Colorado Politics

 Michael Bennet, Democratic candidate for Colorado governor

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has joined a crowded field of candidates vying for the state’s top spot as governor with Gov. Jared Polis reaching term limits in 2026. Bennet is a longtime Colorado public servant and attorney, having served more...

 Scott Bottoms, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

Scott Bottoms joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Bottoms is a state representative serving Colorado House District 15, which includes much of eastern...

 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...

 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...

 Victor Marx, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

A veteran, Victor Marx joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Marx is based in the Colorado Springs area. He is the founder and...

 Jason Mikesell, Republican candidate for Colorado governor

Jason Mikesell joins a crowded field of Republican candidates for governor. With Gov. Jared Polis being term-limited, Colorado will elect a new leader in 2026. Mikesell is a veteran law enforcement leader and the elected Sheriff of Teller County, bringing...

 Phil Weiser, Democratic candidate for Colorado governor

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has joined a crowded field of candidates vying for the state’s top spot as governor with Gov. Jared Polis reaching term limits in 2026. Weiser, the 39th Attorney General of Colorado, was elected the state’s chief...

 Colorado podcaster who has called for political foes to be executed joins GOP primary for governor

Joe Oltmann, the conservative Colorado podcaster who has repeatedly called for Colorado’s top elected officials to be executed and whose uncorroborated claims that the 2020 election was rigged spawned multiple defamation lawsuits, declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination for...

 2025 Unfiltered: Moments that marked Colorado’s decidedly off-kilter political year

From the flurry of executive orders that ushered in President Donald Trump’s second term to a blizzard of lawsuits filed by the state’s Democratic officials, the state’s political year was marked by near-constant conflict between the GOP-controlled federal government and...

 State Treasurer Dave Young withdraws from Democratic primary in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District

Colorado State Treasurer Dave Young announced Friday that he is ending his bid to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in the competitive 8th Congressional District, leaving three Democrats running in next year’s primary. Young, a former state lawmaker from...

 Crank challenger Jessica Killin racks up endorsements from all of Colorado’s congressional Democrats

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper has endorsed fellow Democrat Jessica Killin’s bid to oust Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, giving the first-time candidate a clean sweep of support from the state’s six-member Democratic delegation. Killin, an...

 Colorado campaign debt collection efforts aren’t much of an effort

It was only weeks after the U.S. military in September 2011 repealed its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces that Army veteran Brian Carroll announced his candidacy for a...

 Colorado campaign finance penalties ‘a runaway train without an off-ramp’

Each day, Mike Stapleton wakes up owing the state of Colorado another $1,550. By the end of each week, Stapleton’s debt for not filing nearly three dozen campaign finance reports dating to April 2018 will have grown by nearly $11,000....

 Trump pardons Tina Peters, but Colorado officials say he can’t reverse state convictions | TRAIL MIX

President Donald Trump said late on Dec. 11 that he had issued a pardon for Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk convicted of orchestrating a scheme to breach secure election equipment, though Colorado officials and legal experts immediately countered...

 Colorado Rep. Brittany Pettersen cheers President Trump signing into law 2 bipartisan bills she led

President Donald Trump has signed into law two bills led by U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen that address a pair of the Colorado Democrat’s signature issues —opioid addiction treatment and parents traveling by air with breast milk. Known as the SUPPORT...

 Colorado vacancy panels face challenge: Replacing senator and representative from the same area

Two vacancy committees that will convene in the next month or so will have an interesting challenge: Picking a new state senator and state representative who will represent the same geographic area. The vacancy election for Senate District 25, represented...

 Colorado Democrat Julie Gonzales launches U.S. Senate primary challenge to incumbent John Hickenlooper

Declaring that Colorado “needs a fighter, not a bystander,” state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat, on Monday launched her long-anticipated primary challenge to U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper. Pitching her campaign as a departure from “old-playbook politics,” Gonzales said she’s...

 Democrat Shannon Bird to step down from Colorado legislature to campaign full-time for Congress

State Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, said Sunday that she plans to resign from the Colorado legislature next month in order to focus on running for the 8th Congressional District seat held by Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans. Bird...

 Colorado Supreme Court to hear case on ballot measure disclosure requirements

The Colorado Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging whether the state can require ballot measure committees to disclose the names of their registered agents in election communications. The case stems from a complaint filed during the 2020...

 Democrat Jena Griswold lands EMILYs List endorsement in Colorado attorney general race

EMILYs List, a national organization that works to elect pro-choice, Democratic women, this week endorsed Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s bid for attorney general in next year’s election. The 41-year-old Griswold, who is term-limited, was the first Democrat elected...

 Colorado secretary of state refuses to hand over election records to DOJ

Colorado will not comply with the U.S. Department of Justice’s request to share certain voter information, Secretary of State Jena Griswold said on Wednesday. Federal authorities have sought voter data from more than two dozen states, framing it as part...

 Charles Johnson retains District 11 school board seat after election recount

The order of finish for the last of three open seats on the Colorado Springs School District 11 Board of Education remained the same after a recount, according to figures released Thursday from the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s...

 Income tax overhaul in Colorado clears first hurdle, as revised estimate puts tax hike at $4 billion

A state panel on Wednesday gave the go-ahead to a ballot measure that seeks to change Colorado’s flat rate of 4.41% to a graduated income tax, beginning in 2027, and raise billions dollars in new revenue. Now the proponents of...

 Colorado title board to review graduated income tax proposal for 2026 election

The Secretary of State’s title board on Wednesday will review another attempt at a graduated income tax ballot measure for the 2026 general election. In October, the title board had rejected two proposals submitted by the Bell Policy Center because...

 Palmer Lake could see three special elections next year

Turmoil continues in the town of Palmer Lake, where a Board of Trustees with frequent turnover has been deadlocked on multiple issues for months. The next year could see the town settling its differences in as many as three special...

 Colorado Springs D-11 board member running for state House seat

A Colorado Springs District 11 board member has thrown their hat into the ring for a seat in the state House of Representatives. A candidate affidavit and committee registration form for Jill Haffley, vice president of D-11’s Board of Education,...

 Campaign finance complaints add up for Bennet campaign

Three state campaign finance complaints have been filed against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Denver, tied to his campaign for governor in 2026. A fourth is likely, sources have told Colorado Politics. The first two were filed on Sept. 24 and...

 Colorado’s Michael Bennet rode outrage over last government shutdown to presidential bid | TRAIL MIX

Only weeks after the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history ended with congressional Democrats’ demands to restore health care funding previously cut by Republicans left dangling, the high-stakes standoff that dominated political news for 43 days has already receded...

 Jason Crow rips Pentagon probe into Mark Kelly over video urging troops to refuse ‘illegal orders’

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Crow on Monday accused President Donald Trump of trying to incite violence and intimidate critics after the Pentagon announced an investigation into Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly’s participation in a video produced with Crow and other Democratic...

 Using AI analysis, campaign finance complaints lodged against Jena Griswold, Phil Weiser

Using artificial intelligence as analytical tool, a resident of Longmont has filed complaints against two prominent Colorado Democrats, alleging multiple campaign finance violations. The complaints are among a growing number of campaign finance allegations against individuals running for some of...