Colorado Politics
Politics can be confusing, frustrating, and feel overwhelming at times.
A recent Colorado Politics article noted how Americans worry about the country’s future, driven, in part, by narratives that describe this year’s presidential elections in apocalyptic terms.
Such framing inevitably misses the fact that politics, at its core, is local. Yes, federal policy shapes the contours of the country, often with global ramifications.
But what often truly matters is the action of local government officials and the laws passed at the ballot box.
Local policy directly affects people’s wallets and livelihood. Notably, local officials decide how and where to allocate taxpayer dollars. If their decision is sound, the benefits that accrue for communities are real and often exponential.
Our partners at Colorado Politics recently reached out to political candidates across the state in an effort to help voters determine who might be the best fit for them.
Included below is that report. It is important to note that candidate biographies are listed in the order they will appear on your ballot.
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES
3rd Congressional District
The Republican-leaning 3rd CD covers most of Colorado’s Western Slope and parts of Southern Colorado, including Pueblo County, San Luis Valley, and Otero County. Its major cities are Grand Junction, Pueblo, Durango and Aspen.
It’s currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who moved this cycle across the state to a safer district after narrowly defeating Democrat Adam Frisch in the last election.
This year, Frisch, a retired Wall Street currency trader and former member of the Aspen City Council, is making another run for the seat, this time against Republican Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney and first-time candidate.
Voter registration:
• Democrats: 110,158
• Republicans: 147,869
• Unaffiliated: 235,914
• Total active voters: 504,308
ADAM FRISCH
Party: Democrat
Website: www.adamforcolorado.com
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Economics, University of Colorado Boulder
If elected, what are your top three priorities, and how will you tackle them?
1) Cost of Living is killing our working families. We must invest in our communities by making workforce housing more affordable, improving access to health care in rural areas, and lowering the cost of child care.
2) Water is the lifeblood of Western and Southern Colorado. CD3 deserves better than to be represented in Congress by someone backed by special interests who want to steal our water and send it to Denver.
3) Healthcare must get more affordable and accessible in rural areas, so more families can live happier, healthier lives.
Please cite one pressing issue specific or unique to your district, and say how you plan to address it.
CD3 feels left out of the conversation by the Great State of Denver. CD3 is the only Colorado Congressional district that doesn’t touch the Denver Metro. I’ll make sure people in rural Colorado feel listened to and respected by Denver and DC.
Please describe your approach to working with colleagues from across the political aisle.
I’m not a partisan guy. I am not on Team Democrat or Team Republican, but Team CD3. Regular people are fed up with politics, which is why I won’t be a yes-man for either party. I’ll work across the aisle to address the real challenges that face communities in Western and Southern Colorado.
JEFF HURD
Party: Republican
Email: info@jeffhurdforcolorado.com
Website: jeffhurdforcolorado.com
Education: Bachelor’s degree, University of Notre Dame; J.D., University of Denver Sturm College of Law, 2008; LL.M., Columbia Law School, 2010
If elected, what are your top three priorities, and how will you tackle them?
My top three priorities are securing the southern border, supporting our energy industry, and protecting Colorado’s agriculture and water. I will work to enhance border security by completing construction in high risk areas, using advanced technology for surveillance, and strengthening penalties for illegal crossings. Supporting the energy industry is key to job creation and economic growth. I will advocate for responsible energy production policies, including traditional and renewable resources, to boost our local economy and ensure energy security. Protecting our water and agriculture is crucial for our rural communities. I will defend the Colorado River Compact and oppose water exportation schemes that threaten our district’s resources.
Please cite one pressing issue specific or unique to your district, and say how you plan to address it.
A pressing issue specific to our district is water management. I plan to address this by defending water rights, supporting high-altitude water storage, and collaborating with local leaders to protect our agricultural sector and sustain rural communities.
Please describe your approach to working with colleagues from across the political aisle.
I believe in working pragmatically across party lines to achieve results.
Building trust and open communication, especially on shared issues like agriculture and rural healthcare, is essential. I will seek common ground while upholding my principles, aiming to be a prepared, principled, and effective representative for Colorado’s 3rd District.
4th Congressional District
Dominated by Douglas County and portions of Larimer and Weld counties, the solidly Republican 4th CD covers Colorado Eastern Plains, including all or portions of 18 additional counties, including Bent and Crowley Counties.
The district was represented for five terms by Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who resigned his seat in March. Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a former restaurant owner who has represented the 3rd CD for two terms, moved into the district at the beginning of the year and won a six-way primary for the GOP nomination. She’s facing Democrat Trisha Calvarese, whose background includes writing speeches and policy work for the AFLCIO and the National Science Foundation, moved back to the district last year to care for aging parents shortly before both died.
Voter registration:
• Democrats: 88,839
• Republicans: 187,209
• Unaffiliated: 254,254
• Total active voters: 539,553
LAUREN BOEBERT
(INCUMBENT)
Party: Republican
Website: laurenforcolorado.com
If re-elected, what are your top three priorities, and how will you tackle them?
Our first priority must be securing our Southern Border, which the Biden-Harris Administration has failed to do. We have millions of illegal aliens pouring across our border, with dangerous terrorists and gang members bring drugs and chaos into our communities. It must stop. At a Colorado level, I will continue to prioritize protecting and storing water, as well as introducing bills to protect our oil & gas industry from overreach by the federal government. We need to manage our water resources responsibly for both our ag industry and development, and find solutions that work for our entire state.
Please cite one pressing issue specific or unique to your district, and say how you plan to address it.
Reliable access to water and a plan to store it for our ranchers and farmers, which is why I introduced the Finish the AVC Act to help complete the Arkansas Valley Conduit and have successfully secured millions in funding for water and infrastructure projects in Colorado.
Please describe your approach to working with colleagues from across the political aisle.
I’ve shown I can work across the aisle to get things done, like working with our Democrat Senators to get the Pueblo Jobs Act signed into law. We also collaborated on multiple Community Project Funding requests that led to tens of millions of dollars coming back to Colorado to fund important water and infrastructure projects.
TRISHA CALVARESE
Party: Democrat
Website: trisha4colorado.com
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Johns
Hopkins University
If elected, what are your top three priorities, and how will you tackle them?
I will fight for our veterans and our seniors, work to get the government out of reproductive choices and freedoms, and I will work to create paths to well-paid union jobs and apprenticeships right out of high school.
While Lauren Boebert has worked to slash Social Security and against health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits, I will always stand up for them. I’ll codify Roe v. Wade into law. And I will fight for new ladders of economic opportunity.
Please cite one pressing issue specific or unique to your district, and say how you plan to address it.
We face a rural healthcare crisis and Lauren Boebert’s failure to do her job has made it worse for Eastern Colorado. Families in our district have to drive hours to access basic healthcare.
I’ll fight to increase funding so rural hospitals and clinics can provide essential services, and I’ll push for expanded telehealth options.
Please describe your approach to working with colleagues from across the political aisle.
At the National Science Foundation, I worked with a Trump appointee to take on China and make the American economy more competitive. I’ll work with anyone to get good work done. But Lauren Boebert is a grandstander who only works for herself. We need leaders who will work for the people of Colorado.
BALLOT MEASURES
The Colorado General Assembly referred half of the constitutional amendments and propositions on the ballot this November, while citizens initiated the rest.
Proposals that seek to change the Colorado Constitution require 55% of the vote to pass, while statutory measures need a simple majority.
A quick note on the language: Propositions are statutory changes, while amendments are constitutional changes.
Here are the measures referred to the ballot by the Legislature:
Amendment G
This measure expands the eligibility for the homestead exemption — a property tax deduction — for veteran homeowners with a disability who are determined to be unemployable because of that disability and as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Amendment H
This measure establishes an independent judicial discipline adjudicative board, set standards for judicial review of a discipline case, and clarify when discipline proceedings become public.
The measure came out of calls in 2022 and 2023 for changes in the judicial discipline process after reports showed a substantial increase in the number of complaints about judges, most of which were dismissed by the state’s judicial commission for lack of jurisdiction, as well as concerns about a lack of transparency around the judicial discipline process.
Amendment I
This measure makes those charged with first-degree murder ineligible for bail.
Amendment J
This measure overturns Amendment 43, adopted by voters in 2006, that banned same-sex marriage. The 2006 initiative was proposed by then-Lt. Gov. Jane Norton and her husband, former U.S. Attorney Mike Norton, and was approved on a 55% to 45% vote.
However, Amendment 43 was deemed null after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriages in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.
Amendment K
This measure adds an extra week for some specific election deadlines. That includes changing, from three months, to three months and one week the deadline for filing initiative petitions with the Secretary of State one week before the election. It also changes from 90 days to 83 days the deadline for referendum petitions that challenge laws adopted by the General Assembly and gives judges and justices an extra week to file their intent to run for office.
Proposition JJ
This measure basically “de-Bruces” the state’s sports betting tax revenue, allowing the state to retain and spend all it collects. Under the measure, the state would use the first $29 million in revenue to regulate sports betting and pay for gambling programs. Any revenue over that would go to the state’s water plan implementation cash fund for water conservation and protection projects.
Voters approved Proposition DD in 2019, setting a 10% tax on sports betting proceeds. In 2022, the state collected $25.6 million from those taxes, more than double the amount collected the previous year. In 2023, revenues exceeded $27 million. According to Water Education Colorado, more than $60 million has been put toward water projects.
The fiscal note on HB24-1436 estimates revenues will exceed $30 million annually beginning in 2023-24.
Proposition KK
This measure, which won no Republican votes and garnered some Democratic opposition, imposes an excise tax on firearms and ammunition, effective April 1, 2025. If passed, it’s expected to generate $35 million in 2025-26, with the funds going toward the Colorado Crime Victim Services Fund for behavioral and mental health and for school security.
Here are the measures referred to the ballot by citizens:
Amendment 79
This measure enshrines the right to abortion in the Colorado Constitution and allows for the use of public funds for abortion services, reversing a 1984 initiative known as Amendment 3.
Amendment 80
The measure amends the Colorado Constitution to say all K-12 students have the right to equal opportunity to access a quality education, that parents have the right to direct their children’s education, and that school choice includes neighborhood, charter, private, and home schools, open enrollment options, and any future innovations in education.
Proposition 127
This measure prohibits the hunting of bobcats, mountain lions, and lynx in Colorado. According to the Common Sense Institute, some portions of the measure are already illegal in Colorado, such as hunting and trapping lynx and mountain lions solely for trophies.
Proposition 128
This measure requires individuals convicted of certain violent crimes, including murder, sexual assault, and aggravated robbery, to serve at least 85% of their sentence before being eligible for parole. Those convicted of a violent offense three or more times will be required to serve their entire sentence without being eligible for parole or early release.
Proposition 129
This measure creates a new mid-level role in the veterinary field called a veterinary professional associate. The position would require a Master’s degree and would be a step above a veterinary technician but below a doctor of veterinary medicine.
Proposition 110
This measure creates a “peace officer training and support fund” within the Department of Public Safety to assist in recruiting, training, and supporting law enforcement officers and their families.
Proposition 131
This measure changes Colorado’s primary system to an open system, with candidates chosen by voters regardless of party affiliation and not by political parties. The four candidates with the most votes, regardless of party, would then move on to the general election.
The initiative also proposes a ranked-choice voting system, in which voters would rank candidates rather than voting for just one. If approved by voters, the proposition would have gone into effect in 2026, but the Colorado General Assembly, in the final week of its session, passed SB 210, which would delay its implementation until 2028.
