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Lauren Boebert wins Colorado CD4 GOP primary to replace Ken Buck
Approved, denvergazette.com, State

Lauren Boebert wins Colorado CD4 GOP primary to replace Ken Buck

By Ernest Luning | The Denver Gazette U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is on track to return to Congress from her newly adopted district Tuesday night by winning the crowded GOP primary in Colorado's 4th Congressional District. At the same time, Republican Greg Lopez won election to serve out the remainder of former five-term U.S. Rep. Ken Buck's term, following Buck's resignation from the U.S. House earlier this year. Lopez, a former Parker mayor and two-time gubernatorial candidate, led Democratic nominee Trisha Calvarese by double digits. The Associated Press declared Boebert had won the primary at 7:22 p.m., not long after polls closed. Lopez was declared the winner 10 minutes later. Boebert led the vote tally at 8 p.m. with 42,776 votes, or 43% of the total, with fo...
Republican Greg Lopez wins special election to serve out Ken Buck’s term in Congress
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Republican Greg Lopez wins special election to serve out Ken Buck’s term in Congress

The last time Lopez, an Air Force veteran and former Democrat, held elected office was in the 1990s, when he served as mayor of Parker By Jesse Paul and Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun Republican Greg Lopez easily won the special election Tuesday in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, meaning he’ll serve out the term of former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, which ends in early January.  The Associated Press called the race at 7:34 p.m. when Lopez had 57% of the vote over Democrat Trisha Calvarese, a former speechwriter and congressional staffer.  “Neither of my parents had the opportunity to graduate from high school, and yet, this evening I was elected to serve in the United States House of Representatives,” Lopez said in a written statement. “I ...
In waning hours of campaign, one 4th District candidate faced water, fire emergencies
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

In waning hours of campaign, one 4th District candidate faced water, fire emergencies

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice The final days and even hours of a campaign can sometimes mean the difference between winning and losing, but for one 4th District candidate for Congress the past days have brought more important battles. Instead of knocking doors, meeting with supporters or other activities that would have helped his campaign, Richard Holtorf spent Sunday coming to the rescue on Buffalo Springs Ranch, where he operates a cattle feeder operation. The water table dropped and the pasture wells were not pumping water, Holtorf's campaign manager Rhonda Brandt explained to The Independent. It is the type of emergency that farmers and ranchers through the rural portion of the district face. Then the problem became worse on Monday. "Richard was working to rest...
Colorado Supreme Court bars proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors
Approved, coloradopolitics.com, State

Colorado Supreme Court bars proposed ban on gender-affirming care for minors

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday confirmed a proposed ballot initiative to ban gender-affirming care for children will not appear on the November ballot, while another measure that would revamp the state's primary elections and implement ranked-choice voting remains eligible. The justices reached their conclusions on narrow procedural grounds, revolving around the deadline for seeking Supreme Court review and the limited types of challenges the court may hear under existing law. Both initiatives arrived at the Supreme Court after consideration by the Title Board, the three-member body that screens citizen-initiated ballot measures. The board's responsibility is to determine whether a proposed initiative contains a single subject, as the st...
PERA’s investments bounce back in 2023, but the Colorado pension plan nets step backward
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

PERA’s investments bounce back in 2023, but the Colorado pension plan nets step backward

By Brian Eason | The Colorado Sun Colorado’s public employee pension system generated strong investment returns in 2023 — but its finances still deteriorated for the second time in five years as it struggles to bounce back from a miserable 2022. The Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association’s investments grew by 13.4% in 2023, according to its annual financial report released Friday. That matches its 13.4% loss from a year earlier. But because the pension has to average 7.25% returns a year to meet its funding targets, the net result was a step backward for the chronically underfunded pension. PERA’s unfunded debt to members grew by $1.2 billion to $27.5 billion, the report shows. Its funding ratio — the amount of money it has in the bank relative to...
‘I am 100% conservative’: Boebert predicts 4th District primary victory in call with supporters
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

‘I am 100% conservative’: Boebert predicts 4th District primary victory in call with supporters

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice When the dust settles in less than 24 hours on the Republican Party's primary election, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert intends to be the party's 4th District general election nominee. "We have definitely put in the work," she said during a Monday evening call with grassroots supporters. "I'm ready for a victory." While she brought the panache to the call, her campaign manager, Drew Sexton, noted his desire to tamper expectations until after election returns. "We're hopeful to bring it home tomorrow," he said. She is able to have high expectations, Boebert said, because of the effort put into the campaign, effort some didn't recognize, such as two opponents who criticized that she expected the campaign to be a "coronation". A Kaplan Strategies...
A new rule aids ranchers in killing wolves attacking their livestock at night
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

A new rule aids ranchers in killing wolves attacking their livestock at night

By Tracy Ross | The Colorado Sun Colorado Parks and Wildlife will allow ranchers to use artificial light to aid in killing wolves caught in the act of attacking their livestock at night.  The change follows a 6-4 vote by the Parks and Wildlife commission at its meeting on June 13. The ruling is significant because wolves generally attack at night, yet ranchers have been unable to shoot them due to a statute that prevents hunters from shooting at an animal after dark and using artificial light.  Currently, livestock owners are allowed to use night vision technology to conduct hazing that doesn’t harm or kill a wolf. They’re also allowed to kill a wolf they catch it attacking livestock in daylight. The new rules gives them added support after dealing with wolv...
Group tied to Kent Thiry drops $1.1 million into Colorado legislative primaries in final days before election
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Group tied to Kent Thiry drops $1.1 million into Colorado legislative primaries in final days before election

By Sandra Fish and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun A group tied to Kent Thiry, the wealthy former CEO of the Denver-based dialysis giant DaVita, is spending nearly $1.1 million on TV and digital ads in 13 state legislative races in the days leading up to Colorado’s primaries on Tuesday.  The money supports more moderate Democratic and Republican candidates in their races against their more liberal or conservative opponents.  Let Colorado Vote Action, a state-level super PAC, was created Monday and spent the money Wednesday on ads that were to begin Thursday. The committee reported the spending Friday night, meeting a 48-hour campaign finance disclosure deadline in the lead-up to the primary.  READ THE FULL STORY AT THE COLORADO SUN
As primary draws to a close, candidates are making final pitch to voters, asking for turnout
Approved, Rocky Mountain Voice, State

As primary draws to a close, candidates are making final pitch to voters, asking for turnout

By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice From the far stretches of the Eastern Plains to the Western Slope and all places in between, candidates up and down the ballot have spent the past six months attempting to woo voters. At one time earlier this year, a dozen candidates were vying for the Republican nomination in the 4th District to replace U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, and others in less ballyhooed races worked no less hard to earn support for their party nomination. All the miles, chicken dinners, speeches, videos and ads culminate Tuesday in the election of party nominees to various offices - nominees Republicans hope can win in the general election this fall. So what is the final message candidates hope to leave with voters? What efforts did candidates make to get voters to cast ba...
Colorado employers may finally have found enough workers, but 1.7 open jobs remain for every unemployed worker
Approved, State, The Colorado Sun

Colorado employers may finally have found enough workers, but 1.7 open jobs remain for every unemployed worker

By Tamara Chuang | The Colorado Sun Colorado received some notable mentions in the latest national job-openings report. The state had the largest one-month increases in both workers who quit jobs or left involuntarily. That helped the state rank as the second highest in the nation for workers who quit jobs and third highest for those who lost them in April, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary, or JOLTS. The last time the state hit a 3.5% quit rate was in the summer of 2021, when the Great Resignation took hold and employers faced the worst labor shortage in years. But the frustrations employers felt with getting ghosted by new hires back then doesn’t appear to be happening today, at least from what Tony Gagliardi is hearing. As state dire...

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