Colorado Politics

 Colorado Republicans Gabe Evans, Bill Owens endorse Barb Kirkmeyer’s gubernatorial campaign

Republican State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer’s campaign to be Colorado’s next governor has landed endorsements from the last Republican to unseat a Democratic member of Congress in the state and the last Republican to be elected governor. U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans...

 Colorado Democrat John Hickenlooper’s reelection campaign tops $1.7 million in 3rd quarter

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper raised over $1.7 million in the latest quarter for his reelection bid, the Colorado Democrat’s campaign said Wednesday. Hickenlooper finished the three-month period ending Sept. 30 with more than $3.6 million cash on hand, with total...

 Ministry founder, ‘high-risk’ missionary Victor Marx joins Colorado’s Republican gubernatorial primary

Christian ministry leader Victor Marx launched his bid for the Republican nomination for governor Wednesday before a packed house at a country-western music venue in Colorado Springs. The 60-year-old Marine veteran and founder of Colorado Springs-based All Things Possible Ministry...

 Colorado officials ramp up finger-pointing as federal government shutdown’s midnight deadline looms

Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation on Tuesday blamed their counterparts across the aisle for failing to avert the federal government’s first full shutdown in almost seven years. Shortly before casting a vote against a Republican-led temporary spending bill to extend...

 House District 14 vacancy process deemed insufficient by Colorado Secretary of State, requires a redo

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has rejected the nominating paperwork for the vacancy in House District 14. On Sept. 22, a Republican vacancy committee met to choose a replacement for former Rep. Rose Pugliese of Colorado Springs. The issue,...

 Colorado Republicans again weigh whether to boot unaffiliated voters from party primaries | TRAIL MIX

For the fifth time since Colorado voters created the state’s semi-open primary system, Republican Party officials are set to decide if unaffiliated voters can cast ballots in the party’s upcoming primary. More than 400 members of the Republicans’ state central...

 Hickenlooper pitches in $100K for Colorado Democratic Party’s grassroots organizing

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper has raised $100,000 for the Colorado Democratic Party’s organizing efforts ahead of next year’s election, the party said on Thursday. The former two-term governor, who is seeking reelection to a second Senate term in 2026, said...

 Jeff Hurd primary challenger Hope Scheppelman signs Libertarians’ pledge in bid to avoid ‘spoiler’

Hope Scheppelman, the Bayfield Republican challenging first-term U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd in next year’s GOP primary, has signed a pledge prepared by the Colorado Libertarian Party as part of an arrangement meant to discourage the minor political party from running...

 Q&A with Colorado lawmaker Barb Kirkmeyer | Republican says she’ll be a governor who ‘knows how to govern’

State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer says her decades of experience in government — as a county commissioner, director of a state department and state legislator — have prepared her to be a “really great governor,” and the Brighton Republican argues that’s...

 CU Regent Wanda James aims to deny Denver Democrat Diana DeGette a 16th term in Congress | TRAIL MIX

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat and the senior member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, has gotten used to facing primary challengers in the last decade, though she’s fended them off almost as easily as she’s sailed to reelection every...

 ‘Heartbroken’: Colorado political leaders, organizations condemn assassination of Charlie Kirk

Colorado elected officials and political groups expressed grief, outrage and resolve against political violence in reaction to the fatal shooting of conservative organizer and nonprofit leader Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at Utah Valley University. “Today is a really hard day,”...

 The ‘people’s outlet’: How ballot initiatives shape Colorado policies

For more than a century, Colorado voters have used the ballot box not just to elect leaders but also to make laws, shaping the state’s most defining policies through citizen-led initiatives. Those two avenues of policymaking — the first by...

 Ballot measure seeks tax hike for higher income earners in 2026

A coalition led by a Colorado think tank will file a ballot initiative on Wednesday to raise state income tax rates on annual household incomes and corporations with earnings above $500,000. The ballot measure, which sets up a “graduated” income...

 Tancredo endorses Jeff Hurd challenger Hope Scheppelman in Colorado’s CD3 GOP primary

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo this week formally endorsed Hope Scheppelman, a former vice chair of the Colorado Republican Party who is challenging first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd in next year’s 3rd Congressional District GOP primary. In his endorsement,...

 Colorado’s crowded gubernatorial primary fields take shape as race looms for open seat | TRAIL MIX

A few months after celebrating Colorado’s sesquicentennial next summer, voters will elect the state’s 44th governor in the first open race for the seat since term-limited Democrat Jared Polis was elected eight years earlier. At last count, four Democrats and...

 Donald Trump endorses Colorado Republican Jeff Crank’s bid for reelection

President Donald Trump formally endorsed U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank’s bid for reelection on Tuesday, calling the Colorado Springs Republican a “Fierce Advocate for our America First Agenda.” Crank, a staunch Trump ally, is seeking a second term in the reliably...

 Ohio Republican Jim Jordan headlines fundraisers for El Paso County GOP, Colorado House members

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, plans to appear at fundraisers for Colorado’s four GOP members of Congress this week while he’s visiting the state to speak at the El Paso County GOP’s annual fundraising dinner in...

 Colorado Democrats choose Pueblo for 2026 state assembly

The Colorado Democratic Party announced on Tuesday that its 2026 state assembly will take place at a historic theater in Pueblo next spring, marking the first time in eight years that the party will hold an in-person statewide nominating convention....

 ‘Be courageous’: Gabby Giffords talks gun violence prevention with Colorado Democrats | TRAIL MIX

Gabby Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman from Arizona who survived a 2011 assassination attempt, told a friendly audience in Thornton on Aug. 6 that it’ll take persistence over the long haul to end gun violence. “Move ahead, do not look...

 Democrat Jena Griswold endorsed by Jamie Raskin, James Coleman in Colorado’s attorney general primary

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Thursday released dozens of new endorsements for her candidacy in the 2026 Democratic primary for attorney general, including U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Senate President James Coleman and former state Reps. Leslie...

 Colorado’s transportation funding gap prompts push for new revenue sources through ballot measures

A pair of measures proposing a new way to provide additional funding for Colorado’s roads, bridges, and highways could be headed to the ballot next November. The initiatives, backed by retired contractor Donald Hanneman, and retired tech executive Michael Hancock,...

 Colorado Senate District 9 vacancy filled by Lynda Zamora Wilson in El Paso County

A vacancy committee has selected Republican Lynda Zamora Wilson to represent Senate District 9 following the resignation of former Minority Leader Paul Lundeen of Monument.  Wilson, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, has worked as an analyst for the...

 The Left is back in Resistance mode

The left flank of the Democratic Party is back on its Resistance footing against President Donald Trump less than 100 days into his second term. Sen. Cory Booker‘s (D-NJ) marathon anti-Trump speechmaking, the Democratic pilgrimages to a Salvadoran prison, and...

 Democrat, Republican enter Colorado state House race

A Democrat and a Republican have officially entered the race for House District 32, which includes parts of Westminster and Commerce City. The seat is currently held by Democratic Rep. Manny Rutinel, who is running for Congress. The eventual winner...

 ‘I want my Colorado back’: Teller County sheriff to run for Colorado governor

Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell is joining the 2026 Colorado gubernatorial race with plans to tackle several issues. His focuses will be on the budget shortfall, housing affordability issues, immigration policies and crime trends if elected all while emphasizing the...

 Colorado Springs tests machine to count, verify City Council election results

The ballots are mailed out and the machines are calibrated to count votes in Colorado Springs’ April 1 municipal election. The City Clerk’s office and elections staff ran the logic and accuracy test for the ballot counting machine early Monday...

 Top Trump ally Steve Bannon set to headline Colorado GOP’s annual fundraising dinner

Former senior Trump advisor Steve Bannon is slated to headline the Colorado Republican Party’s annual fundraising dinner in March, five months after the popular podcaster’s release from federal prison, the state GOP announced Thursday. An architect of Donald Trump’s 2016...

 Colorado GOP sues Republicans who tried to oust Dave Williams from state chair position

The Colorado Republican Party sued six prominent state Republicans this week alleging the group orchestrated a failed “coup” that attempted to remove state GOP Chairman Dave Williams and his fellow state party officers from their positions last summer, costing the...

 Colorado GOP adjourns online meeting without considering controversial bylaws amendments

It took just over an hour and a half for the Colorado Republican Party’s state central committee to decide it wasn’t going to conduct any business on Thursday night. About 90 minutes into an online meeting of the committee, state...

 Democratic state lawmaker Manny Rutinel launches bid to challenge Gabe Evans in Colorado’s 8th CD

State Rep. Manny Rutinel on Monday announced his candidate for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado’s swingy 8th Congressional District, a nearly evenly divided seat decided by some of the narrowest margins in the...