Colorado Politics

 Polly Baca elected to DNC | A LOOK BACK

Forty-Five Years Ago This Week: After her loss to Republican U.S. Rep. Hank Brown the previous year in the race for the 4th Congressional District, state. Sen Polly Baca-Barragan, D-Thortnon, was elected as one of the three vice-chairs of the...

 Colorado Politics Calendar Mar. 16-22

CoPo’s weekly political calendar will help you find political and public-policy events throughout Colorado. It includes candidate and issue campaign events, public policy meetings, court hearings, state and local party conventions, assemblies, debates, rallies, parades, speaking engagements, traveling dignitary appearances,...

 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 justices weigh fairness concerns after defendant prevailed despite ghosting case

Members of the Colorado Supreme Court struggled on Tuesday to balance the need for one defendant to shield itself against a plaintiff’s claim that its employee sexually assaulted her child, and the fact that the employee legally admitted the allegations...

 House Ethics Committee to begin hearing on Weinberg complaint

The House Ethics Committee on Tuesday will begin a hearing requested by Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland, tied to an ethics complaint filed against him by Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Roxborough Park. The ethics committee had found probable cause on two issues...

 Iran war enters next phase of destroying entire missile supply chain: Hegseth

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the war with Iran was entering a new phase, as the United States was focusing on destroying Tehran’s defense industrial base. At a Friday Pentagon briefing, Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint...

 Jeffco Public Schools found in violation of Title IX

Civil rights office: Male students occupy 61 roster positions on girls’ sports teams The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that the Jeffco Public Schools district violated Title IX by permitting male students to access female bathrooms and compete in...

 Colorado plans to slash interim committee work amid budget woes

In a tight-budget year, the work of interim committees — those off-session groups that look at transportation, agriculture, water, healthcare, wildfires, pensions, and anything else lawmakers want to look at — is on the chopping block. And this year, no...

 Xcel Energy: Power shutoff ‘likely’ Saturday in Boulder, Jefferson counties

Up to 43,000 residents in parts of Boulder and Jefferson counties should be prepared to have their power shut off Saturday afternoon, Xcel Energy said. The power company said it was “planning for a likely Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS)...

 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...

 Colorado justices skeptical of appellate court’s limitation on prosecution’s appeal

The Colorado Supreme Court seemed skeptical on Tuesday that Denver prosecutors should be barred from appealing a trial judge’s permanent dismissal of a criminal case, based upon the sequence of events after the original ruling. Prosecutors charged Quinn M. Jebe...

 Denver airport gears up for spring break as TSA employees miss first paycheck

As a Washington, D.C. showdown over immigration enforcement halts Department of Homeland Security funding, thousands of federal airport security screeners will miss their first paychecks this week just as the annual spring break begins in the U.S. and airline travel...

 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...

 Federal judge: Government violated order shielding man from deportation in ‘one-off mistake’

A federal judge acknowledged on Thursday that the government violated his order by deporting a man in immigration detention during his pending court case, but it “serves nobody’s interests” to require the government to return him. On Feb. 18, Tesfami...

 Wolf depredation payouts in Colorado top $700,000 in 2025

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission approved more than $706,000 in wolf depredation claims for 2025 during its March meeting last week, an amount that exceeds the state’s annual wolf compensation fund by more than double. The commission rejected another...

 U.S. intelligence report suggests Iranian regime is not at risk of imminent collapse

Washington Examiner Recent U.S. intelligence reports have assessed that after nearly two weeks of Operation Epic Fury, Iran’s government leadership is not in danger of imminent collapse. The evaluation comes after 12 days of regular military strikes by United States...

 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....

 Colorado Supreme Court lifts curtain on decision-making at legal event

Members of the Colorado Supreme Court sat down with lawyers on Wednesday to answer questions about behind-the-scenes topics, including what happens immediately after an appeal is argued, why they might intervene in an ongoing case, and the consequence of a...

 Senate, House leaders propose bill to cut outdated Colorado regulations and expand agency oversight

A bipartisan group of Colorado’s top legislative leaders is pushing a bill that would require periodic reviews of state regulations and expand lawmakers’ ability to scrutinize agency programs during oversight hearings. Senate Bill 137, sponsored by Senate President James Coleman,...

 House Republicans split over SAVE America Act pressure campaign

House Republicans are torn over how difficult to make life for the Senate as a band of rebels pressures Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to pass a national voter ID bill. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has cautioned House conservatives that...

 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...

 High winds force closures of I-25 and I-70, overturned semi-trucks, flight delays, power outages

High winds, warm temperatures and dry conditions have meteorologists sounding the alarm across much of Colorado on Thursday. Here’s what you need to know. Red Flag Warning issued The National Weather Service in Boulder has issued a Red Flag Warning...

 This winter was Colorado’s warmest on record

Colorado just had its warmest winter on record, while the Denver metro area had its second-warmest, according to meteorologists and National Weather Service data. Data show the average temperature between December and February was 33.6 degrees, nearly 2 degrees warmer...

 Colorado auditor finds serious issues with labor agency’s unemployment insurance accounting

Colorado’s state auditors found serious issues with the accounting practices of the unemployment insurance division of the Department of Labor and Employment, concluding the agency underestimated and overestimated figures to the tune of billions of dollars. The auditors labeled the...

 Colorado’s newest federal judge speaks about techniques for advancing cases

U.S. Magistrate Judge Cyrus Y. Chung described on Wednesday the various tactics he employs to resolve court cases, summing up his role with a laxative-based metaphor. “Someone told a group of us federal magistrate judges that magistrate judges are the...

 Three cargo ships damaged by ‘projectiles’ in Strait of Hormuz

Three cargo ships were damaged by unspecified “projectiles” while navigating the Strait of Hormuz, jeopardizing President Donald Trump’s goal of preserving the shipping lane’s safety. The strait was de facto closed the morning hostilities began on Feb. 28, with announcements...

 Trump calls on Thune to be a ‘leader’ and get the votes for the SAVE America Act

President Donald Trump increased pressure on Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to pass the SAVE America Act, imploring him to be a “leader” after he expressed concerns that there is not enough support for the measure in his chamber....

 The ‘talking filibuster,’ explained

Senate Republicans have for weeks been debating the use of the “talking filibuster” to guarantee the passage of the SAVE America Act in the upper chamber, after President Donald Trump called the legislation his “No. 1” priority. The bill, which...

 Colorado’s Polis joins coalition of governors urging Congress to reject Trump tariffs

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has joined 18 other governors in writing a letter to members of Congress, urging them to reject President Donald Trump’s efforts to codify tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court recently invalidated. “Governors across the country are...

 Department of Agriculture warns of packages holding potentially invasive seeds

Spring planting is around the corner, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture wants residents to know where their seeds are coming from. Officials with the department warned Tuesday that they received reports of unsolicited packages containing plant seeds mailed internationally...