In less than two months, Colorado’s Democrat-dominated General Assembly will begin another session, likely continuing their streak of earning the annual title “most offender-friendly legislature” we have ever seen. Those Dems in power are likely tempted to dismiss the ballot successes of Amendment I (no bail for murderers), Prop 128 (“Truth in Sentencing”) and Prop 130 (“Back the Blue”) as anomalies or the product of ignorance. That would be a mistake. The trend back toward public safety is unmistakable and pervasive. Frustrated voters across America embraced law and order candidates and citizen-initiated public safety measures.

You may recall in June 2022 soft-on-crime San Francisco Democrat District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled from office by voters after a mere 30 months on the job. Whatever message should have come to other big city DAs in California did not reach Boudin’s predecessor, George Gascón.

In Los Angeles — yes, where Hollywood is — voters issued a decisive rebuke to criminal justice reformer and incumbent Democrat DA Gascón. He was on the ballot for a second term after moving south from San Francisco. He was the poster child for Soros-funded DAs who subscribe to the “hugs for thugs” approach to prosecution. Most recently, he has been contemplating the release from prison of the parent-murdering (by shotgun) Menendez brothers. Voters rejected Gascón 40% to 60% in favor of former federal prosecutor Nathan Hockman.

California voters sent clear messages on two other public safety ballot measures.

Proposition 6 sought to amend the state constitution to eliminate the requirement that prison inmates conduct work while incarcerated, as well as prohibit the Department of Corrections from disciplining an inmate who refused to work. The Democrat-dominated legislature referred that measure to the ballot. The ACLU unsurprisingly supported it. There was no organized opposition. Nonetheless, California voters rejected it.

The attention-getter for our leftward-leaning legislature is what happened to Proposition 36.

Prop 36, a citizen-initiated ballot measure (like Colorado’s Props 128 and 130), sought to increase sentences to incarceration for certain drug and theft crimes. The measure was an undeniable response to the perceived surge in consequence-less theft throughout California. Need proof? Then-San Francisco Democrat Mayor London Breed endorsed it. It passed by a staggering 69% to 31%. Every single county in California (Los Angeles included) voted to pass it.

Stay up to speed: Sign up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

Up the road in the Washington state, voters sent a strong vote of support for law enforcement. Their process for voter-driven ballot measures is different from Colorado’s. Initiative 2113, which sought to remove certain restrictions on police vehicle pursuits (chases) of the bad guys, is a citizen-initiated measure that had to first be presented to the legislature. If the legislature took no action or rejected it, it would go to the ballot for the public. It was, of course, opposed by the ACLU. The Democrats who dominate each house of the Washington legislature voted to pass it anyway. They got the message.

Across the country in battleground state Pennsylvania, voters chose who would be their first elected attorney general since a career politician with no prior prosecution experience, Democrat Josh Shapiro (now governor), was elected in 2020. Voters chose Republican Dave Sunday, a career prosecutor and the elected DA for York County, over Democrat Eugene DePasquale, who had no prior prosecution experience.

It remains to be seen whether our legislature will learn the lesson of a renewed Colorado-wide and nationwide commitment to law and order, but the smart political money says the progressives in charge will double down on their forgiving and permissive attitude toward criminals. Expect legislation to lower the penalties for extreme indifference murder, create wider loopholes to avoid criminal responsibility for anyone claiming to be incompetent, and maybe even creating personal liability for prosecutors like they did when they targeted police and sheriffs a few years ago.

We have learned a lesson too: when we bypass a legislature that no longer represents our values by going directly to the ballot with common-sense public safety measures, we win — here and everywhere. And when those seeking elected office have found more joy in making excuses for criminal behavior, and have demonstrated a greater interest in pursuing first responders than criminals — they lose.

Coloradans want safety. And they are going to get it.

George Brauchler is district attorney-elect for the 23rd Judicial District and former district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. He has served as an Owens Early Criminal Justice Fellow at the Common Sense Institute. Follow him on Twitter(X): @GeorgeBrauchler