Colorado Politics

 Planned Parenthood, groups launch campaign against transgender ballot measures in Colorado

Planned Parenthood and other groups have launched a coalition to oppose two ballot measures that would ban transgender surgeries among children and require student athletes to only join sports teams that correspond to their biological sex. The two measures will...

 Democratic US Sen. John Hickenlooper qualifies for Colorado primary by petition, will skip assembly

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper has qualified for Colorado’s Democratic primary after the first-term incumbent submitted enough valid petition signatures to make the ballot, state officials said. Hickenlooper is facing primary challenges from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and university professor...

 U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet qualifies by petition for Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet on Tuesday became the first gubernatorial candidate to qualify for Colorado’s June primary ballot after state election officials determined the three-term Democrat’s campaign submitted enough valid petition signatures. Bennet is running against Attorney General Phil Weiser...

 Hickenlooper primary challenger Julie Gonzales endorsed by national progressive group Indivisible

State Sen. Julie Gonzales’ bid to challenge U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper in Colorado’s Democratic primary got a boost Tuesday from Indivisible when the national arm of the progressive grassroots group endorsed the Denver lawmaker. The national group’s endorsement comes less...

 It’s time to let unaffiliated voters caucus | Vince Bzdek

There’s no getting around it: Colorado’s 3,000 county caucuses, which just wrapped up recently, left half the electorate out in the cold. Since unaffiliated voters now make up 51% of all Colorado voters, a majority of Colorado electors are barred...

 Colorado bill to fund mental health by raising alcohol taxes defeated in House committee

Colorado legislators on Wednesday narrowly rejected a second measure that would raised taxes on alcohol products in order to fund mental health care treatment in the state. Proponents said the new revenue is necessary to help pay for mental health...

 Trump switches endorsement back to Jeff Hurd, says Hope Scheppelman is ending run in Colorado’s 3rd CD

In a surprise twist, President Donald Trump on Friday said he is again endorsing Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd after pulling his support from the Grand Junction Republican last month and instead backing his primary challenger in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional...

 Conservation Colorado proposes measures aimed at oil and gas companies

A group has introduced four ballot measures it says are meant to counter an initiative that aims to enshrine Colorado businesses and consumers’ right to purchase and sell natural gas in the state’s constitution. Filed with the Secretary of State’s...

 Colorado Title Board advances competing redistricting proposals, revised Pinnacol measure

With just two meetings left before an April 15 deadline, the state’s Title Board on Wednesday pushed through a slate of ballot measures, including a revised proposal to privatize Pinnacol Assurance and dueling plans to redraw Colorado’s congressional map. The...

 Democrat Matt Cavanaugh ends campaign in Colorado’s 5th CD, says petition firm came up short

Democratic congressional candidate Matt Cavanaugh said Wednesday that he was ending his bid to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th District because the firm his campaign hired to gather petition signatures failed to deliver. Cavanaugh, an Army...

 Colorado voters to decide whether to ban gender surgeries for minors

Colorado voters will decide this November whether to prohibit gender surgeries for minors and bar public funding or insurance coverage for procedures that alter children’s biological sex characteristics. The measure qualified for the ballot amid a push by the federal...

 DeGette challenger Melat Kiros trounces 15-term Democratic incumbent in Denver delegate vote

The 28-year-old, first-time candidate challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in this year’s primary soundly defeated the 15-term incumbent in a delegate preference poll conducted Saturday at a county party assembly in Denver. Melat Kiros, the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants...

 Army veterans Jessica Killin, Joe Reagan qualify for Democratic primary ballot in Colorado’s 5th CD

Democratic congressional candidates Jessica Killin and Joe Reagan secured spots Saturday in Colorado’s June primary to decide who will run against Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in a district that’s only ever sent GOP lawmakers to Congress. The two Democrats,...

 Boebert challenger Eileen Laubacher joins lawsuit aimed at blocking her from Democratic assembly

A Denver District Court judge on Thursday permitted Democratic congressional candidate Eileen Laubacher to join a lawsuit filed by one of her primary opponents seeking to prevent Laubacher from participating in the party’s assembly process in a bid to qualify...

 Colorado GOP chair Brita Horn says she’ll resign next month, points to ‘divide within our party’

Colorado Republican Party Chair Brita Horn said Thursday that she will resign her position next month following the GOP’s state assembly, citing what she described as an “enduring divide” within the party “marked by vitriol and hostility.” Horn’s announcement came...

 Senate committee moves forward with Colorado ballot measure to redirect TABOR refunds to schools

A Senate panel on Thursday voted along party lines to move forward with a bill that would ask voters for permission to eliminate Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds and redirect those dollars to K-12 public education. The 6-3 vote in...

 Colorado committee recommends rejecting alcohol, marijuana tax hike to fund mental health care

In a rare move, Colorado’s Capital Development Committee unanimously recommended that another legislative committee reject a bill asking voters to approve higher excise taxes on alcohol and marijuana to fund a new mental health hospital in Aurora. Sponsored by Rep....

 Republican Jeff Crank, Democrat Jessica Killin qualify by petition for Colorado’s 5th CD primary

Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank and Jessica Killin, one of the Democrats challenging the first-term incumbent, have both qualified for the primary ballot in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District after turning in a sufficient number of petition signatures, state election officials...

 Split vote by Colorado Title Board stops ballot push to privatize Pinnacol Assurance

The Colorado Title Board, a three-member panel that sets the language for ballot measures, recently reversed a prior decision and blocked a proposal to privatize Pinnacol Assurance from moving forward. The main issue decided by the title board is whether...

 Colorado joins multi-state call to keep ICE away from polling locations

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Monday that the state has formally requested written confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security that ICE agents will not be stationed at polling locations during the 2026 election cycle, according to a...

 Can deliberation save democracy? | Vince Bzdek

In September 2019, 523 Americans traveled to Dallas for an experiment called “America in One Room.” The gathering was designed to test a theory: Could representative citizens deliberate productively even in an era of intense polarization? The event focused on...

 Redistricting scheme would give Colorado Democrats seven House members, split El Paso County | Bob Loevy

A proposed redistricting plan, which could give Colorado seven Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives and only one Republican, would split El Paso County into two parts and thereby weaken the county’s influence in Congress. El Paso County,...

 Colorado Democrats, Republicans fight over ballot fiscal information

Republicans and Democrats clashed anew over legislation that would require identifying which programs would see a funding reduction if a ballot measure passed, with the former saying it’s yet another way for the government to control the campaign narrative and...

 Democrat Dwayne Romero jumps in primary to challenge Republican Jeff Hurd in Colorado’s 3rd CD

The Democrat who has been running for nearly a year to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District got some company in the primary this week. Dwayne Romero, a Snowmass Village business owner and decorated Army...

 Colorado’s congressional redistricting proposal could flip three Republican House seats | ANALYSIS

A Democrat-backed proposal to redraw Colorado’s congressional map for the 2028 election could flip three Republican districts. The proposal, introduced by a group called Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, is yet another development in a national redistricting debate after...

 Judge declines to block potential Boebert challenger from going through assembly process in Colorado’s 4th CD 

Congressional candidate Eileen Laubacher, one of the Democrats seeking to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, can participate in the party’s caucuses and assemblies pending a court hearing later this month, a Denver judge ruled Tuesday in response to a...

 Colorado Gov. Jared Polis ignites fierce debate after raising clemency questions in Tina Peters case

Gov. Jared Polis ignited a political firestorm Tuesday night after weighing in on the prison sentences of two former Colorado officials — a Democrat and a Republican — convicted of attempting to influence a public servant. The comments quickly fueled...

 Bills on ballot access, dual office ban move swiftly through Colorado legislature

With an eye on the 2026 election cycle and mounting tensions with the Trump administration, Colorado lawmakers are fast-tracking a pair of election bills they say will protect the state’s mail ballot system and tighten rules for elected officials. The...

 Colorado GOP chair Brita Horn loses ‘no-confidence’ vote, vows to refocus on ‘mending that divide’

The Colorado Republican Party’s state central committee approved a resolution expressing “no confidence” in state chair Brita Horn in a landslide late Monday night near the end of an online meeting marked by rancor and confusion. Almost 80% of the...

 Primary rival sues to prevent Democrat Eileen Laubacher from going through assembly in Colorado’s 4th CD

Democratic congressional candidate Trish Calvarese on Monday asked a judge to prevent one of her primary rivals, Eileen Laubacher, from participating in the caucus and assembly process to seek the nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s...