Politicians are already lining up for the next round of elections including the midterms nearly two years off. However, the off-year Pueblo election in November will provide a local glimpse of the heartbeat of the electorate that promises to foretell whether a sea change in party affiliation and/or political control has materialized. 

In Pueblo, the Republican Party appears to have overtaken the political scene once dominated by the Democrat Party. Two of the three present county commissioner seats are held by Republicans in addition to five of the seven City Council positions. Such was unheard of in the past.

Although City Council elections are billed as nonpartisan, party affiliation is declared and promoted. Five seats will presumably be contested on the ballot — three held by Republicans and two by Democrats.

Several reasons can be proffered for the resurgence of the Republican Party and the recent abysmal showing by the local Democrat Party over the last several election cycles.

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One reason has to do with the leadership, enthusiasm and committed ground roots movement of the local Republican Party. However, the state Republican Party is in complete disarray and virtually uncertain to win any foreseeable statewide political race. The same concern holds true for the local Democrat Party. The reason both have struggled is the same — elitism and unnecessary divisiveness.

The state Republican Party has become the playground for Comrade Dave Williams, who has commandeered the party for his personal gain at the expense of more conventional Republicans and successful campaign results.

The Pueblo Democrat Party appears to be following the same destructive game plan with full knowledge of its consequences. There was hope that the local Democrats would chart a different and positive course with the recent election of new party leadership. Such does not appear to have occurred.

The previous administration suffered from a lack of any discernible leadership and a lack of inclusivity. It cast aside dedicated and committed party members both by disparaging them and rejecting their party bona fides. The result was the loss of two of the three seats held by Democrats on the Board of County Commissioners and the replacement of five Republicans on the seven-member Pueblo City Council.

While I admit that I have never been an insider with the Democrat Party, I have been a lifelong Democrat and participated in political campaigns. My party affiliation is widely known.

In full disclosure, the prior chair of the Democrat Party and I were involved in a dispute that received local attention with both of us expressing our respective positions.

I ran for the Pueblo School District 60 school board in 2023 and was elected. I did not solicit the support of either the Democrats or Republicans. The local Democrat Party, the local teacher union and the statewide teacher union provided financial support and urged voters to elect a named slate of local candidates who they considered represented their “Democratic values.” My name was excluded from the list. Two of the three school board candidates the party and unions endorsed were defeated. Both were incumbents.

Fast forward to the present. David Lucero is the duly elected sheriff of Pueblo County. Sheriff Lucero is and always has been a Democrat and was elected as a democrat.

Lucero is presently involved in litigation with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the department’s Division of labor Standards and Statistics, and the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO) Local 837 challenging a Colorado law allowing county employees to collectively bargain. Sheriff Lucero alleges in his lawsuit that the law does not apply to sheriffs.

Lucero’s lawsuit will determine whether the law applies or not and will bring finality to the dispute. The parties will be obligated to obey the decision of the court. The lawsuit legitimately raises a classic separation of powers conflict between two co-equal branches of government — the legislative branch and executive branch to which the Sheriff’s Department belongs.

Unfortunately, the present leadership of the Democrat Party has decided to follow the example set by their predecessor and question Lucero’s Democrat bona fides and further divide the party. The party issued a statement on March 10 accusing Lucero of being anti-union — despite his statement to the contrary — a union buster and undermining core democratic values, which support workers’ rights.

Lucero is well within his rights to ask a court of competent jurisdiction to decide what the law is. The Democrat Party, instead of attacking Lucero, should allow the litigation to run its course, obey the decision and affirm its commitment to a respect for the rule of law and the institutions which are the backbone of our democracy. Those ideals should be universally embraced regardless of party affiliation.

Dennis Maes served 24 years as a 10th Judicial District judge in Pueblo and was chief judge for 17 of those years. He previously served as director of Pueblo County Legal Services, Inc.; as a public defender and as an attorney in private practice.