Colorado’s state elections have returned to an old-fashioned status. Individual candidates are not spending multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars to win seats that pay just more than $40,000 per year.

This is not to say money isn’t washing around. But how much individual candidates have ginned up is less this year than in elections since 2018.

One reason there’s not as much money in the general election is the cost of primary elections, especially in Democratic races. These primaries set prospective winners of the general election.

Of the 83 seats up in the general election, three Democrats running for state Senate, incumbents Janet Buckner SD-29 and Chris Hansen SD-31, and current Rep. Judy Amabile SD-18, have no Republican opponents. Hansen and Buckner had no primary opponents. Buckner missed 162 final, third-reading votes on legislation in 2024’s General Assembly, including on Public School Finance (SB24-188), Payment of Family and Medical Leave Benefits (SB24-155), and Sickle Cell Disease Community Outreach and Services (SB24-042). Even so, no one is running against her.

Five Democratic representatives have no Republican opponents. Four Republican representatives have no Democratic opponents.

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In sum, 12 seats in both chambers are already decided. Of the remaining seats, about 16 may be competitive either by money or voter registration. This math indicates of 83 elections, 67, and probably more, are already decided.

Races up for grabs by voter registration in the House include El Paso County’s HD-16, with incumbent Stephanie Vigil-D versus Rebecca Keltie-R, with a plus-3% GOP active voter registration spread, and HD-18 Amy Paschal-D versus James Boelens-R, with a plus-3% GOP spread and a plus-$74,000 money difference favoring Paschal. HD-26 in Steamboat Springs with incumbent Meghan Lukens-D shows a plus-4% registration advantage to GOP contender Nathan Butler, but Lukens has a $120,000 money advantage.

When it comes to getting election mail, signs and other voter contact done, money can count more than voter registration if the registration numbers are close enough. This fact will likely sink Peter Boddie-R running against Sheila Lieder in HD-28. Campaign contributions to HD-25 incumbent Tammy Story-D give her an advantage over George Mumma-R when Mumma has a 2,200 person GOP registration advantage. HD-43 incumbent Bob Marshall-D has out-raised contender Matthew Burcham-R by more than $30,000. He’ll need it to overcome a plus-5,000 person GOP registration edge.

So many non-competitive races depress voter turnout. In Colorado, even the presidential race is likely to lean heavily to Vice President Kamala Harris, given the state’s current Democratic complexion, causing too many voters to lose interest.

Proposition 131, the ranked-choice election initiative to open state primaries to all candidates with a general election run-off, will re-engage voters in both primary and general elections.

As of September, Colorado has almost 50% unaffiliated active registered voters, or 1,903,650 people. The GOP has 910,618 and Democrats have 1,022,195. In the 18-to-34 years cohort, unaffiliated voter registration soars to 64%, or 703,408 people compared to 163,084 for the GOP and 250,594 for Democrats. The trend is obvious: younger voters don’t find parties attractive. The only cohort where party affiliations exceed unaffiliated registrations is active voters 75-plus in age. Dip down to voters aged 65-to-74 and unaffiliated registrations win out.

These facts present challenges for our representative democracy. If parties don’t attract more voters, their basis as the source of candidates falls apart. Both parties, in an unusual handshake, will argue they represent the infrastructure of our political system. That claim is undercut every time a voter enrolls as unaffiliated. Since most registrations come from young people turning 18 or young adults moving to Colorado, the parties’ assertions of foundational status are weakened.

Proposition 131’s open primaries will give people who reject parties a path to run for office. Voters should have more nuanced choices as many party candidates don’t consistently support party positions. This factor appears today in how much legislators diverge from party platforms when they get to the Capitol. With ranked-choice voting, once primaries are completed and four candidates are put forward for general elections, voters can confidently make distinctions along the political scale, ranking candidates who most-to-least represent their specific values and issues.

The competition will drive candidates to be more explicit in their representations. It will be harder for moderate candidates to edge left or right and for left or right candidates to mush to the center.

In the long run, this voting methodology will produce better problem-solving processes among legislators as they will not be able to rely on party affiliation to protect them in what are today’s non-competitive districts. If incumbents want to win another term, they will have to produce accomplishments as they will be evaluated good to bad, high to low, by voters.

If parties want to hold onto their influence, they will have to work harder to produce consistent and expected results for voters. The party that does the best job for their voters will thrive and be trusted. Colorado can be a leader in rejuvenating candidate selection and election. We the people deserve elections that are not just safe and secure but are also dynamic and engaging.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.