Colorado Politics

 Congressional incumbents DeGette, Neguse, Crow cruise to reelection in safe Democratic seats

Voters in Colorado’s four strongly Democratic congressional districts appeared to be sending their incumbents back to Washington on Tuesday, according to early, unofficial returns posted shortly after polls closed. The state’s longest-serving member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a...

 Voters favor sales tax hike for Denver Health — but not for affordable housing

Denver voters are split on two sales tax measures that would raise $100 million for housing and earmark $70 million to help fund the city’s safety net health care system.   The sales tax for Denver Health, the city’s safety net hospital...

 Voters pick commissioners for three districts in Arapahoe County

Arapahoe County on Tuesday night picked commissioners to represent three districts up for election. The county, which has more than 650,000 residents in 13 towns and cities, is holding elections for three of five Board of County Commissioner seats. Commissioners...

 Arapahoe County appears to adopt issue 1A

Arapahoe County voters appear to agree that the local government should be able to retain and spend taxes it has collected. Issue 1A is leading large at 70.6% to 29.4% with 204,928 votes counted, the unofficial and early tally shows.   Under...

 Aurora voters reject pit bull ban

Aurora voters are poised to repeal the city’s ban on pit bull ownership, with 53.6% in support of the measure, according to the early and unofficial count. As of Wednesday morning, almost 94,000 votes had been counted on the matter....

 Briefly | Election Day edition

Gov. Jared Polis encourages Coloradans to vote this Election Day It’s Election Day, and Gov. Jared Polis encouraged all Coloradans to make their voices heard by voting before polls close at 7 p.m.  “Those who get out and vote get...

 Colorado House Democrats poised to maintain status quo

Republicans had hoped to gain some of the ground they lost in 2022 in the state House but early returns don’t favor any major changes in the chamber’s 46-19 Democratic majority.  As of 9 p.m., the margins for several races...

 El Paso County resolves hazmat calls during ballot counting process

El Paso County has made use of its new partnership with the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management multiple times in recent weeks, as the county Clerk and Recorder’s Office called out hazardous-materials first responders to help clear concerning...

 Measure to bring ranked-choice voting to Colorado has election officials worried about cost

Proposition 131, a Colorado ballot measure which seeks to radically transform the way voters cast their ballots, looks to carry a hefty price tag if approved by voters on Tuesday. According to the Colorado Blue Book, state spending will increase...

 Colorado voters cast over 2 million ballots for 2024 election

With just one day remaining until Election Day, over 2 million Coloradans have turned in their ballot so far, representing a little under half of the state’s registered voters, according to the latest numbers.  Of the ballots cast so far,...

 Colorado Libertarians sue Secretary of State Jena Griswold over leak of voting equipment passwords

The Colorado Libertarian Party sued Secretary of State Jena Griswold and her chief deputy on Friday in Denver, asking the court to decommission voting equipment and order a hand count of ballots in counties affected by the recently discovered online...

 Briefly | Colorado voters submit 1.7 million ballots

Welcome to Briefly, Colorado Politics’ daily news briefing. Here’s what’s going on today: Over 1.7 million ballots returned in Colorado With just days to go ahead of the Nov. 5 election, over 1.7 million early ballots have been turned in in...

 Trump campaign demands Griswold halt Colorado ballot count as Polis deploys staff to address password leak

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign demanded that Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold take immediate action to halt ballot processing in order to secure the state’s election equipment after voting machine passwords were posted online by her office. A Griswold deputy...

 El Paso County Clerk and Recorder ‘prepared to ask’ for Griswold’s resignation

El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker said on a Colorado Springs radio program Thursday that he would call for the resignation of Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold after the top election official admitted the leak of voting...

 El Paso County to open 18 more Voter Service and Polling Centers on Friday

The El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is opening 18 Voter Service and Polling Centers on Friday to help voters sign up to vote and return ballots before the Election Day deadline. The facilities will be open from 8...

 Briefly | Denver Elections partners with Broncos to encourage voting

Welcome to Briefly, Colorado Politics’ daily news briefing. Here’s what’s going on today: Denver Elections partners with Broncos for “Broncos County Votes” Initiative  The Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office is partnering with the Denver Broncos for a “Broncos County Votes” event...

 Colorado voting system passwords did not start getting changed until after password leak became public

Passwords for Colorado’s voting computers were visible online for months and Colorado’s Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold found out on Oct. 24. Her office only started changing the leaked passwords after the issue was made public, Denver Gazette media...

 Briefly | Taylor Swift named most ‘politically influential’ celebrity

Welcome to Briefly, Colorado Politics’ daily news briefing. Here’s what’s going on today: Colorado launches home electrification and appliance rebate program  To mark National Weatherization Day, Colorado is launching its Home Electrification and Appliance Rebate (HEAR) program.  (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:11095963150525286,size:[0, 0],id:”ld-2426-4417″});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src=”//cdn2.lockerdomecdn.com/_js/ajs.js”;j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,”script”,”ld-ajs”); Funded by the Biden...

 Colorado Republicans urge Griswold to resign after election equipment passwords were posted online

Leading Colorado Republicans on Wednesday called on Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold to resign after the state’s top election official admitted that someone in her office posted a spreadsheet online that “improperly” included passwords to voting equipment used throughout...

 Over 1 million Colorado voters have cast ballots with one week left

With Election Day just a week away, over one million Colorado voters have cast their ballots — about a quarter of the state’s registered voters. To date, 98% of the ballots returned have been by mail. The U.S. Postal Service...

 Colorado House District 44: Republican Hartsook and Democratic opponent Nilemo talk housing, crime, presidential preference

In House District 44 for the Colorado General Assembly, Republican Anthony Hartsook looks to continue his work by being elected to a second term, while Democratic opponent Alyssa Nilemo aims to win the newly redrawn district this November. No matter...

 USPS closes trash cans in Colorado Springs post offices to prevent election material theft

United States Postal Service has closed trash cans inside several post offices around Colorado Springs to prevent election materials from being stolen. The post offices on Fountain Boulevard, S 8th Street and Uintah Street had taped over the front of...

 US Postal Service advises voters to send mail-in ballots early to ensure timely delivery

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is advising voters who plan to cast their ballot by mail to do so soon to ensure their vote is counted in this year’s election.    USPS data indicates that it takes about one...

 Youth at the polls: Quiet and ‘uncomfortable’ times for young Colorado Springs voters

“Are you registered?” was the repeated question from volunteers with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of the Pikes Peak Region at their get-out-the-vote booth inside the University of Colorado Colorado Springs student center.  The responses varied from “Already mailed...

 El Paso County voter turnout at just 21% ahead of Nov. 5 election

With fewer than two weeks to go before the Nov. 5 general election, voter turnout in El Paso County has only reached 21% — though officials anticipate it could hit as high as 90% on Election Day, thanks to a...

 These Colorado races could decide control of US House

With just over a week remaining for Colorado voters to return their ballots, all eyes are on three of the state’s eight congressional districts, where voters in the state’s most competitive races could have a hand in determining which party...

 Proposition 131 debate: Weighing the merits and cost of ranked-choice voting in Colorado

Watch the full debate here. The benefits and drawbacks of Proposition 131, which seeks to establish an all-candidate primary and ranked-choice voting system in Colorado, were discussed during a debate hosted by Colorado Politics, the Denver Gazette, and the University of...

 Boebert challenger Trisha Calvarese hauls in $570K in first half of October in Colorado’s 4th CD

Trisha Calvarese, the Democrat running against Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, raised $570,000 in the first half of October, her campaign plans to report in Thursday’s campaign finance filing. That’s more than Boebert reported raising...

 Colorado Springs strip club joins fire district for an election cause

Being a good neighbor has paid off in an unexpected way for the Stratmoor Hills Fire Protection District, which received a $30,000 donation toward its ballot question campaign this week from a strip club across the street.  “The firefighters and...

 Colorado’s Secretary of State’s Office reports over 636,000 ballots have been turned in

Over 636,000 ballots have been turned in statewide, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.  Ballot tallies were released for the first time Wednesday. According to the now daily report, a total of 636,597 ballots have been turned after...