Barb Kirkmeyer, Republican candidate for Colorado governor
Barb Kirkmeyer joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026.
Kirkmeyer is a Republican leader and current Colorado state Senator representing District 23, which includes parts of Weld and Larimer counties. A fourth-generation Coloradan and longtime resident of Weld County, she previously served nearly two decades as a Weld County commissioner. She held a leadership role in the Colorado Department of Local Affairs under Gov. Bill Owens. Kirkmeyer also won the GOP nomination for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District in 2022. She currently sits on the legislature’s powerful Joint Budget Committee.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear set to headline Colorado Democrats’ annual fundraising dinner
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 hours ago
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, one of the Democrats’ top 2028 presidential prospects, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual fundraising dinner in June in Denver, the party said Friday. Serving his second term as...
Gov. Polis names new leaders for Colorado health agencies in wake of Medicaid turmoil
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 5 hours ago
Gov. Jared Polis, on Thursday, announced he was appointing Gretchen Hammer to serve as acting executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, and deputy executive director Stephanie Beasley to become the next commissioner of the...
Colorado sues Trump administration, calling new election order ‘unconstitutional’
Marissa Ventrelli
marissa.ventrelli@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 7 hours ago
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined a multistate coalition suing President Donald Trump over a new executive order on elections, arguing the directive unlawfully intrudes on states’ authority to run their own voting systems and threatens access to mail...
Denver Democrat Neal Walia lands endorsement from Ro Khanna in Colorado’s state House District 9
Ernest Luning
ernest.luning@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 3 hours ago
California Rep. Ro Khanna on Friday endorsed legislative candidate Neal Walia in the race for an open state House seat, praising the Denver Democrat’s commitment to public service and progressive goals. Walia, who mounted an unsuccessful challenge against U.S. Rep....
Denver judge denies Gov. Polis request to dismiss ICE-related records case
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 4 hours ago
A year after blocking the release of state records to federal immigration agents, a Denver judge has now denied Gov. Jared Polis’ effort to end the lawsuit at the center of the dispute. The lawsuit filed against the governor in...
The Centennial State’s nuclear energy opportunity | OPINION
Michael Hancock
michael-hancock@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 22 hours ago
Colorado was given a clear opportunity earlier this year. On Jan. 28, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking potential hosts for Nuclear Energy Innovation Campuses — an early-stage process designed to identify states serious...
More pain than gain in upending Colorado’s water-access laws | OPINION
Colorado Politics
colorado-politics@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 22 hours ago
By Greg Walcher and Mike King Colorado’s long-standing balance between public recreation and private property along rivers is now under renewed pressure. But changing stream access law would impose significant fiscal and legal costs for relatively limited new recreational benefit....
Guardianship is not a homelessness policy | OPINION
Colorado Politics
colorado-politics@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 22 hours ago
By Amelia McKeon The federal government’s proposal to expand guardianship for homeless veterans is being framed as compassionate. It is anything but. It is a dangerous shift toward using one of the most restrictive legal tools we have as a...
Ready to build next-gen clean-energy infrastructure — data centers included | OPINION
Colorado Politics
colorado-politics@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 9 hours ago
By Nate Bernstein and Jason Wardrip Colorado has long taken pride in doing things a little differently. We are a state of innovators, entrepreneurs and adventurers, and often lead the nation in new policies and new ideas. For generations, our...
Proposal outlines $300M deal separating Pinnacol from Colorado state government
Marianne Goodland
marianne.goodland@coloradopolitics.com
Updated 1 day ago
Colorado lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would allow Pinnacol Assurance to sever its remaining ties to the state in exchange for a $300 million payment, a long‑debated shift that supporters say could stabilize the insurer’s future and help plug...
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Joshua Giffin, Republican candidate for Colorado governor
Joshua Griffin joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Griffin is a U.S. Army combat veteran with roughly two decades of military service, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. After his military career, Griffin returned to Colorado and became […]
Greg Lopez, Republican candidate for Colorado governor
Former congressman Greg Lopez joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Lopez, a veteran, started his political career at age 27 as mayor of Parker. He later served as Colorado’s state director for the U.S. Small Business Administration. In […]