Colorado Politics

 Longtime Denver resident Dick Young, a retired rear admiral and pioneering civic advocate, dies at 94

Richard Edward Young, a retired rear admiral, attorney and towering figure in Colorado’s civic landscape for more than six decades, died Jan. 7. He was 94. A lifelong advocate for civil rights, fair housing, veterans and his neighborhood, Young was...

 Opening Day: Colorado lawmakers return to state Capitol for 2026 session

Underneath the pomp and circumstance of this morning’s opening ceremonies, the 100 lawmakers who took their seats at the state Capitol face a daunting task — how to keep the state’s economy moving forward in the midst of a challenging...

 Kenny Nguyen selected to represent Colorado House District 33

Kenny Nguyen, a member of the Broomfield City Council, was chosen by a 36-member Democratic vacancy committee on Monday to represent House District 33. Nguyen will replace Sen. William Lindstedt, who was appointed by Gov. Jared Polis last week to...

 U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser clash at Democratic gubernatorial forum

Things got a little chippy Saturday at a union hall north of Denver, as Democratic gubernatorial candidates U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sparred over the effectiveness of their respective responses to President Donald Trump’s second...

 Colorado Democratic vacancy committee selects Lori Goldstein for HD 29

A Democratic vacancy committee on Sunday chose Lori Goldstein, president of the Adams 12 Board of Education, to serve the final year of Rep. Shannon Bird’s term. Bird, a Democrat who would have been term-limited this year, resigned her seat...

 Colorado candidates switch parties, races as midterm election year looms | TRAIL MIX

The final days of 2025 saw an unusually high number of Colorado candidates switch parties and races, reshaping at least a few primaries ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The state has seen its share of switchers over the years,...

 Former Rep. Rose Pugliese vies for Mesa County Treasurer

Former Republican Leader Rose Pugliese has jumped into the 2026 primary for Mesa County Treasurer. Pugliese moved to Grand Junction after resigning from the Colorado House in September, citing a “collapse of integrity” within the Colorado House. She previously served...

 Former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez leaves GOP, will run for governor in Colorado as an independent

Former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez, a candidate for governor of Colorado, has left the Republican Party and plans to run as an unaffiliated candidate for the office held by term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. Lopez, who served six months in...

 Colorado Republican Mark Baisley exits gubernatorial race, launches U.S. Senate campaign

Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley on Monday withdrew from the Colorado gubernatorial race and announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat John Hickenlooper. His departure leaves 20 Republicans running for the office held by term-limited Democratic...

 Independent Crank challenger Matt Cavanaugh joins Democratic primary in Colorado’s 5th CD

Matt Cavanaugh, the Army combat veteran and author who has been running an independent campaign to unseat first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, registered this week as a Democrat and will seek the party’s nomination...

 Gov. Polis appoints Lindstedt to Colorado Senate District 25 after vacancy committee misses deadline

Despite a similar vote by a Senate District 25 vacancy committee last week, it was up to Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday to make sure the Senate seat was filled and ready for the 2026 session. That’s because the vacancy...

 Ben Campbell, former US senator from Colorado and advocate for Native American rights, dies at age 92

Former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, who represented Colorado for two terms beginning in 1993 and was the first Native American elected to the chamber since the 1920s, died Tuesday, his family and close associates confirmed. He was 92. Campbell,...

 Gabe Evans, Colorado Republican incumbent, CD8 race

In what is quickly becoming one of the most-watched congressional races in 2026, Evans looks to continue serving in a second term in Colorado’s Congressional District 8. Evans served 12 years in the U.S. military and was an Arvada police...

 Shannon Bird, Colorado Democratic primary CD8 candidate

Shannon Bird looks to win the Democratic nomination for a chance to face incumbent U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans next year for Congressional District 8, which is being called one of the most vulnerable seats in Congress and could decide which...

 Evan Munsing, Colorado Democratic primary CD8 candidate

Evan Munsing looks to win the Democratic nomination for a chance to face incumbent U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans next year for Congressional District 8, which is being called one of the most vulnerable seats in Congress and could decide which...

 Manny Rutinel, Colorado Democratic primary CD8 candidate

Manny Rutinel is an attorney, entrepreneur, and currently serves in the Colorado House of Representatives for District 32, representing parts of Adams County after being appointed in 2023 and subsequently elected to a full term.

 Mark Baisley, Republican candidate for Colorado governor  

Mark Baisley joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Baisley is a Republican state senator representing Colorado’s 4th Senate District, which covers parts of...

 Michael Bennet, Democratic candidate for Colorado governor

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has joined a crowded field of candidates vying for the state’s top spot as governor with Gov. Jared Polis reaching term limits in 2026. Bennet is a longtime Colorado public servant and attorney, having served more...

 Scott Bottoms, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

Scott Bottoms joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Bottoms is a state representative serving Colorado House District 15, which includes much of eastern...

 Barb Kirkmeyer, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

Barb Kirkmeyer joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Kirkmeyer is a Republican leader and current Colorado state Senator representing District 23, which includes...

 Greg Lopez, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

Former congressman Greg Lopez joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Lopez, a veteran, started his political career at age 27 as mayor of...

 Victor Marx, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

A veteran, Victor Marx joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Marx is based in the Colorado Springs area. He is the founder and...

 Jason Mikesell, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

Jason Mikesell joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Mikesell is a veteran law enforcement leader and the elected Sheriff of Teller County, bringing...

 Phil Weiser, Democratic candidate for Colorado governor

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined a crowded field of candidates vying for the state’s top spot as governor with Gov. Jared Polis reaching term limits in 2026. Weiser, the 39th Attorney General of Colorado, was elected the state’s chief...

 Colorado podcaster who has called for political foes to be executed joins GOP primary for governor

Joe Oltmann, the conservative Colorado podcaster who has repeatedly called for Colorado’s top elected officials to be executed and whose uncorroborated claims that the 2020 election was rigged spawned multiple defamation lawsuits, declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for...

 2025 Unfiltered: Moments that marked Colorado’s decidedly off-kilter political year

From the flurry of executive orders that ushered in President Donald Trump’s second term to a blizzard of lawsuits filed by the state’s Democratic officials, the state’s political year was marked by near-constant conflict between the GOP-controlled federal government and...

 State Treasurer Dave Young withdraws from Democratic primary in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District

Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young announced Friday that he is ending his bid to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in the competitive 8th Congressional District, leaving three Democrats running in next year’s primary. Young, a former state lawmaker from...

 Crank challenger Jessica Killin racks up endorsements from all of Colorado’s congressional Democrats

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper has endorsed fellow Democrat Jessica Killin’s bid to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, giving the first-time candidate a clean sweep of support from the state’s six-member Democratic delegation. Killin, an...

 Colorado campaign debt collection efforts aren’t much of an effort

It was only weeks after the U.S. military in September 2011 repealed its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces that Army veteran Brian Carroll announced his candidacy for a...

 Colorado campaign finance penalties ‘a runaway train without an off-ramp’

Each day, Mike Stapleton wakes up owing the state of Colorado another $1,550. By the end of each week, Stapleton’s debt for not filing nearly three dozen campaign finance reports dating to April 2018 will have grown by nearly $11,000....