Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: UNAFFILIATED VOTERS

Gonzales Challenges Hickenlooper While Baisley Awaits November Matchup for Colorado Senate Seat
DENVER7, Approved, State

Gonzales Challenges Hickenlooper While Baisley Awaits November Matchup for Colorado Senate Seat

By: Colette Bordelon | Denver7 Denver7 spoke with Senator John Hickenlooper, State Sen. Julie Gonzales, and State Sen. Mark Baisley ahead of the June 30 primary election. DENVER — With less than two weeks until Colorado's primary election, voters have a number of important decisions to make. At the top of both ballots are the candidates vying to either win — or maintain — one of the coveted two spots in the U.S. Senate. The seat is currently held by Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper, who is being challenged by State Sen. Julie Gonzales in the primary election. State Sen. Mark Baisley is running unopposed on the Republican ballot. Unaffiliated voters in Colorado can choose between the two primary ballots, but cannot submit both. Ballots must be receiv...
The Myth Of The Moderate In Today’s Political Landscape
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

The Myth Of The Moderate In Today’s Political Landscape

By Mike Rosen | Commentary, Complete Colorado The word “moderate” is a fashionable term these days as the remedy to the nation’s sharply divided politics, but it’s highly overrated and largely inaccurate.  A stark example is Democrat Abigail Spanberger who was elected governor of Virginia in 2025 as a self-declared moderate. Spanberger promised not to redistrict the state if elected, having branded gerrymandering as “detrimental to our democracy” as a member of Congres in 2019. Yet in her first year in office, she signed a bill that would gerrymander Virginia, giving Democrats a 10-1 advantage in the U.S. House, from 6-5. (Her voting record in Congress was anything but moderate with a 100% rating form the ACLU and 3% from the American Conservative Union.) President John ...
Colorado’s unaffiliated majority is waiting for someone to lead
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s unaffiliated majority is waiting for someone to lead

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice "Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody,"  Franklin P. Adams. Sadly, Colorado politics is ruled largely by ideologues with agendas and pet projects who engage in personal attacks. Statesmanship seems to be a lost art.  So, both Republicans and Democrats are losing influence and votes – and the largest and fastest growing voter bloc in the State is ‘Unaffiliated’. This would indicate that both ‘majority parties’ (D and R) are divided and have lost sight of those things that are important to the average CO voter and taxpayer to whom they are responsible. The data speaks plainly for anyone willing to look at it.  Out of 3,996,931 registe...
Judge keeps Colorado’s GOP primary open to unaffiliated voters
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...
Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Barb Kirkmeyer in her own words
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 ...
Colorado’s Republican governor primary: Where Kirkmeyer and Bottoms stand, and Marx stays silent
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...
Common Sense, Conservatism, Parties and Other Meaningless Words
Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Common Sense, Conservatism, Parties and Other Meaningless Words

By Russ Minary | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” —Inigo Montoya, “The Princess Bride” People use words like common sense or conservatism. Here’s the problem: either words have precise meanings in certain contexts, or they mean precisely nothing. In this article, I’ll put some definitions around a few words – to create some objective truth for a dialogue among reasonable people. Good people can disagree, but so can bad people. First, common sense is a false premise. People often say, “Well, that’s just common sense!” But they can’t precisely define the term they just used. Thus, they provide no truth for what they suggest is truth which makes no sense. If common sense did exist, the majority of p...
Federal Judge Keeps Unaffiliated Voters In Colorado GOP Primaries
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...
Colorado Primary Battles Intensify As Voters Face Crowded 2026 Ballots
Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Primary Battles Intensify As Voters Face Crowded 2026 Ballots

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics With just over two months to go until ballots are counted in Colorado’s primary, candidates are squaring off in high-stakes contests for their party’s nominations in statewide and congressional races approaching the midterm election. For the first time in memory, state voters will have the chance to elect an entire new slate of state-level executive officials — from governor and attorney general to secretary of state and state treasurer — since those offices’ Democratic incumbents all face term limits. At the same time, Democrats will decide which candidate to nominate in the state’s marquee U.S. House race, where the Republican incumbent in the 8th Congressional District is facing three potential challengers in what’s expected to b...
Commentary Questions Whether Colorado Leaders Mirror The Power They Protest
Complete Colorado, Approved, Commentary, State

Commentary Questions Whether Colorado Leaders Mirror The Power They Protest

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado Though most of us celebrate “No Kings Day” on July 4, the Trump-deranged got a head start last weekend with rallies around the state. Attendees bravely fought oppression by blocking traffic for people with jobs. Rally-goers demanded freedom from tyranny, many right after voting to ban all but beige house paint at their HOA meetings. After pausing briefly to DoorDash something gluten-free, they returned to the barricades to secure democracy in Colorado for one more day. They risked everything, except mild discomfort, to call the guy who won both the popular vote and the electoral vote a tyrant. Yes, I’m having fun at their expense. And yes, they have a point. When you build a country on principles instead of a per...

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