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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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Sharp Divides Emerge in Colorado Republican Governor Debate
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Sharp Divides Emerge in Colorado Republican Governor Debate

By Óscar Contreras | Denver7 Watch key moments and the full debate between State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and State Rep. Scott Bottoms. DENVER — Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidates State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and State Rep. Scott Bottoms took the stage Thursday evening in their first televised debate ahead of the June 30 primaries. Victor Marx, a third contender in the GOP gubernatorial race, was invited to participate in the debate but declined Denver7's invitation. Both candidates fielded questions before a live studio audience of a few dozen people as they tried to make the case as to why it was time for Coloradans to hand power back to Republicans this November after nearly 20 years of Democratic control in the state. It was the first major televised deba...
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Republican Candidates Take Center Stage In Key Colorado Governor Debate
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Colorado Public Radio, Approved, State

Republican Candidates Take Center Stage In Key Colorado Governor Debate

By Bente Birkeland | CPR News Republican gubernatorial candidates state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and state Rep. Scott Bottoms are scheduled to take the stage Thursday in their first televised debate ahead of the June 30 primary election.  The candidates hope to replace outgoing Gov. Jared Polis, who is term-limited after eight years in office. A third GOP contender, Victor Marx, a Marine and nonprofit Christian ministry leader, declined to participate.  Bottoms and Kirkmeyer have attended multiple forums together, talking about their leadership styles and how they hope to get the state back on track after years of Democratic control. Marx has separately held his own community events.  The debate, hosted by CPR News, Denver7 and The Denver Post, is t...
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Farmers Ranchers And Fuel Costs Drive Debate In Colorado Congressional Race
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Vail Daily, Approved, Local

Farmers Ranchers And Fuel Costs Drive Debate In Colorado Congressional Race

By David O. Williams | Vail Daily Republican Ron Hanks, a former state lawmaker and U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, told the Vail Daily in a recent email interview that this year’s race for the 3rd Congressional District seat that includes part of Eagle County is all about accountability — a quality he says incumbent Republican Jeff Hurd severely lacks. “Hurd has not been responsive to the district, has taken unpopular positions, and has not stood up to take accountability for his actions,” said Hanks, who successfully landed on the June 30 primary ballot by virtue of a voice vote at the GOP Assembly in Pueblo last month. Hanks, who unsuccessfully challenged Hurd in the 2024 primary, got the required 30% or more of the delegates at the assembly, whi...
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Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Scott Bottoms in his own words
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Scott Bottoms in his own words

By RMV Editorial Board | Rocky Mountain Voice In five weeks, the candidate who won 45 percent of delegate votes at the GOP state assembly will be a name on a ballot. Scott Bottoms wants them to know exactly where he stands—on everything. In the individualized portion of RMV's governor primary feature, the Colorado Springs pastor and state representative answered questions about his faith-driven language on the House floor, his budget vote, his FBI claims, his endorsement of Joe Oltmann, his readiness to run a $46 billion state government and his vote against certifying election results. These questions were drawn from reader submissions, Bottoms' legislative record and public statements. The common questions all three GOP candidates received are published in the side-by-side c...
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Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Barb Kirkmeyer in her own words
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Barb Kirkmeyer in her own words

By RMV Editorial Board | Rocky Mountain Voice In five weeks, more than 21,000 petition signatures become a name on a ballot. Barb Kirkmeyer got on that ballot by knocking on doors. While her two opponents competed for delegate votes at the GOP state assembly, this state senator skipped the convention and submitted 21,342 petition signatures—15,438 of which were validated by the Secretary of State—to qualify for the June 30 primary. In the individualized portion of RMV's governor primary feature, Kirkmeyer explains why she chose that path and answers questions about her budget vote, TABOR refunds, Tina Peters, abortion and what kind of Republican she is. The questions below were shaped by reader submissions, public statements and Kirkmeyer's record in the state Senate. The six ...
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Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Where Kirkmeyer and Bottoms stand, and Marx stays silent
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Where Kirkmeyer and Bottoms stand, and Marx stays silent

By RMV Editorial Board | Rocky Mountain Voice Three candidates will appear on Colorado's Republican primary ballot for governor on June 30. Two of them answered questions from Rocky Mountain Voice this month. One did not. State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer and State Rep. Scott Bottoms each responded to questions drawn from reader submissions and issues facing Republican primary voters. RMV contacted the Marx campaign repeatedly. RMV founder Heidi Ganahl followed up personally and extended his deadline by an additional day. He still did not respond. Bottoms won the top line at assembly with 45 percent of delegate votes. Marx qualified with 39 percent after also filing petition signatures, which lowered his assembly threshold. Kirkmeyer qualified through petition alone, submitting mor...
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Federal Judge Keeps Unaffiliated Voters In Colorado GOP Primaries
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Federal Judge Keeps Unaffiliated Voters In Colorado GOP Primaries

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer said excluding unaffiliated voters days before the state’s ballot certification deadline, and just weeks before ballots start being mailed out, would create too much confusion. A federal judge Tuesday rejected the Colorado GOP’s last-ditch effort to block unaffiliated voters from participating in the party’s June 30 primaries.  U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer said excluding unaffiliated voters days before the state’s ballot certification deadline, and just weeks before ballots start being mailed out, would create too much confusion.  The Republican Party asked Brimmer on April 20 to issue an emergency order preventing state elections officials from mailing Republican primary ball...
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He lost once. Now he’s back: Why David Willson jumped into Colorado’s AG race late
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

He lost once. Now he’s back: Why David Willson jumped into Colorado’s AG race late

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice For ten years, David Willson stood in Colorado courtrooms defending parents accused of neglect—many of them homeless, addicted or on the verge of losing their children. He learned quickly the system doesn’t operate in clean lines. “I went into that work thinking people were just partying and getting high. It took me about six months to realize they’re trying to get high because their life is so miserable.” Now, his daughter is entering law enforcement. “She said, we arrest a lot of homeless people who have warrants.” For Willson, that isn’t a contradiction. It’s the reality he’s seen from both sides. “You have to understand what people are dealing with. But you also have to enforce the law.” He got in late. The Republica...
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From Kazakhstan to Colorado: Secretary of State candidate James Wiley’s plan to scrap electronic voting machines
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

From Kazakhstan to Colorado: Secretary of State candidate James Wiley’s plan to scrap electronic voting machines

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice James Wiley was 7 on Election Night 2000. He remembers the decorations from his birthday staying up for two more weeks while the country waited to find out who had won. He didn’t understand hanging chads or voting machines. At the time, he was living in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where his missionary family had been since he was three months old. What stuck with him from those years wasn’t the mechanics of elections. It was how power operated. He’s 32 and running for Colorado Secretary of State as a Republican, after years working on election cases and a stint as executive director of the Libertarian Party.  What he’s saying on the campaign trail isn’t new for him. The push to get rid of electronic voting machines and move to hand-cou...
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