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Judge keeps Colorado’s GOP primary open to unaffiliated voters
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Approved, DENVER7, State

Judge keeps Colorado’s GOP primary open to unaffiliated voters

By April Schildmeyer | Denver7 DENVER — A judge rejected three Republican primary candidates' request to block unaffiliated voters from participating in the upcoming party primary election. Former State House Rep. Ron Hanks, State Rep. Scott Bottoms and David Willson, a candidate for attorney general, filed the suit, claiming that allowing non-party voters to participate dilutes the votes of registered Republicans and violated the party's First Amendment rights. In 2016, Colorado voters approved Proposition 108, which opened primaries to unaffiliated voters. Judge Jon J. Olafson found the plaintiffs waited too long to file their lawsuit, noting that ballots had already been mailed to overseas military voters. County clerks must mail ballots to military and overseas voters by...
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Trump Flexes Political Muscle As Massie Falls In Kentucky Primary
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Breitbart, Approved, National

Trump Flexes Political Muscle As Massie Falls In Kentucky Primary

By Bradley Jaye | Breitbart President Donald Trump spared little expense and political capital in targeting Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the contentious marquee race of an Election Day in which voters from multiple states will decide which candidates will represent them in November or advance to a runoff. The Republican brouhaha for Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District is perhaps the most high-profile primary of the 2026 cycle, with the Texas GOP Senate primary the only other contender. Trump went all-in for Ed Gallrein in the race against Massie, visiting the district himself in recent weeks and dispatching Secretary of War Pete Hegseth – in a private capacity – to the state to campaign with Gallrein Monday. The President is riding high in recent weeks after sec...
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Three GOP candidates take aim at Colorado’s open primary law—and bring the math
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Three GOP candidates take aim at Colorado’s open primary law—and bring the math

By Candice Strutzreim | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Republican candidates Ron Hanks (CD-3), David Willson (attorney general) and Scott Bottoms (governor) have filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of CRS 1-7-201. Also known as the Open Primary statute, the law was created through Proposition 108 in 2016. The hearing will be held in Denver District Court this Thursday at 1:30 pm, one day before primary ballots are scheduled to be sent to overseas and military voters for the June 30 election. How is this lawsuit any different than all the other challenges to “Prop 108” that have been previously brought before the courts? Counsel for the plaintiffs, Gary D. Fielder, intends to prove that Governor Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold are promulg...
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GOP advances candidates as convention backs effort to limit primary ballots to Republicans
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

GOP advances candidates as convention backs effort to limit primary ballots to Republicans

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado Republicans came to Pueblo to choose candidates. They left having done that—and still debating who should have a say in choosing them. What unfolded over the course of a long delayed and at times contentious assembly produced clear outcomes in major races while also setting in motion a legal step that could reshape how those candidates are selected in the future. Candidates emerge with distinct paths to the ballot Two different approaches carried through in the governor’s race. State Rep. Scott Bottoms led with 968 votes (45.13 percent) while Victor Marx followed with 837 votes (39.02 percent). Both cleared the 30 percentage threshold required to advance. Supporters raise signs for Scott Bottoms as delegates r...
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Federal Judge Clears Path For Colorado GOP To Reclaim Primary Control
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Federal Judge Clears Path For Colorado GOP To Reclaim Primary Control

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The judge ruled the requirement that 75% of the Colorado GOP or the Colorado Democratic Party must support opting out of the primaries before it can happen “constitutes a severe burden on the major parties’ right to association and is therefore unconstitutional”. he Republicans who have long sought to stop their party from participating in Colorado’s primaries, mainly out of opposition to how unaffiliated voters are now allowed to cast ballots in them, received a major boost late Tuesday when a federal judge ruled that the burden for opting out is unconstitutionally high.  U.S. District Court Judge Philip A. Brimmer found the requirement that 75% of the Colorado GOP or the Colorado Democratic Party’s central committee must suppor...
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Colorado Lawmakers Brace for Wave of Primary Challenges Ahead of 2026 Elections
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmakers Brace for Wave of Primary Challenges Ahead of 2026 Elections

By: Marianne Goodland | Colorado Politics As the 2026 election cycle begins, an unusually large number of Colorado lawmakers — many appointed through the vacancy process — are facing primary challenges that reflect deepening divisions within both major parties. But it isn’t only open seats that candidates are looking at: at least 14 current lawmakers, almost all in the House, are facing primary challenges from within their own parties. Six are lawmakers who began their legislative service through the vacancy process, including four who gained their seats in the past year.  On Monday, former Rep. Amy Parks, R-Loveland, announced she would challenge Rep. Ron Weinberg in House District 51. Parks was the partner of the late House Minority Leader Hugh McKean.&nb...
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Opt out explained: Why Colorado Republicans could lose their primary ballots
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Opt out explained: Why Colorado Republicans could lose their primary ballots

By Heidi Ganahl | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice One of the most contentious issues holding back the Colorado Republican Party is the infighting around the “Opt Out.” In September, the Republican State Central Committee (SCC) held a heated meeting to vote on whether to opt out of holding a primary election. While 75% of members present voted to “opt out,” state law requires a vote from three-fourths of the total membership of the SCC to officially make that decision. Unfortunately, the meeting sparked more confusion and anger across the party. For several years now, the “Opt Out” has become a litmus test for loyalty, labeling anyone who disagrees a RINO (Republican In Name Only). But I don’t believe that most Republicans understand what “opting out” actually means—and it’s ...
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Rep. Ken DeGraaf’s top 10 reasons for opting out
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Rep. Ken DeGraaf’s top 10 reasons for opting out

By Rep. Ken DeGraaf | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s note: On September 27, the Colorado Republican Party’s State Central Committee will vote on whether to opt out of the state-run primary election system established under Proposition 108. Rocky Mountain Voice is featuring perspectives from two prominent Republicans on opposite sides of the issue. “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.” — John F. Kennedy Closing the primary is the right thing to do, not ...
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What does it mean to opt out?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

What does it mean to opt out?

By Todd Watkins, Colorado GOP Bylaws Committee Chair | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Editor’s note: On September 27, the Colorado Republican Party’s State Central Committee will vote on whether to opt out of the state-run primary election system established under Proposition 108. Rocky Mountain Voice is featuring perspectives from two prominent Republicans on opposite sides of the issue. Proposition 108, passed in 2016, created a semi-open primary election for nearly all races in Colorado. It is called semi-closed because it allows unaffiliated voters to cast a ballot in one or the other major party primary election. Only major parties (Republican and Democrat) hold primary elections in Colorado. A truly open primary election would permit any voter, regardless of affiliation...
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Garbo: Sheriff Darren Weekly is the exception that proves the GOP’s problem
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, Local, Top Stories

Garbo: Sheriff Darren Weekly is the exception that proves the GOP’s problem

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice In 2022, Darren Weekly wasn’t supposed to win. At least not according to the self-appointed gatekeepers of Republican purity in Douglas County. Branded a “RINO,” derided as “Tony 2.0,” and accused of being soft on Second Amendment rights due to the endorsement of outgoing Sheriff Tony Spurlock, Weekly was the target of aggressive intra-party attacks. The purist wing of the GOP put its full weight behind John Anderson, another outstanding, articulate, and Constitution-minded candidate whose campaign centered on resisting the Red Flag law and defending liberty.  I was among Anderson’s vocal supporters - endorsing, donating, campaigning, and even hosting events on his behalf. But Weekly won. By just over one percentag...
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