Let’s be clear about how Colorado’s primaries arrived at these unexpected results. The most significant voting cohorts on both the Democratic and Republican sides were women from 65 to 75-plus. These senior women voters selected Phil Weiser and have given Barb Kirkmeyer a chance. They may be on the farther side of their lives, but they are very much aware and alert.

Here are some of the big themes to take away from Colorado’s Tuesday primary elections:

Money had too much to say and voters didn’t like the message. It felt like bullying. For U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, it was a fatal flaw. He came off as a carpetbagger.

When big money flowed to Bennet from the east, it was apparent the senator didn’t have strong Colorado connections. Primary voters are the most knowledgeable, especially the older ones. They understood the play. Here’s the thought process: Bennet’s benefactors from New York should worry about their home state. This election is a wakeup call for the senator. Weiser’s hard work and steady hand took the day.

Gaza’s fate is a defining issue for Democrats. In Congressional District 1, women voters 65-plus gave the heave-ho to longtime legislator Diana DeGette in favor of Melat Kiros. Kiros is a pro-Palestinian attorney who lost her job with a prominent law firm due to her publicly expressed opinions on the war on Palestine. She is also a Democratic Socialist. In any other year before this election, those two pieces would make her dead on arrival. Not this year because DeGette, like Bennet, assumed her seat was safe as long as she wanted it.

To keep the record factual, the voting results in Denver show women from age 65-plus represented the largest chunk of ballots returned at 22%. Women from 18-34 represented 17%. Men 65-plus represented 14%. Men 18-34 sent in 7% of ballots. Women voters took up Kiros as a change agent.

Attorney General Phil Weiser should be similarly appreciative women were unpersuaded by Bennet’s race. More than 60% of primary Democratic voters across the state were women. His 55% to 45% win over Bennet came from these women, with the largest cohort women over 65.

In Adams County, a turnaround target of unhappy business interests and K-12 charter school influencers, a key race went to progressive incumbent Rep. Kenny Nguyen. He faced a torrent of money from American Future, an independent expenditure committee placing big bets on moderate Democrats. He countered with support from Jane Fonda who sponsored, in person, a door knock-a-thon the weekend before the election. Nguyen’s commitment, hard work, and positions on environmental safeguards in the heart of Colorado’s energy industry won the day, with senior women following the lead of 88-year-old Fonda.

In HD-6 in central-east Denver, well-financed Sean Camacho was overtaken by Iris Halpern, a civil rights attorney and progressive supporter of labor rights. This district has ping-ponged from super-progressive former Rep. Elisabeth Epps who got the boot by Camacho, a centrist, “pragmatic,” Democrat. Now he’s on his way out, displaced by Halpern who will surely try to eliminate the controversial “second vote” for union organizing.

In contrast to the Dems moving left, the GOP may be moving more to the center, or at least right-center. Terri Carver, a former elected representative from El Paso County, challenged Lynda Zamora Wilson for former Sen. Paul Lundeen’s seat. Wilson lost to Lundeen in a previous election and challenged the vote despite a 10,000-ballot separation. She is connected to the “election integrity” movement. Carver is a military officer who served as an attorney in the service. She had a more moderate legislation record than her GOP contemporaries as a representative. Carver is up by 35 points in this primary.

Despite millions spent on the Republican governor’s race by Victor Marx, the mysterious savior of women from sex trafficking, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer may come out ahead. She didn’t have any of the money of Marx. But she has put in the time as an elected official for Weld County and a savvy legislator on the General Assembly’s Joint Budget Committee. She is an example of a mature woman taking a stand against flim-flam. Kirkmeyer is known as a “real pro” at the Capitol. The term is a compliment. Her solid reputation may take her over the primary finish line.

The primary with its 1.2 million-plus voters represents about 25% of eligible registrants. Some will argue only the most extreme party members vote in primaries. In this case, unaffiliated voters represented the largest cohort. The turn of affairs for Democrats is both rewarding and earth-shaking, depending on point of view. In both cases, the shock waves will shudder through politics for up to eight years.

If Phil Weiser wins the general election, he will have his hands full coordinating the swirl of interests at the Capitol. He will have plenty of opportunity to use his listening skills. He will have to turn what he hears into policy that works best for Coloradans. This is where Colorado stands on the nation’s 250th birthday. Happy Fourth of July.

Paula Noonan owns CapitolCommons.ai, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.