up the outlook on the balance of power in Congress and the makeup of the state’s congressional delegation. Gabe Evans, a Republican, held his first press conference after Congresswoman Yadira Caraveo, a Democrat, conceded the race for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, flipping the seat from blue to red. With Evans proclaiming victory in this race, Colorado will now have equal representation for both parties in the U.S. House and Republicans likely have an edge in Congress. READ THE FULL STORY AT FOX 31 NEWS
‘Uncle Benny’ urges Republicans to change approach to down-ballot funding
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘Uncle Benny’ urges Republicans to change approach to down-ballot funding

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice With the outcome of a few races still in doubt Monday morning, Republican Ben Aste was already focused on the next one. Aste, the man who ran as "Uncle Benny" for the Larimer County District 3 seat, proposed a new approach to campaign funding, on a Republican call with several candidates and former Sen. Kevin Lundberg, that he hopes might gain some support. "I'm going down and I'm going to open a 'future election monies' account," he said. "This would be a place to put $5 or $10 or whatever you have each week or month." Democrat Jody Shadduck-McNally defeated Aste by 12.6%, despite his hard work attending events throughout the campaign, and a good distribution of signage. He earned 43.7% of the vote. "We certainly felt like we did every...
Lundberg: In ‘Griswoldgate’, it is time to prove we have the ‘gold standard’
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Lundberg: In ‘Griswoldgate’, it is time to prove we have the ‘gold standard’

By Kevin Lundberg | Guest Columnist, Rocky Mountain Voice When Tina Peters was accused of sharing Mesa County election equipment passwords, all of the machines were replaced and she got several years in prison. But, when the shoe is on the other foot and Secretary of State Griswold (SOS) is caught publicly exposing more than 600 complete BIOS passwords of election machines from all across Colorado and kept it a secret for several days right before the election, it becomes an honest mistake and no big deal. I say either pardon Tina or arrest Jena. Or, better yet, do both, for Jena is clearly guilty of withholding the facts from the public and Tina was just trying to get to the truth, so everyone could know those facts. But the fate of Jena Griswold is not the biggest issue. The ...
Carr: Why risk-limiting audits are risky (software is auditing software)
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

Carr: Why risk-limiting audits are risky (software is auditing software)

By Tasha Carr | Guest Commentary, Larimer League of Independent Voters As an election watcher, I have witnessed many risk-limiting audits (RLAs) in Larimer County. I was immediately struck by how inadequate they seemed because the most important audit step is hidden within the RLA tool and is not observable by the audit board or election watchers. After reading the so-called “gentle introduction” to RLAs, I quickly learned that my skepticism was justified. The problem is not with the RLAs per se, but that Colorado is not doing the RLAs correctly and as a result cannot guarantee that the election outcomes are correct. READ THE FULL COMMENTARY AT THE LARIMER LEAGUE OF INDEPENDENT VOTERS Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do n...
With Evans victory in 8th District, Colorado Republicans earned split in U.S. House
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

With Evans victory in 8th District, Colorado Republicans earned split in U.S. House

Colorado's 4th District has now been held by Republican in 50 of past 52 years By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice Gabe Evans has delivered on a seat Republicans always believed they could capture. “Black Hawk helicopter pilot, Army veteran, Arvada police officer, state representative, grandson of immigrants, and now: Congressman," said Delanie Bomar, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Congressional Committee. "Gabe Evans is a fighter for the American Dream who will work tirelessly on their behalf in Congress, and we look forward to seeing the valuable results Congressman-elect Evans will deliver for Coloradans.” Shortly after the Kansas City Chiefs blocked the Broncos' kick for victory on Sunday, Evans blocked Democrat Yadira Caraveo's bid at re-election to Colorado'...