Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Colorado democrats

Money didn’t win Colorado’s primary. The ground game did.
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Money didn’t win Colorado’s primary. The ground game did.

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board One of Colorado's biggest races still isn't settled. Two days after the polls closed, the Republican primary for governor had not been called. Victor Marx led Barb Kirkmeyer by about 2,000 votes statewide—39.86 percent to 39.43 percent, with Scott Bottoms third at 20.71 percent—in the Secretary of State's Thursday morning count. Marx's edge, 2,181 votes out of more than 500,000 cast, sits just outside Colorado's mandatory recount range, which trips at half a percentage point.  On the Democrat side, the race was settled. Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, 56.71 percent to 43.29 percent. Colorado doesn't finish voting when the polls close. And neither do Colorado's campaigns. The real story from Tues...
Colorado Primary Sends Shockwaves Through State and National Politics
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Primary Sends Shockwaves Through State and National Politics

By: Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Voters in Colorado’s Democratic primary on Tuesday night mostly let their elected officials know that they’re fed up with the party’s Washington politicians and ready to back the most aggressive fighters they can find. At the same time, the voters who cast ballots in the Republican primary mostly embraced the GOP’s establishment, throwing the beleaguered party a potential lifeline in a state that hasn’t rewarded the party’s candidates with statewide wins in the last decade. It was a mixed bag for the two camps, as early frontrunners fell or struggled to keep it close in one of the most wide-open primaries the state has seen in years, with some standout exceptions keeping the night from delivering a simple message. Democratic...
Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros Puts DeGette’s Three Decades in Congress at Risk

By: Colleen Slevin and Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun Kiros has tapped into the national discontent for incumbents among Democratic voters and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that has DeGette’s supporters incredibly nervous. 29-year-old democratic socialist is giving U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette her biggest challenge in the 30 years since she was first elected to represent Denver, appearing on the verge of pushing Colorado’s longest serving member of Congress out of Washington. Melat Kiros, who was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders last week, has tapped into the national discontent among Democratic voters toward incumbents and parlayed her social media savviness into a campaign that at the very least has DeGette’s supporters incre...
Boulder Climate Lawsuit Emerges as Flashpoint in Colorado Democrat Primaries
Complete Colorado, Approved, State

Boulder Climate Lawsuit Emerges as Flashpoint in Colorado Democrat Primaries

By Kyle Kohli | Complete Colorado In the Colorado primary elections this year, oil and gas perspectives are showing up in a unique way: Boulder’s now 8-year old climate lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the Boulder case during its fall term, placing the issue on a national stage right in the middle of election season. Given Boulder’s targeting of energy companies and potential to increase prices, it threatens to undermine national Democrats’ focus on affordability. In Colorado, the case raises important questions for candidates seeking office: where do they stand on energy production, climate litigation, and the use of courts to drive policy outcomes? Boulder pops up in ...
New Internal Poll Shows Weiser Surging Past Bennet in Democratic Governor Primary
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

New Internal Poll Shows Weiser Surging Past Bennet in Democratic Governor Primary

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Attorney General Phil Weiser holds a lead over U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet among likely voters less than a week before ballots are due in Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, according to a new poll released Thursday by a group backing Weiser. The survey, conducted Wednesday and Thursday by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, found Weiser with 45% support to Bennet’s 36%, with 19% undecided. Fighting for Colorado, a state super PAC formed to support Weiser, commissioned the poll, which has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. PPP interviewed 600 likely voters — including Democrats and unaffiliated voters who said they’ll cast ballots in the Democratic primary — using a mix of automated calls to landline phones and text ...
Transportation Funding Showdown Continues Between Lawmakers And Initiative Backers
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Transportation Funding Showdown Continues Between Lawmakers And Initiative Backers

By: Marissa Ventrelli | Colorado Politics The standoff over Colorado’s road‑funding initiative will continue after supporters declined state lawmakers’ request to withdraw the measure, while both sides signaled they are still willing to pursue a broader agreement ahead of the fall deadline. Initiative No. 175, backed by the coalition Restore Our Roads, would require that all transportation-related revenue be used exclusively for building and repairing roads and bridges, improving safety, conducting transportation planning and engineering, and supporting Colorado State Patrol operations. A petition for the measure received over 180,000 signatures and is currently being reviewed by the Secretary of State’s Office. To qualify for the November ballot, just over 124,000 of ...
If Polis vetoed it, maybe Colorado should take a closer look
Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

If Polis vetoed it, maybe Colorado should take a closer look

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I guess we can’t say Polis never vetoes, it’s just rare. I wanted to share a couple of articles (one by Complete Colorado linked first below and the second by CPR) detailing some vetoes from Governor Polis this legislative session. I’ll leave it to you to poke around in either or both articles, but there are a couple of notable things I wanted to mention. There are some non-surprises such as modifications to the Labor Peace Act. No one figured he’d sign it; he’s been a vocal opponent of such efforts. The legislative Democrats are just biding their time for the next governor anyway. There was one that is an update to an earlier post. HB26-1418 would have put a fee on video game transactions to provide m...
Is Experience Optional? Critics Challenge Griswold’s Attorney General Bid
Colorado Politics, Approved, Commentary, State

Is Experience Optional? Critics Challenge Griswold’s Attorney General Bid

By Eric Sondermann | Commentary, Colorado Politics If you were in a child custody dispute with a former spouse, would you hire an attorney with experience in family law or would you trust your case to an operative with virtually zero mastery? If you were getting ready to sue your employer for unpaid wages or a toxic workplace, would you enlist a lawyer with a background in employment statutes or would you put your fate in the hands of someone who had never really practiced law? If you were a doctor being charged with medical malpractice, would you retain a novice lawyer who had never argued a case? What kind of attorney would you retain to defend your teenager accused of shoplifting? Or to represent you in a complicated real estate transaction? Or to handle a br...
“Intentional obstruction”: CHEC argues Colorado lawmakers delayed homeschool changes until final days of session
Christian Home Educators of Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

“Intentional obstruction”: CHEC argues Colorado lawmakers delayed homeschool changes until final days of session

By Colleen Enos | Commentary, Christian Home Educators of Colorado When tasks are put off to the last minute, we assume that those responsible are procrastinators or that time just got away from them. We don’t typically think that what they did was intentional. Applying this logic to our state’s General Assembly would be wrong. The majority party plans the schedule of when bills will be debated in each chamber, how to introduce them, and enacts a plan of intentional obstruction. This process was taking place during the last three days of the legislative session. Controversial bills were saved for the very last moments. On Monday morning, the State House Appropriations Committee met to discuss the final bills. Committee hearings are a place for the public to offer testimony and make t...
Polis Responds To Peters Controversy With Taped Mouth Protest
DENVER7, Approved, State

Polis Responds To Peters Controversy With Taped Mouth Protest

By Robert Garrison | Denver7 Denver7 has been following the latest developments in the Tina Peters case. DENVER — Just a week after Democrats censured Gov. Jared Polis for granting Tina Peters clemency, the governor appeared during a party Zoom meeting Wednesday with tape over his mouth. The governor’s stunt during an internal party briefing was seemingly a reaction to last week’s 89.8% censure vote by the Democratic Party’s central committee, of which he is a member. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7