It’s been eight years since top Colorado politicians appeared on stage at either parties’ national convention, but this summer a trio of Democrats regained some of the footing the state’s leading political lights had grown accustomed to in recent decades.

On successive nights in Chicago — ahead of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ speeches accepting the nomination for vice president and president, respectively — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow joined a procession of speakers on the main stage at the Democrats’ convention.

In concise remarks, the three spelled out positions on a range of topics — Polis focusing on abortion rights and family planning, Neguse praising Harris’ record on higher education, and Crow chastising Republicans for approaching national security matters with “tough talk” and “chest-thumping.”

The three Coloradans’ turns at the microphone marked a return to the national convention stage for Polis and Crow and a debut by Neguse, the assistant House minority leader.

Like a political Gallagher — the late comedian known for his props, including giant mallets he used to smash watermelons on stage — Polis drew guffaws on Aug. 21, as he held aloft and paged through a super-sized bound volume that showed up through the week to draw attention to Project 2025, an instruction manual assembled by a GOP-aligned think tank derided by Democrats as a blueprint for a Trump administration, in spite of the Republican’s efforts to distance himself from the game plan.

The next night, Neguse and Crow spoke among a series of lawmakers, bracketing national figures that included Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Describing education as an engine driving the American Dream, Neguse told Colorado Politics before the speech that he was honored to make a case for Harris’ accomplishments and policies in front of a national audience. “As you know, I’ve been really lucky and blessed to be able to have a number of opportunities to live my dreams,” he said.

Crow drew laughter and applause as he walked on stage bearing the by-then-familiar big Project 2025 book, but he relayed a stern message. Charging Republicans with preparing to abandon Ukraine and “(walk) away from our NATO allies,” Crow argued that proposals embraced by Trump and his GOP allies would risk turning the country’s back on its soldiers and veterans.

While the state’s Republicans didn’t yield a speaker at the GOP convention in Milwaukee a month earlier, party chair Dave Williams enjoyed a few minutes center stage during the roll call that officially nominated Trump for the third time, when he announced that all of the state’s delegates had voted for the former president.

His counterpart, state Democratic chair Shad Murib, appeared on camera surrounded by exuberant delegates when Colorado’s turn came to throw support behind Harris, though Murib’s words were backed by a state-specific soundtrack. Throughout the DNC roll call, DJ Cassidy — famous for spinning tunes for former President Barack Obama, including at previous DNCs — kept the arena hopping with songs tailored for each delegation. In Colorado’s case, Murib was accompanied by the infectious groove of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” a nod toward original lead singer Philip Bailey’s Denver roots.

Four years ago, at the decidedly less boisterous conventions the two parties held during the COVID-19 pandemic — an entirely virtual DNC, and a sparsely attended RNC — Colorado’s presence during convention broadcasts was essentially limited to the roll call votes. Then-U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, the state GOP chair, announced the Republican delegation’s vote, and Howard Chou, the state Democrats’ vice chair, flanked by family and friends at Red Rocks, reported results a videotaped segment.

Prior to the 2008 DNC in Denver, it was rare to find Coloradans booked as convention speakers. Most prominently, in 1984, then-U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, the runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination, delivered a major address calling for the party to pass “the torch of idealism” to a new generation. In 1992, then-Gov. Roy Romer — a delegate to this year’s DNC — joined third-term California Rep. Nancy Pelosi to present the Democrats’ party platform. A dozen years later, then-U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez spoke at the 2004 RNC.

In 2008, however, Colorado’s politicians nearly wore a groove on the convention stage, with so many trouping past the microphone, as Democrats convened to nominate Obama for the first time. Former state Sen. Polly Baca — a convention stalwart, like Romer, she’s also a delegate to this year’s DNC — delivered the invocation and then-Mayor John Hickenlooper welcomed delegates, kicking off a program that also featured speeches by then-U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, then-Gov. Bill Ritter and current and former U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter, John Salazar and Mark Udall, along with host committee members.

Hickenlooper — by then Colorado’s governor — spoke again at the 2012 DNC in Charlotte, along with DeGette, Polis and Crow, in the then-young attorney and veterans advocate’s first foray onto the national stage.

Four years later in Philadelphia, Hickenlooper spoke at his third DNC, joined by then-state House Majority Leader Crisanta Duran.

Several Colorado Republicans took the stage that year at the RNC in Cleveland, including U.S. Senate nominee Darryl Glenn, then-Jefferson County Commissioner Libby Szabo and Mark “Oz” Geist and John “Tig” Tiegen, survivors of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

In an interview before he delivered his inaugural address to the DNC this week, Neguse recalled attending the last night of the 2008 DNC with his father — “way up in the nosebleed section” — when Obama accepted the nomination in front of 80,000 people at Invesco Field at Mile High.

“We were both in tears as we watched the first African American receive a nomination for the highest office in our land,” Neguse said. “So, to be here 16 years later at the convention, speaking in support of someone whom I think will be a phenomenal president, and to do so in a leadership role in the House of Representatives, is a distinct honor, and one that I don’t take for granted, and I think is a reflection of just how incredible our country is. That someone like me could even have that opportunity is very humbling.”

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