Colorado Politics

Morgan Carroll announces she won’t seek fourth term chairing Colorado Democratic Party

On the heels of sweeping wins by Colorado Democrats in the last three election cycles, state party chair Morgan Carroll says she’s ready to pass the torch after helming the party for the last six years.

“In a way, it’s like ‘mission accomplished,'” she told Colorado Politics. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done. My goal was never to be chair for life; my goal was to leave the party and the state better than I found it.”

Carroll, a former state Senate president and one-time congressional nominee, wraps up her third two-year term as state chair on April 1, when the Democrats’ state central committee is scheduled to elect new leadership at a meeting in Denver.

Party members will likely be celebrating their nominees’ performance in the November election, when Democrats won every statewide office, increased their majorities in the General Assembly, won five of eight congressional seats and nearly unseated U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in the 3rd Congressional District.

In a message to county party chairs announcing her decision not to seek a fourth term, Carroll said she was proud of “what we accomplished together.”

“Those wins mean we have better leaders, pursuing better policies,” she wrote. “Colorado is an island of great policies in an environment that is otherwise taking this nation backwards and putting people’s lives and freedoms at risk.”

Carroll said on Thursday in an interview that during her tenure leading the party Democrats set “lofty goals” and met them.

“We’re a big tent – that means it’s been lot of work to pull people together,” she said. “We’ve been really mindful about engaging volunteers but also, frankly, paying attention to what’s going on with voters. We know there’s a risk there’s an echo chamber, so we’ve worked hard at staying very volunteer-focused and very voter-centric.”

Carroll said she wanted to make her intentions known early so the party will have ample time to consider potential successors.

“I think we are are handing over a state and party in good shape,” she said, adding that she “has no idea” what she’ll be doing after her term expires.

“That’s scary, because I’m like the super planner, but I don’t know what’s next,” she said with a laugh, adding that she’ll be busy helping with the transition to the next chair.

She said the party isn’t going to rest on its laurels.

“Our goals from here are to make sure we’re, one, staying in touch with people on what they need, and, two, to not get complacent and not think this state is inherently blue – it’s not,” she said. “If Republicans ever get the fringe folks out of their party, they could compete again. But if we continue to govern well and not take any vote for granted, then we do have the potential to make this state very blue for a long time in the future.”

In this file photo, Colorado Democratic Party Chair Morgan Carroll talks to participants at the Denver Women’s March on Jan. 20, 2018, at Civc Center. Carroll announced on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, that she isn’t seeking a third term as state party chair.
(Ernest Luning/Colorado Politics, File)
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