Colorado Democratic chair Shad Murib on Wednesday launched a bid for a second, two-year term running the state party in next year’s biennial reorganization meeting.

Murib told Colorado Politics that while he’s encouraged by the party’s performance in the November election — when Colorado voters bucked national trends that saw Republicans retake the White House and make gains in traditionally Democratic states — he also wants to examine what moved voters and what didn’t.

“Let’s be honest about what worked and unafraid to shelve what didn’t,” Murib said. “Let’s be creative and unburdened by the past.”

Describing Colorado as a “bright spot for Democrats across the nation,” Murib announced his run for reelection in a joint statement issued along with the state party’s first and second vice chairs, Indira Duggirala and Scott Mangino, respectively.

“Together, we’ve shown the nation what it means to lead with purpose, grit, and a commitment to every Coloradan, from the banks of the Colorado River out west, to the heart of Denver, to the farmlands of the Eastern Plains, and down in the steel city of Pueblo, and across the Valley,” the three incumbent Democratic officers said.

“Despite this success, it’s more important than ever to be honest about the challenges ahead, and to tackle them together. The time for hard conversations is now. We cannot be romantic about our success, and we have to focus on where we are missing the mark so that we can improve. Rural areas continue to be knock-out drag-out fights for us despite unprecedented investment and attention, and that means we must engage even more.”

According to final general election returns, Colorado voters shifted slightly to the right this year, as Republicans flipped a hotly contested congressional seat and won what appear to be three state House seats currently held by Democrats, pending the results of recounts scheduled to take place in two of the legislative districts.

The state, however, kept its overall blue tint, with Democrats winning both statewide races on the ballot — for president and the University of Colorado’s at-large regent seat — and keeping near-historic majorities in the General Assembly.

For the fifth consecutive presidential election, the Democratic ticket won Colorado’s electoral votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, beating former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance by 11 percentage points. While the margin lags the 13.5-point advantage President Joe Biden scored over Trump four years ago, Harris’ edge still stands as the second-largest win in the state by a Democratic White House nominee since Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 landslide.

In the battleground 8th Congressional District, Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans narrowly defeated U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the Democrat who won the newly created seat two years ago in one of the closest congressional races in the country last cycle. In the same district, Republican Yazmin Navarro unseated Democratic State Board of Education member Rhonda Solis by a roughly 5-point margin.

“While many blue states saw their investment from the national campaigns diminish, we fought tooth and nail to earn significant investments in our party to build a muscular and efficient coordinated campaign thanks to our strategic layering of local programs across battleground districts,” the Democrats said. “The country is looking to our Colorado model once again to win elections across the country.”

The 37-year-old Murib was a veteran political strategist and consultant with experience on campaigns, nonprofits and in government positions when he won election as state chair in 2023. Murib and his wife, former state Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, operate a cattle ranch in Eagle County.

Murib said that he’s concerned about recent polling that found a majority of Americans think the Republican Party represents the interests of the working class and poor, and the Democratic Party represents the wealthy.

“We know that our values and our policies are the ones that elevate working people and improve the quality of life for working people while the Republicans openly promise higher prices on everything, giveaways to the wealthy, and seek to turn us against each other,” Murib and his fellow officers said in the statement.

“While Colorado Democrats have stood strong against this, performing better than many of our counterparts across the nation, this general perception of our party must be addressed if we are to win tough elections in the future,” they said, adding: “These are incredible challenges that will require us all to be brave, honest, and ready to lead.”

Murib told Colorado Politics that he hopes to lead a searching review of the party’s campaign activities, which included an extensive door-to-door canvassing operation in the 8th CD and a grant program that distributed nearly $50,000 to more than a dozen county parties to help build organizing efforts.

“I think that we need to dig hard into data and make sure the things that we are doing are actually moving the needle,” Murib said. “We have to be willing to not be romantic about what we do, but dig into how can we bluntly deliver a message. We have to really dig in to each part of the state and figure out what works and what doesn’t and double down on what worked.”

That could mean spending less on television advertising and more on what Murib termed “connective work in the field,” but it could also involve changing the party’s message to counter what he suggested are inaccurate perceptions about the two parties’ policies.

“Colorado has to be the best place to be an entrepreneur and to start a company, but it also has to be the best place to be a worker,” he said. “We have to be able to make sure people can fill their gas tank and put food on the table.”

Starting in February, Colorado’s Democratic and Republican parties kick off their months-long reorganization processes, electing county and district officers, as well as central committee bonus members, awarded to counties based on the number of votes received by the top of the ticket in the most recent general election — in this case, the presidential race. The parties’ state central committees also include elected officials, from state legislators and district attorneys to members of Congress and statewide executive officers.

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams told Colorado Politics he plans to decide whether to seek another term helming the state GOP by Jan. 1.

Murib and the other members of his slate could have a head start in their party’s race, according to a list of endorsers attached to their reelection announcement that includes both of Colorado’s U.S. senators, four of the state’s Democratic House members, more than 20 state lawmakers and dozens of other prominent Democrats from around the state.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, said she was proud to endorse Murib, Duggirala and Mangino.

“In 2024, Colorado stood strong against Donald Trump, and nearly half of our counties moved towards Democrats thanks to the Colorado Democratic Party’s investment in rural areas, including in my district,” Pettersen said. “Together, we’ll offer Coloradans a positive vision of making this state an even better place to live, work and play by electing community-minded Democrats across the state.”