Both major political parties are engaging in lawsuits that bypass the election process and assault the will of Colorado voters.

Colorado Democrats have repeatedly tried to legally and politically undermine TABOR — the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — since it was passed by voters in 1992 and now they want to file another lawsuit to gut the law.

Colorado Republicans have filed a federal lawsuit to overturn Proposition 108 which was passed by voters in 2016 and which allows unaffiliated voters to participate in party primaries.

What is it about the will of the voters that is so offensive to these two parties?

Voters are free to change their mind about the outcomes of previous elections and that is why we have elections every two years. But both parties are running to the courts to get decisions which are outside the political process which is lazy and irresponsible.

Why don’t Democrats have the guts to just go to the voters and seek the total repeal of TABOR since that is their ultimate goal? Why don’t Republicans have the guts to go to the voters and seek the total repeal of Proposition 108 since they are so afraid of unaffiliated voters?

The answers are self-evident.

Democrats know that voters like having the power to approve or disapprove tax increases by state and local governments. Voters like having spending restrained by a combination of inflation and population increases. Voters like being asked for their permission for government to raise taxes. Democrats are offended and perplexed by this.

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

Although they cloak their opposition by saying they want to “reform” the law, every Democratic candidate for governor — including self-declared front-runner U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet — senator, attorney general, and secretary of state ultimately want to gut TABOR.

Despite total Democratic control of state government, Colorado voters rejected by a 60-40 margin Proposition HH in 2023 which was a thinly veiled attack on TABOR.

Republicans know two million unaffiliated voters who represent half of the Colorado electorate have had the right to vote in one of the two major party primaries since 2016 and do not want to lose that right. Unaffiliated voters want to be able to vote in taxpayer funded Republican primary elections.  Republicans are offended and perplexed by this.

And given the inability of a large number of Republican activists to understand how the Colorado electorate has dramatically changed in the past 15 years, it is not terribly surprising that they want the courts to restore a closed primary where only registered Republicans can vote. 

Of course, this is the same strategically brilliant crowd that also wants to cancel the 2026 Republican primary and nominate candidates solely through the caucus-assembly process. Rather than hundreds of thousands of Republican and conservative leaning unaffiliated voters voting for Republican nominees, a few thousand activists would have that exclusive power.

The Republican lawsuit against Prop 108 was initiated under the failed leadership of the former state chairman, Dave Williams. Unfortunately, the newly elected Republican state chairman, Brita Horn, says she is going to continue the lawsuit.

Since she was elected a month ago, Horn has talked about how the Colorado Republican Party must unify in order to win future elections after suffering sweeping defeats since 2018. Horn’s call for unity is refreshing after two years of incessant attacks on Republicans by Williams and his allies.

But Republican unity is worthless if nearly two million unaffiliated voters watch Republicans try to rip away their right to vote in primary elections.

Numbers don’t lie. For the first time, unaffiliated voters exceed two million as of May 1. There are only 941,296 Republicans who are woefully outnumbered by 1.04 million Democrats and 2 million unaffiliated voters. The only way Republicans will be competitive in 2026 and beyond is if they can attract a majority of unaffiliated voters. 

So what is the logic of going to court to try to steal the votes of two million unaffiliated voters from voting in primaries? And why would the state party want to continue to pay legal fees to pursue this lawsuit to the indicted California lawyer John Eastman and his sidekick, Denver lawyer Randy Corporon, a loyal ally of Dave Williams, who has already been paid $39,000 this year? 

Both parties should respect the will of Colorado voters and withdraw these lawsuits that assault the political process. They should go to the ballot, not the courts, if they want to repeal these voter-approved laws.

Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who managed campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens.  He was campaign manager for U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota when Thune unseated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle in 2004.