There’s a downside to having dominance over every part of state government. It breeds arrogance and isolation. 

This year’s election drove that fact home.

Consider Aurora and Proposition HH – which make the point for very different reasons.   

In Aurora, there is a 2-to-1 registration advantage for Democrats. Mayor Mike Coffman squeaked to victory four years ago, and the City Council had been dominated by the hard-left. But then several reformers from the center-right were elected who, with Coffman, began to offer strong, common-sense policies to address rising crime, spiking homelessness and increasing cost of living.  

Those policies made a tangible positive difference, and voters gave a thumbs-up. Coffman was re-elected comfortably and, depending on the final vote count, conservatives may have up to eight of the 12 City Council seats.   

Quality-of-life issues aren’t partisan or ideological. They are fiercely practical.  This was true in urban centers decades ago, in places like New York City and Philadelphia, places of lawlessness and disorder. Moderate mayors of both parties cleaned the mess up with support from a center-left electorate. 

Why? Liberals don’t want to be mugged, robbed or assaulted any more than anybody else. And that is true in Aurora. Be clear in explaining what you are doing, get results and you get votes. 

Liberals don’t like to be hoodwinked, either, especially by politicians they voted for in the past.   

Proposition HH was opposed by 60% of voters. Given the electoral math, that means a lot of Democrats and unaffilateds were in the “no” camp (Republicans alone can’t ring up a majority, let alone a near-super majority).

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Recall that HH was referred to the ballot after a last-minute partisan bill was rammed through the legislature, a process so odious Republicans walked out rather than participate in it. Little public scrutiny resulted in a lot of heads of Capitol insiders – in both parties – shaking in disbelief. 

But the folks in power thought they were smarter and more cunning. They had the votes and they all talked to each other rather than opening their self-satisfied circle to daylight. What emerged was Proposition HH – a stink bomb Gov. Jared Polis tried to tell voters was actually a bottle of fine perfume.   

The hope of advocates, of course, was that voters were either so lazy or stupid – or both – they would stop their review at the proposition’s first line:  “Shall the state reduce property taxes…”

Recall early polling had HH looking like it was sitting pretty. One media account said voters were inclined to pass it, with a small caveat that maybe some were persuadable. That was the conventional wisdom. 

Voters, whether liberal or conservative or some mix in between, had different ideas. 

That’s why opponents aggressively, constantly, but simply, shared the basic facts and the numbers. The killer for the pro-HH crowd were the tax calculators, such as the heavily used one from the Common Sense Institute, where Coloradans could just plug in their own personal numbers. Many saw they were going to pay more, not less.   

This left Gov. Polis and other HH hucksters to tell taxpayers, “Who are you going to believe, us or your lying eyes?”  

The eyes had it. 

Voters not marinated in the ins and outs of politics tend to weigh political issues as they look at big purchases, such as a car or a home. How much am I paying and is it a fair return for what I am getting? Do the claims being made speak to the reality of my daily life?   

That’s why the lesson for conservatives from the 2023 cycle is a practical one. While some want to pass out daily saliva tests for political purity, the way to gain ground in Colorado is a lot more positive.

Propose what works, show your constituents why it is working – and let them evaluate it. And carefully, candidly and thoroughly critique what doesn’t work.  Substance over slogans, and seriousness of purpose over political pie fights. 

That’s the good news from Election Day 2023.

Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens, is a communications and media relations strategist and ghostwriter based in the Denver area.