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Darien Wilson is a small-business owner with two successful companies and the picture of the average working mom with a resume full of community and volunteer positions. Like many people in the community, Wilson is tired of the same old conservative talking points from the county commission with little progress. She’s running to help work on the problems of tomorrow, like preserving the environment for future generations and actually achieving traffic efficiency. Wilson represents the kind of desperately needed change the county needs, and she has our recommendation in this election.
She hopes to unseat current commissioner Lora Thomas, a staunch conservative. She admittedly is accomplished in her public service career and has clear points of focus for the county — traffic, mental health care, and balancing population growth and water needs. But she openly defends the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) even while pointing out that she’s had to take money budgeted for other areas like jails in order to keep her promises about fixing roads. Her campaign site plainly says “wealth rightly belongs to the people who earn it,” and she wants to outsource to the private sector as much as possible. These things don’t add up to strong progressive values.
Darien Wilson is a small-business owner with two successful companies and the picture of the average working mom with a resume full of community and volunteer positions. Like many people in the community, Wilson is tired of the same old conservative talking points from the county commission with little progress. She’s running to help work on the problems of tomorrow, like preserving the environment for future generations and actually achieving traffic efficiency. Wilson represents the kind of desperately needed change the county needs, and she has our recommendation in this election.
She hopes to unseat current commissioner Lora Thomas, a staunch conservative. She admittedly is accomplished in her public service career and has clear points of focus for the county — traffic, mental health care, and balancing population growth and water needs. But she openly defends the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) even while pointing out that she’s had to take money budgeted for other areas like jails in order to keep her promises about fixing roads. Her campaign site plainly says “wealth rightly belongs to the people who earn it,” and she wants to outsource to the private sector as much as possible. These things don’t add up to strong progressive values.
Darien Wilson is a small-business owner with two successful companies and the picture of the average working mom with a resume full of community and volunteer positions. Like many people in the community, Wilson is tired of the same old conservative talking points from the county commission with little progress. She’s running to help work on the problems of tomorrow, like preserving the environment for future generations and actually achieving traffic efficiency. Wilson represents the kind of desperately needed change the county needs, and she has our recommendation in this election.
She hopes to unseat current commissioner Lora Thomas, a staunch conservative. She admittedly is accomplished in her public service career and has clear points of focus for the county — traffic, mental health care, and balancing population growth and water needs. But she openly defends the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) even while pointing out that she’s had to take money budgeted for other areas like jails in order to keep her promises about fixing roads. Her campaign site plainly says “wealth rightly belongs to the people who earn it,” and she wants to outsource to the private sector as much as possible. These things don’t add up to strong progressive values.
Joe Biden is one of the nation’s most experienced public servants, having served as a U.S. senator from Delaware for 36 years and the U.S. vice president for eight years. Biden is running on a comprehensive progressive platform.
Biden has championed individual rights throughout his career — from spearheading the Violence Against Women Act to passing laws that expanded the definition of hate crimes to include those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. Biden led the fight to pass the Brady Bill, which established the national firearms background check system, and helped secure a 10-year ban on assault weapons from 1994-2004. As vice president, Biden oversaw the implementation of one of the largest economic recovery plans in American history in 2009, saving the American automobile industry and millions of American jobs in all sectors of the economy. During the Obama/Biden administration, the United States made significant progress toward a clean energy economy and provided health coverage to millions of Americans via the passage of the Affordable Care Act — a law Biden has vowed to expand and improve.
If elected president, Biden has pledged to work to reverse the damage from the last four years of partisan obstruction and executive branch policies solely benefiting the wealthy and well-connected. Biden supports a $15-per-hour minimum wage and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers. He also seeks to address the country's racial wealth disparity, equal opportunity, and jobs gaps by empowering small-business creation and expansion in economically disadvantaged areas. On the climate crisis, Biden proposes net-zero CO2 emissions in the U.S. by 2050 and rejoining the Paris climate accords. On the immediate front, Biden has proposed a national crisis response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden’s experience handling the economic recovery with Obama after the Great Recession of 2009 will inform his actions to help individuals, families, small businesses, and local and state governments that are struggling badly as a result of the botched response to the pandemic. Biden will restore the long-standing precedent that public health decisions are best made by public health professionals.
Biden has pledged to defend abortion rights, expand and protect union membership, bring together an equitable and diverse group of experts to handle the nation’s institutional racism crisis, and restore dignity to the office of president of the United States.
Biden is the clear presidential choice for progressive voters.
In this election, he faces Donald Trump — considered by progressives to be the most corrupt, incompetent, anti-progressive president in recent memory and perhaps in American history. Trump’s biggest achievement as president was forcing through a massive tax cut that overwhelmingly favored the wealthiest Americans, making the nation’s historic income-disparity problem even worse. Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, making the U.S. one of very few countries that are not signatories. Trump’s administration has encouraged repeated unsuccessful attempts by Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health coverage to millions of Americans, including a federal court challenge in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to dismantle the law. Trump has supported racist immigration practices that contravene international law on the treatment of refugees.
Trump’s decisions have trickled into even the most mundane things, affecting Americans on a daily basis. Trump scrapped a bill requiring airlines to disclose bag fees, blocked consumers from suing banks, ignored the growing crisis over student loans, lifted bans on transferring military equipment to local law enforcement which has exacerbated police-citizen conflicts, particularly in relation to Black Lives Matter protests, and has set off a trade war with China that has done tremendous economic damage to American agricultural producers and manufacturers.
Controversies involving Trump’s presidency are too numerous to list here but include lying about mail voting to such a degree that social media platforms have been forced to remove his misinformation, racist, sexist, and defamatory statements against his political opponents, dispatching federal police to attack protesters in unmarked vehicles, installing corrupt and incompetent tools of special interest into every level of government, nominating federal judges and Supreme Court justices who seek to overturn Roe v. Wade, banning transgender Americans from military service, helping spread baseless conspiracy theories, defending the actions of overt white supremacists and racist nationalists, downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic to the public despite detailed foreknowledge of the coming disaster, pursuing diplomacy with dictators while scorning traditional American allies, and changing federal guidelines to undermine racial equality. For a more comprehensive list, we encourage you to visit the Wikipedia page for Trump administration controversies.
Evidence abounds showing that Trump never disassociated himself from his businesses and has used his office for personal enrichment. And let’s not forget he was impeached over revelations he first blocked military aid to Ukraine and then pushed its president to dig up damaging info on his political opponent as a “favor.”
Trump must not only be defeated, but the margin of victory must be so resounding as to prevent him from calling the results of the election into question as he has already pledged to do.
Joe Biden is one of the nation’s most experienced public servants, having served as a U.S. senator from Delaware for 36 years and the U.S. vice president for eight years. Biden is running on a comprehensive progressive platform.
Biden has championed individual rights throughout his career — from spearheading the Violence Against Women Act to passing laws that expanded the definition of hate crimes to include those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. Biden led the fight to pass the Brady Bill, which established the national firearms background check system, and helped secure a 10-year ban on assault weapons from 1994-2004. As vice president, Biden oversaw the implementation of one of the largest economic recovery plans in American history in 2009, saving the American automobile industry and millions of American jobs in all sectors of the economy. During the Obama/Biden administration, the United States made significant progress toward a clean energy economy and provided health coverage to millions of Americans via the passage of the Affordable Care Act — a law Biden has vowed to expand and improve.
If elected president, Biden has pledged to work to reverse the damage from the last four years of partisan obstruction and executive branch policies solely benefiting the wealthy and well-connected. Biden supports a $15-per-hour minimum wage and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers. He also seeks to address the country's racial wealth disparity, equal opportunity, and jobs gaps by empowering small-business creation and expansion in economically disadvantaged areas. On the climate crisis, Biden proposes net-zero CO2 emissions in the U.S. by 2050 and rejoining the Paris climate accords. On the immediate front, Biden has proposed a national crisis response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden’s experience handling the economic recovery with Obama after the Great Recession of 2009 will inform his actions to help individuals, families, small businesses, and local and state governments that are struggling badly as a result of the botched response to the pandemic. Biden will restore the long-standing precedent that public health decisions are best made by public health professionals.
Biden has pledged to defend abortion rights, expand and protect union membership, bring together an equitable and diverse group of experts to handle the nation’s institutional racism crisis, and restore dignity to the office of president of the United States.
Biden is the clear presidential choice for progressive voters.
In this election, he faces Donald Trump — considered by progressives to be the most corrupt, incompetent, anti-progressive president in recent memory and perhaps in American history. Trump’s biggest achievement as president was forcing through a massive tax cut that overwhelmingly favored the wealthiest Americans, making the nation’s historic income-disparity problem even worse. Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, making the U.S. one of very few countries that are not signatories. Trump’s administration has encouraged repeated unsuccessful attempts by Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health coverage to millions of Americans, including a federal court challenge in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to dismantle the law. Trump has supported racist immigration practices that contravene international law on the treatment of refugees.
Trump’s decisions have trickled into even the most mundane things, affecting Americans on a daily basis. Trump scrapped a bill requiring airlines to disclose bag fees, blocked consumers from suing banks, ignored the growing crisis over student loans, lifted bans on transferring military equipment to local law enforcement which has exacerbated police-citizen conflicts, particularly in relation to Black Lives Matter protests, and has set off a trade war with China that has done tremendous economic damage to American agricultural producers and manufacturers.
Controversies involving Trump’s presidency are too numerous to list here but include lying about mail voting to such a degree that social media platforms have been forced to remove his misinformation, racist, sexist, and defamatory statements against his political opponents, dispatching federal police to attack protesters in unmarked vehicles, installing corrupt and incompetent tools of special interest into every level of government, nominating federal judges and Supreme Court justices who seek to overturn Roe v. Wade, banning transgender Americans from military service, helping spread baseless conspiracy theories, defending the actions of overt white supremacists and racist nationalists, downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic to the public despite detailed foreknowledge of the coming disaster, pursuing diplomacy with dictators while scorning traditional American allies, and changing federal guidelines to undermine racial equality. For a more comprehensive list, we encourage you to visit the Wikipedia page for Trump administration controversies.
Evidence abounds showing that Trump never disassociated himself from his businesses and has used his office for personal enrichment. And let’s not forget he was impeached over revelations he first blocked military aid to Ukraine and then pushed its president to dig up damaging info on his political opponent as a “favor.”
Trump must not only be defeated, but the margin of victory must be so resounding as to prevent him from calling the results of the election into question as he has already pledged to do.
Joe Biden is one of the nation’s most experienced public servants, having served as a U.S. senator from Delaware for 36 years and the U.S. vice president for eight years. Biden is running on a comprehensive progressive platform.
Biden has championed individual rights throughout his career — from spearheading the Violence Against Women Act to passing laws that expanded the definition of hate crimes to include those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. Biden led the fight to pass the Brady Bill, which established the national firearms background check system, and helped secure a 10-year ban on assault weapons from 1994-2004. As vice president, Biden oversaw the implementation of one of the largest economic recovery plans in American history in 2009, saving the American automobile industry and millions of American jobs in all sectors of the economy. During the Obama/Biden administration, the United States made significant progress toward a clean energy economy and provided health coverage to millions of Americans via the passage of the Affordable Care Act — a law Biden has vowed to expand and improve.
If elected president, Biden has pledged to work to reverse the damage from the last four years of partisan obstruction and executive branch policies solely benefiting the wealthy and well-connected. Biden supports a $15-per-hour minimum wage and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers. He also seeks to address the country's racial wealth disparity, equal opportunity, and jobs gaps by empowering small-business creation and expansion in economically disadvantaged areas. On the climate crisis, Biden proposes net-zero CO2 emissions in the U.S. by 2050 and rejoining the Paris climate accords. On the immediate front, Biden has proposed a national crisis response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden’s experience handling the economic recovery with Obama after the Great Recession of 2009 will inform his actions to help individuals, families, small businesses, and local and state governments that are struggling badly as a result of the botched response to the pandemic. Biden will restore the long-standing precedent that public health decisions are best made by public health professionals.
Biden has pledged to defend abortion rights, expand and protect union membership, bring together an equitable and diverse group of experts to handle the nation’s institutional racism crisis, and restore dignity to the office of president of the United States.
Biden is the clear presidential choice for progressive voters.
In this election, he faces Donald Trump — considered by progressives to be the most corrupt, incompetent, anti-progressive president in recent memory and perhaps in American history. Trump’s biggest achievement as president was forcing through a massive tax cut that overwhelmingly favored the wealthiest Americans, making the nation’s historic income-disparity problem even worse. Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, making the U.S. one of very few countries that are not signatories. Trump’s administration has encouraged repeated unsuccessful attempts by Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health coverage to millions of Americans, including a federal court challenge in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic to dismantle the law. Trump has supported racist immigration practices that contravene international law on the treatment of refugees.
Trump’s decisions have trickled into even the most mundane things, affecting Americans on a daily basis. Trump scrapped a bill requiring airlines to disclose bag fees, blocked consumers from suing banks, ignored the growing crisis over student loans, lifted bans on transferring military equipment to local law enforcement which has exacerbated police-citizen conflicts, particularly in relation to Black Lives Matter protests, and has set off a trade war with China that has done tremendous economic damage to American agricultural producers and manufacturers.
Controversies involving Trump’s presidency are too numerous to list here but include lying about mail voting to such a degree that social media platforms have been forced to remove his misinformation, racist, sexist, and defamatory statements against his political opponents, dispatching federal police to attack protesters in unmarked vehicles, installing corrupt and incompetent tools of special interest into every level of government, nominating federal judges and Supreme Court justices who seek to overturn Roe v. Wade, banning transgender Americans from military service, helping spread baseless conspiracy theories, defending the actions of overt white supremacists and racist nationalists, downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic to the public despite detailed foreknowledge of the coming disaster, pursuing diplomacy with dictators while scorning traditional American allies, and changing federal guidelines to undermine racial equality. For a more comprehensive list, we encourage you to visit the Wikipedia page for Trump administration controversies.
Evidence abounds showing that Trump never disassociated himself from his businesses and has used his office for personal enrichment. And let’s not forget he was impeached over revelations he first blocked military aid to Ukraine and then pushed its president to dig up damaging info on his political opponent as a “favor.”
Trump must not only be defeated, but the margin of victory must be so resounding as to prevent him from calling the results of the election into question as he has already pledged to do.
Former Colorado Gov. and incumbent U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper did not take the usual path into public office. After being laid off from his job as a geologist, he opened a successful brewpub. But as a small-business owner, he became involved in his community, and he ran for office. He served two terms each as mayor of Denver and governor of Colorado, using his unique perspective to bring people together to get things done.
When Hickenlooper was sworn in as governor in 2010, Colorado ranked 40th among the states in job creation. By the time Hickenlooper left office eight years later, Colorado had the #1 economy in the nation. Under Hickenlooper, when he was governor, Colorado’s economy grew without leaving Coloradans behind. Hickenlooper expanded Medicaid to cover an additional 400,000 Coloradans and cut the uninsured rate by nearly two-thirds. He signed three landmark gun safety laws in 2013 that banned high-capacity magazines and required background checks for any firearm transfer. On the environment, Hickenlooper made Colorado the first state to limit methane pollution from oil and gas wells. Working with the General Assembly, Hickenlooper signed legislation to ensure every eligible registered voter in Colorado gets a mail-in ballot, made voter registration more accessible, and pushed for numerous other election reforms that have made Colorado a model for election innovation. He also signed historic legislation granting in-state tuition to DREAMers.
Hickenlooper has vowed to improve and build on the Affordable Care Act and supports a federally administered public health coverage option. Hickenlooper recognizes the existential threat of climate change and favors a bold, science-based approach. He supports commonsense policies on gun violence, including restoring an assault weapons ban. Hickenlooper was the first governor of Colorado to apologize for the Sand Creek Massacre and has committed to listening to the voices of marginalized communities and rooting out systemic racism where it lurks in our society, from police brutality to immigration laws to racial disparities in economic status to access to quality education.
Hickenlooper is the progressive voter’s best choice for U.S. senator.
He faces incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in this election. While in the Senate, Gardner has been a reliable Republican vote on the overwhelming majority of issues. He has supported Donald Trump’s position on votes 89% of the time, and Politico notes that Gardner is “reliably conservative on most issues.” In 2014, Gardner promised in a campaign ad to speak out when his party is wrong and called on Donald Trump to pull out of the race for president in October of 2016. Since then, however, Gardner has fully embraced Trump and was one of the first senators to endorse Trump’s reelection.
From his earliest votes in Congress, Gardner has consistently sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He has voted to repeal the ACA and to replace it with a bill that would dramatically decrease health care coverage and increase the cost of coverage. He was quoted at a private luncheon that failing to repeal the ACA would result in fewer donations to Republicans, suggesting he is not motivated by the common good.
Gardner has rejected most gun safety legislation throughout his career and is a top recipient of donations from the National Rifle Association. He has voted against expanding background checks to include gun show sales, which has been the law in Colorado since just after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. He even voted against banning gun sales to people on the terrorist watch list.
In a historic change of heart, The Denver Post editorial board declared in 2019 they made a mistake in their 2014 endorsement of Gardner, stating he “has been too busy walking a political tight rope to be a leader.”
This race also has a Libertarian candidate: Raymon Doane. Doane is a Denver native who currently works for the Colorado Department of Revenue as a property tax specialist and business analyst. He previously ran for the state senate in 2016 as a Republican, and in 2018, he first filed to run for state treasurer and then for Congress against Democrat Diana DeGette as a Libertarian.
Doane’s few public statements should give voters pause. While the country has been dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, Doane was quoted as saying, “The federal government should not have to intervene on behalf of local municipalities and states that make poor decisions during a pandemic.” He also has said he thinks public health mandates should be more like “suggestions.” Additionally, among the four policy positions Doane takes on his website, one statement endorsing an unregulated Second Amendment stands out: “The government should NEVER have a monopoly on force. The U.S. Senate must … refuse to vote for any legislation which limits an American’s right to self-defense.” These kinds of statements don’t represent Colorado progressives.
Former Colorado Gov. and incumbent U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper did not take the usual path into public office. After being laid off from his job as a geologist, he opened a successful brewpub. But as a small-business owner, he became involved in his community, and he ran for office. He served two terms each as mayor of Denver and governor of Colorado, using his unique perspective to bring people together to get things done.
When Hickenlooper was sworn in as governor in 2010, Colorado ranked 40th among the states in job creation. By the time Hickenlooper left office eight years later, Colorado had the #1 economy in the nation. Under Hickenlooper, when he was governor, Colorado’s economy grew without leaving Coloradans behind. Hickenlooper expanded Medicaid to cover an additional 400,000 Coloradans and cut the uninsured rate by nearly two-thirds. He signed three landmark gun safety laws in 2013 that banned high-capacity magazines and required background checks for any firearm transfer. On the environment, Hickenlooper made Colorado the first state to limit methane pollution from oil and gas wells. Working with the General Assembly, Hickenlooper signed legislation to ensure every eligible registered voter in Colorado gets a mail-in ballot, made voter registration more accessible, and pushed for numerous other election reforms that have made Colorado a model for election innovation. He also signed historic legislation granting in-state tuition to DREAMers.
Hickenlooper has vowed to improve and build on the Affordable Care Act and supports a federally administered public health coverage option. Hickenlooper recognizes the existential threat of climate change and favors a bold, science-based approach. He supports commonsense policies on gun violence, including restoring an assault weapons ban. Hickenlooper was the first governor of Colorado to apologize for the Sand Creek Massacre and has committed to listening to the voices of marginalized communities and rooting out systemic racism where it lurks in our society, from police brutality to immigration laws to racial disparities in economic status to access to quality education.
Hickenlooper is the progressive voter’s best choice for U.S. senator.
He faces incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in this election. While in the Senate, Gardner has been a reliable Republican vote on the overwhelming majority of issues. He has supported Donald Trump’s position on votes 89% of the time, and Politico notes that Gardner is “reliably conservative on most issues.” In 2014, Gardner promised in a campaign ad to speak out when his party is wrong and called on Donald Trump to pull out of the race for president in October of 2016. Since then, however, Gardner has fully embraced Trump and was one of the first senators to endorse Trump’s reelection.
From his earliest votes in Congress, Gardner has consistently sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He has voted to repeal the ACA and to replace it with a bill that would dramatically decrease health care coverage and increase the cost of coverage. He was quoted at a private luncheon that failing to repeal the ACA would result in fewer donations to Republicans, suggesting he is not motivated by the common good.
Gardner has rejected most gun safety legislation throughout his career and is a top recipient of donations from the National Rifle Association. He has voted against expanding background checks to include gun show sales, which has been the law in Colorado since just after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. He even voted against banning gun sales to people on the terrorist watch list.
In a historic change of heart, The Denver Post editorial board declared in 2019 they made a mistake in their 2014 endorsement of Gardner, stating he “has been too busy walking a political tight rope to be a leader.”
This race also has a Libertarian candidate: Raymon Doane. Doane is a Denver native who currently works for the Colorado Department of Revenue as a property tax specialist and business analyst. He previously ran for the state senate in 2016 as a Republican, and in 2018, he first filed to run for state treasurer and then for Congress against Democrat Diana DeGette as a Libertarian.
Doane’s few public statements should give voters pause. While the country has been dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, Doane was quoted as saying, “The federal government should not have to intervene on behalf of local municipalities and states that make poor decisions during a pandemic.” He also has said he thinks public health mandates should be more like “suggestions.” Additionally, among the four policy positions Doane takes on his website, one statement endorsing an unregulated Second Amendment stands out: “The government should NEVER have a monopoly on force. The U.S. Senate must … refuse to vote for any legislation which limits an American’s right to self-defense.” These kinds of statements don’t represent Colorado progressives.
Former Colorado Gov. and incumbent U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper did not take the usual path into public office. After being laid off from his job as a geologist, he opened a successful brewpub. But as a small-business owner, he became involved in his community, and he ran for office. He served two terms each as mayor of Denver and governor of Colorado, using his unique perspective to bring people together to get things done.
When Hickenlooper was sworn in as governor in 2010, Colorado ranked 40th among the states in job creation. By the time Hickenlooper left office eight years later, Colorado had the #1 economy in the nation. Under Hickenlooper, when he was governor, Colorado’s economy grew without leaving Coloradans behind. Hickenlooper expanded Medicaid to cover an additional 400,000 Coloradans and cut the uninsured rate by nearly two-thirds. He signed three landmark gun safety laws in 2013 that banned high-capacity magazines and required background checks for any firearm transfer. On the environment, Hickenlooper made Colorado the first state to limit methane pollution from oil and gas wells. Working with the General Assembly, Hickenlooper signed legislation to ensure every eligible registered voter in Colorado gets a mail-in ballot, made voter registration more accessible, and pushed for numerous other election reforms that have made Colorado a model for election innovation. He also signed historic legislation granting in-state tuition to DREAMers.
Hickenlooper has vowed to improve and build on the Affordable Care Act and supports a federally administered public health coverage option. Hickenlooper recognizes the existential threat of climate change and favors a bold, science-based approach. He supports commonsense policies on gun violence, including restoring an assault weapons ban. Hickenlooper was the first governor of Colorado to apologize for the Sand Creek Massacre and has committed to listening to the voices of marginalized communities and rooting out systemic racism where it lurks in our society, from police brutality to immigration laws to racial disparities in economic status to access to quality education.
Hickenlooper is the progressive voter’s best choice for U.S. senator.
He faces incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in this election. While in the Senate, Gardner has been a reliable Republican vote on the overwhelming majority of issues. He has supported Donald Trump’s position on votes 89% of the time, and Politico notes that Gardner is “reliably conservative on most issues.” In 2014, Gardner promised in a campaign ad to speak out when his party is wrong and called on Donald Trump to pull out of the race for president in October of 2016. Since then, however, Gardner has fully embraced Trump and was one of the first senators to endorse Trump’s reelection.
From his earliest votes in Congress, Gardner has consistently sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He has voted to repeal the ACA and to replace it with a bill that would dramatically decrease health care coverage and increase the cost of coverage. He was quoted at a private luncheon that failing to repeal the ACA would result in fewer donations to Republicans, suggesting he is not motivated by the common good.
Gardner has rejected most gun safety legislation throughout his career and is a top recipient of donations from the National Rifle Association. He has voted against expanding background checks to include gun show sales, which has been the law in Colorado since just after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. He even voted against banning gun sales to people on the terrorist watch list.
In a historic change of heart, The Denver Post editorial board declared in 2019 they made a mistake in their 2014 endorsement of Gardner, stating he “has been too busy walking a political tight rope to be a leader.”
This race also has a Libertarian candidate: Raymon Doane. Doane is a Denver native who currently works for the Colorado Department of Revenue as a property tax specialist and business analyst. He previously ran for the state senate in 2016 as a Republican, and in 2018, he first filed to run for state treasurer and then for Congress against Democrat Diana DeGette as a Libertarian.
Doane’s few public statements should give voters pause. While the country has been dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, Doane was quoted as saying, “The federal government should not have to intervene on behalf of local municipalities and states that make poor decisions during a pandemic.” He also has said he thinks public health mandates should be more like “suggestions.” Additionally, among the four policy positions Doane takes on his website, one statement endorsing an unregulated Second Amendment stands out: “The government should NEVER have a monopoly on force. The U.S. Senate must … refuse to vote for any legislation which limits an American’s right to self-defense.” These kinds of statements don’t represent Colorado progressives.
Ike McCorkle is challenging the Republican incumbent for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. The single father of three kids believes the people in the district deserve a representative who is dedicated to them, not the elite. In order to get Big Money out of politics, he supports a publicly funded, transparent system of campaign financing and wants to see the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling overturned to limit the influence of special interest groups that are buying much of our governmental leadership.
McCorkle is also an unabashed environmentalist who intends to fight for a Green New Deal not just to address the existential threat of climate change and rapidly transition energy production but to reinvest in rural America and create thousands of good-paying jobs in his district. Other policies he supports are ones that will expand equity and opportunity for everyone, including Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, reducing college debt by imposing a tax on Wall Street speculators, and a universal basic income system.
A retired Marine Corps officer and special operator who served for 18 years, six deployments, and four combat tours, McCorkle seeks to bring dignity and integrity to Congress and restore trust and confidence in government. He is a clear progressive choice who, if elected, plans to bring people with diverse backgrounds and beliefs together to build an American society where we lift each other up so that we all benefit together.
The incumbent he faces is U.S. Sen. Ken Buck, a former prosecutor and district attorney in Weld County who has been in Congress since 2014. His legal career has been marred by numerous ethical scandals, including compromising a case against Republican donors and declining to prosecute a sexual assault, instead blaming the victim. Since he has been in Congress, Buck has toed the party’s extreme right-wing line. He is anti-choice, opposes reasonable gun safety legislation, and has said that being gay is a choice. Buck also voted in favor of the 2017 tax reform bill, which heavily favored the wealthy and corporations while increasing tax burdens on the middle class. With all this in mind, Buck must not remain in office.
Ike McCorkle is challenging the Republican incumbent for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. The single father of three kids believes the people in the district deserve a representative who is dedicated to them, not the elite. In order to get Big Money out of politics, he supports a publicly funded, transparent system of campaign financing and wants to see the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling overturned to limit the influence of special interest groups that are buying much of our governmental leadership.
McCorkle is also an unabashed environmentalist who intends to fight for a Green New Deal not just to address the existential threat of climate change and rapidly transition energy production but to reinvest in rural America and create thousands of good-paying jobs in his district. Other policies he supports are ones that will expand equity and opportunity for everyone, including Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, reducing college debt by imposing a tax on Wall Street speculators, and a universal basic income system.
A retired Marine Corps officer and special operator who served for 18 years, six deployments, and four combat tours, McCorkle seeks to bring dignity and integrity to Congress and restore trust and confidence in government. He is a clear progressive choice who, if elected, plans to bring people with diverse backgrounds and beliefs together to build an American society where we lift each other up so that we all benefit together.
The incumbent he faces is U.S. Sen. Ken Buck, a former prosecutor and district attorney in Weld County who has been in Congress since 2014. His legal career has been marred by numerous ethical scandals, including compromising a case against Republican donors and declining to prosecute a sexual assault, instead blaming the victim. Since he has been in Congress, Buck has toed the party’s extreme right-wing line. He is anti-choice, opposes reasonable gun safety legislation, and has said that being gay is a choice. Buck also voted in favor of the 2017 tax reform bill, which heavily favored the wealthy and corporations while increasing tax burdens on the middle class. With all this in mind, Buck must not remain in office.
Ike McCorkle is challenging the Republican incumbent for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. The single father of three kids believes the people in the district deserve a representative who is dedicated to them, not the elite. In order to get Big Money out of politics, he supports a publicly funded, transparent system of campaign financing and wants to see the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling overturned to limit the influence of special interest groups that are buying much of our governmental leadership.
McCorkle is also an unabashed environmentalist who intends to fight for a Green New Deal not just to address the existential threat of climate change and rapidly transition energy production but to reinvest in rural America and create thousands of good-paying jobs in his district. Other policies he supports are ones that will expand equity and opportunity for everyone, including Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, reducing college debt by imposing a tax on Wall Street speculators, and a universal basic income system.
A retired Marine Corps officer and special operator who served for 18 years, six deployments, and four combat tours, McCorkle seeks to bring dignity and integrity to Congress and restore trust and confidence in government. He is a clear progressive choice who, if elected, plans to bring people with diverse backgrounds and beliefs together to build an American society where we lift each other up so that we all benefit together.
The incumbent he faces is U.S. Sen. Ken Buck, a former prosecutor and district attorney in Weld County who has been in Congress since 2014. His legal career has been marred by numerous ethical scandals, including compromising a case against Republican donors and declining to prosecute a sexual assault, instead blaming the victim. Since he has been in Congress, Buck has toed the party’s extreme right-wing line. He is anti-choice, opposes reasonable gun safety legislation, and has said that being gay is a choice. Buck also voted in favor of the 2017 tax reform bill, which heavily favored the wealthy and corporations while increasing tax burdens on the middle class. With all this in mind, Buck must not remain in office.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a lawyer and former Army Ranger who completed three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is running for reelection in Colorado's 6th Congressional District. In 2018, he defeated longtime Republican incumbent Mike Coffman to become the first Democrat ever to represent this district.
Before serving in Congress, Crow spent years helping veterans like himself who struggled to receive benefits, focusing his work on veteran homelessness and substance abuse issues. Then, during his first term, Crow stepped into the national spotlight as one of the seven impeachment managers who argued for Donald Trump’s removal from office during the Senate trial. Crow made the case that Trump put both Ukraine’s safety and the U.S.’s national security at risk by withholding military aid in exchange for political favors.
Crow’s district is the most diverse in Colorado, with 1 in 5 residents being born outside the United States; Crow has said this is what makes his community such a special place to live. He supports protecting DREAMers and passing comprehensive immigration reform and has called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end its contracts with private prison companies.
Crow has also focused on instituting campaign finance reform. The first bill he sponsored, the End Dark Money Act, would prevent mega-donors from being able to hide their political contributions. His other priorities include preventing gun violence, combatting the effects of climate change, ensuring small businesses are able to thrive, and fighting for a bold investment in America’s infrastructure.
Running against him is Steve House, the former chair of the Colorado Republican Party and a one-time gubernatorial candidate. He spent 35 years working in the health care industry, yet the biggest point House has made about problems in the health care system is that “we must face the facts and repeal Obamacare.” House apparently doesn’t realize that recent Republican efforts to repeal and replace what’s officially known as the Affordable Care Act—which has been a lifeline for many Americans struggling with health insurance coverage—have been cited as increasing the cost of health care coverage while also reducing coverage throughout the U.S. This kind of regressive thinking can’t be elected to office.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a lawyer and former Army Ranger who completed three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is running for reelection in Colorado's 6th Congressional District. In 2018, he defeated longtime Republican incumbent Mike Coffman to become the first Democrat ever to represent this district.
Before serving in Congress, Crow spent years helping veterans like himself who struggled to receive benefits, focusing his work on veteran homelessness and substance abuse issues. Then, during his first term, Crow stepped into the national spotlight as one of the seven impeachment managers who argued for Donald Trump’s removal from office during the Senate trial. Crow made the case that Trump put both Ukraine’s safety and the U.S.’s national security at risk by withholding military aid in exchange for political favors.
Crow’s district is the most diverse in Colorado, with 1 in 5 residents being born outside the United States; Crow has said this is what makes his community such a special place to live. He supports protecting DREAMers and passing comprehensive immigration reform and has called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end its contracts with private prison companies.
Crow has also focused on instituting campaign finance reform. The first bill he sponsored, the End Dark Money Act, would prevent mega-donors from being able to hide their political contributions. His other priorities include preventing gun violence, combatting the effects of climate change, ensuring small businesses are able to thrive, and fighting for a bold investment in America’s infrastructure.
Running against him is Steve House, the former chair of the Colorado Republican Party and a one-time gubernatorial candidate. He spent 35 years working in the health care industry, yet the biggest point House has made about problems in the health care system is that “we must face the facts and repeal Obamacare.” House apparently doesn’t realize that recent Republican efforts to repeal and replace what’s officially known as the Affordable Care Act—which has been a lifeline for many Americans struggling with health insurance coverage—have been cited as increasing the cost of health care coverage while also reducing coverage throughout the U.S. This kind of regressive thinking can’t be elected to office.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a lawyer and former Army Ranger who completed three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is running for reelection in Colorado's 6th Congressional District. In 2018, he defeated longtime Republican incumbent Mike Coffman to become the first Democrat ever to represent this district.
Before serving in Congress, Crow spent years helping veterans like himself who struggled to receive benefits, focusing his work on veteran homelessness and substance abuse issues. Then, during his first term, Crow stepped into the national spotlight as one of the seven impeachment managers who argued for Donald Trump’s removal from office during the Senate trial. Crow made the case that Trump put both Ukraine’s safety and the U.S.’s national security at risk by withholding military aid in exchange for political favors.
Crow’s district is the most diverse in Colorado, with 1 in 5 residents being born outside the United States; Crow has said this is what makes his community such a special place to live. He supports protecting DREAMers and passing comprehensive immigration reform and has called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end its contracts with private prison companies.
Crow has also focused on instituting campaign finance reform. The first bill he sponsored, the End Dark Money Act, would prevent mega-donors from being able to hide their political contributions. His other priorities include preventing gun violence, combatting the effects of climate change, ensuring small businesses are able to thrive, and fighting for a bold investment in America’s infrastructure.
Running against him is Steve House, the former chair of the Colorado Republican Party and a one-time gubernatorial candidate. He spent 35 years working in the health care industry, yet the biggest point House has made about problems in the health care system is that “we must face the facts and repeal Obamacare.” House apparently doesn’t realize that recent Republican efforts to repeal and replace what’s officially known as the Affordable Care Act—which has been a lifeline for many Americans struggling with health insurance coverage—have been cited as increasing the cost of health care coverage while also reducing coverage throughout the U.S. This kind of regressive thinking can’t be elected to office.
Ilana Spiegel is a highly experienced and well-respected grassroots organizer, columnist, and public education advocate. A mother and a former public school teacher, her platform emphasizes accessibility in higher education, opportunity, affordability, and inclusivity. Her history as a staff developer, coach, and consultant demonstrates that she will follow through on her promise to “fight for Colorado students and families.”
Spiegel’s organizing led to the creation of the Standards and Assessment Task Force, where she worked with stakeholders on legislation to improve standardized testing in Colorado. Spiegel also spearheaded groups such as Taxpayers for Public Education and SPEAK for Cherry Creek to oppose a conservative-majority school board in Douglas County that threatened the vitality of public education. Spiegel organized and spoke at a 2017 teach-in to educate the public about and protest an ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) conference where Betsy DeVos was a speaker.
Her fierce advocacy and organizing work proves she will stand for progressive values by fighting rising tuition, encouraging academic freedom, and making higher education more accessible and diverse.
She faces Republican Richard Murray and the Unity Party’s Robert Worthey. Murray is an attorney from Highlands Ranch and frequently refers to his desire to run for regent because of his “double buff” status. While he does say that he’s worried about the cost of college, he seems to have more ideas about how to make CU’s football team better than he does about the cost of higher education. We think voters should not vote for Murray.
Worthey is a music teacher and former Green Party candidate for the 6th Congressional District. He is now running with the independent Unity Party, whose platform mostly reflects a Republican or conservative agenda. He seems to have no published policy positions or public statements reflecting what he would do once he’s in office.
We recommend voting for Spiegel, a candidate whose agenda aligns with our values.
Ilana Spiegel is a highly experienced and well-respected grassroots organizer, columnist, and public education advocate. A mother and a former public school teacher, her platform emphasizes accessibility in higher education, opportunity, affordability, and inclusivity. Her history as a staff developer, coach, and consultant demonstrates that she will follow through on her promise to “fight for Colorado students and families.”
Spiegel’s organizing led to the creation of the Standards and Assessment Task Force, where she worked with stakeholders on legislation to improve standardized testing in Colorado. Spiegel also spearheaded groups such as Taxpayers for Public Education and SPEAK for Cherry Creek to oppose a conservative-majority school board in Douglas County that threatened the vitality of public education. Spiegel organized and spoke at a 2017 teach-in to educate the public about and protest an ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) conference where Betsy DeVos was a speaker.
Her fierce advocacy and organizing work proves she will stand for progressive values by fighting rising tuition, encouraging academic freedom, and making higher education more accessible and diverse.
She faces Republican Richard Murray and the Unity Party’s Robert Worthey. Murray is an attorney from Highlands Ranch and frequently refers to his desire to run for regent because of his “double buff” status. While he does say that he’s worried about the cost of college, he seems to have more ideas about how to make CU’s football team better than he does about the cost of higher education. We think voters should not vote for Murray.
Worthey is a music teacher and former Green Party candidate for the 6th Congressional District. He is now running with the independent Unity Party, whose platform mostly reflects a Republican or conservative agenda. He seems to have no published policy positions or public statements reflecting what he would do once he’s in office.
We recommend voting for Spiegel, a candidate whose agenda aligns with our values.
Ilana Spiegel is a highly experienced and well-respected grassroots organizer, columnist, and public education advocate. A mother and a former public school teacher, her platform emphasizes accessibility in higher education, opportunity, affordability, and inclusivity. Her history as a staff developer, coach, and consultant demonstrates that she will follow through on her promise to “fight for Colorado students and families.”
Spiegel’s organizing led to the creation of the Standards and Assessment Task Force, where she worked with stakeholders on legislation to improve standardized testing in Colorado. Spiegel also spearheaded groups such as Taxpayers for Public Education and SPEAK for Cherry Creek to oppose a conservative-majority school board in Douglas County that threatened the vitality of public education. Spiegel organized and spoke at a 2017 teach-in to educate the public about and protest an ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) conference where Betsy DeVos was a speaker.
Her fierce advocacy and organizing work proves she will stand for progressive values by fighting rising tuition, encouraging academic freedom, and making higher education more accessible and diverse.
She faces Republican Richard Murray and the Unity Party’s Robert Worthey. Murray is an attorney from Highlands Ranch and frequently refers to his desire to run for regent because of his “double buff” status. While he does say that he’s worried about the cost of college, he seems to have more ideas about how to make CU’s football team better than he does about the cost of higher education. We think voters should not vote for Murray.
Worthey is a music teacher and former Green Party candidate for the 6th Congressional District. He is now running with the independent Unity Party, whose platform mostly reflects a Republican or conservative agenda. He seems to have no published policy positions or public statements reflecting what he would do once he’s in office.
We recommend voting for Spiegel, a candidate whose agenda aligns with our values.
Democratic candidate Elissa Flaumenhaft is a scientist and mom who lives in District 4. She’s just like a lot of other working parents in the area and wants a nice place for her children to grow up. Flaumenhaft works to spread her interest in science by mentoring students who are exploring STEM fields, and she spends a fair amount of her time volunteering for food pantries, Together Colorado, the Affordable Housing Committee, and more. She’s also not afraid to call out her own party when she thinks they’re wrong; this summer, she spent time pressuring the governor and state legislators to protect vulnerable tenants from being evicted during a pandemic. This is the kind of representation progressive voters need in District 4 — Flaumenhaft is the clear recommended candidate.
She is battling to unseat incumbent State Sen. Jim Smallwood. Smallwood, an insurance broker, supports dismantling the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) during a global pandemic, and he actively blocks legislation to try to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Smallwood’s positions show he doesn’t care about the health and safety of families, and Flaumenhaft is giving voters a chance to boot him out.
Also running is Libertarian candidate Wayne Harlos, a local real estate broker. Harlos hasn’t made any public statements on his campaign, so voters can expect a typical Libertarian Party platform from him.
Democratic candidate Elissa Flaumenhaft is a scientist and mom who lives in District 4. She’s just like a lot of other working parents in the area and wants a nice place for her children to grow up. Flaumenhaft works to spread her interest in science by mentoring students who are exploring STEM fields, and she spends a fair amount of her time volunteering for food pantries, Together Colorado, the Affordable Housing Committee, and more. She’s also not afraid to call out her own party when she thinks they’re wrong; this summer, she spent time pressuring the governor and state legislators to protect vulnerable tenants from being evicted during a pandemic. This is the kind of representation progressive voters need in District 4 — Flaumenhaft is the clear recommended candidate.
She is battling to unseat incumbent State Sen. Jim Smallwood. Smallwood, an insurance broker, supports dismantling the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) during a global pandemic, and he actively blocks legislation to try to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Smallwood’s positions show he doesn’t care about the health and safety of families, and Flaumenhaft is giving voters a chance to boot him out.
Also running is Libertarian candidate Wayne Harlos, a local real estate broker. Harlos hasn’t made any public statements on his campaign, so voters can expect a typical Libertarian Party platform from him.
Democratic candidate Elissa Flaumenhaft is a scientist and mom who lives in District 4. She’s just like a lot of other working parents in the area and wants a nice place for her children to grow up. Flaumenhaft works to spread her interest in science by mentoring students who are exploring STEM fields, and she spends a fair amount of her time volunteering for food pantries, Together Colorado, the Affordable Housing Committee, and more. She’s also not afraid to call out her own party when she thinks they’re wrong; this summer, she spent time pressuring the governor and state legislators to protect vulnerable tenants from being evicted during a pandemic. This is the kind of representation progressive voters need in District 4 — Flaumenhaft is the clear recommended candidate.
She is battling to unseat incumbent State Sen. Jim Smallwood. Smallwood, an insurance broker, supports dismantling the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) during a global pandemic, and he actively blocks legislation to try to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Smallwood’s positions show he doesn’t care about the health and safety of families, and Flaumenhaft is giving voters a chance to boot him out.
Also running is Libertarian candidate Wayne Harlos, a local real estate broker. Harlos hasn’t made any public statements on his campaign, so voters can expect a typical Libertarian Party platform from him.
Chris Kolker is a former teacher and a current financial planner and small-business owner. He previously ran in 2018 for state representative in District 38 and came very close — under 400 votes — to flipping the seat. Kolker has called Arapahoe County home since 1999 and appears to be the kind of person who knows the struggles of everyday life for working families and how the increasing cost of living is making it worse.
Among Kolker’s top priorities: funding for Colorado schools, instituting more gun-safety laws, improving transportation quality, and taking action on human-caused climate change. He also is a strong proponent of social justice reform, particularly as to the legislature’s recent sweeping changes to law enforcement accountability, and said it’s “long past time for us to … dismantle systemic racism.” His platform and actions already have endorsers like the Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, and several unions excited to see him in office, and quite frankly, we are too.
Kolker is the one progressives should give their support to in this race.
Vying for the seat on the Republican side is Suzanne Staiert. Staiert has some impressive experience: She is a former city prosecutor for Aurora, the former city attorney for Littleton, and a former deputy Secretary of State. And on issues like education and political integrity, she seems straightforward, if not practically moderate. Staiert wants to say she’s “practical, not political,” but scratch the surface a little, and you’ll find her partisanship coming through. She’s outspoken against reforming our national electoral system, which is clearly broken. She also is a strong supporter of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), which is the primary cause for a number of our budget shortfalls and one of the reasons Colorado is falling behind on education. She definitely doesn’t hit the singingly progressive notes that Kolker does, and he could do more in the office.
Chris Kolker is a former teacher and a current financial planner and small-business owner. He previously ran in 2018 for state representative in District 38 and came very close — under 400 votes — to flipping the seat. Kolker has called Arapahoe County home since 1999 and appears to be the kind of person who knows the struggles of everyday life for working families and how the increasing cost of living is making it worse.
Among Kolker’s top priorities: funding for Colorado schools, instituting more gun-safety laws, improving transportation quality, and taking action on human-caused climate change. He also is a strong proponent of social justice reform, particularly as to the legislature’s recent sweeping changes to law enforcement accountability, and said it’s “long past time for us to … dismantle systemic racism.” His platform and actions already have endorsers like the Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, and several unions excited to see him in office, and quite frankly, we are too.
Kolker is the one progressives should give their support to in this race.
Vying for the seat on the Republican side is Suzanne Staiert. Staiert has some impressive experience: She is a former city prosecutor for Aurora, the former city attorney for Littleton, and a former deputy Secretary of State. And on issues like education and political integrity, she seems straightforward, if not practically moderate. Staiert wants to say she’s “practical, not political,” but scratch the surface a little, and you’ll find her partisanship coming through. She’s outspoken against reforming our national electoral system, which is clearly broken. She also is a strong supporter of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), which is the primary cause for a number of our budget shortfalls and one of the reasons Colorado is falling behind on education. She definitely doesn’t hit the singingly progressive notes that Kolker does, and he could do more in the office.
Chris Kolker is a former teacher and a current financial planner and small-business owner. He previously ran in 2018 for state representative in District 38 and came very close — under 400 votes — to flipping the seat. Kolker has called Arapahoe County home since 1999 and appears to be the kind of person who knows the struggles of everyday life for working families and how the increasing cost of living is making it worse.
Among Kolker’s top priorities: funding for Colorado schools, instituting more gun-safety laws, improving transportation quality, and taking action on human-caused climate change. He also is a strong proponent of social justice reform, particularly as to the legislature’s recent sweeping changes to law enforcement accountability, and said it’s “long past time for us to … dismantle systemic racism.” His platform and actions already have endorsers like the Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, the Sierra Club, and several unions excited to see him in office, and quite frankly, we are too.
Kolker is the one progressives should give their support to in this race.
Vying for the seat on the Republican side is Suzanne Staiert. Staiert has some impressive experience: She is a former city prosecutor for Aurora, the former city attorney for Littleton, and a former deputy Secretary of State. And on issues like education and political integrity, she seems straightforward, if not practically moderate. Staiert wants to say she’s “practical, not political,” but scratch the surface a little, and you’ll find her partisanship coming through. She’s outspoken against reforming our national electoral system, which is clearly broken. She also is a strong supporter of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), which is the primary cause for a number of our budget shortfalls and one of the reasons Colorado is falling behind on education. She definitely doesn’t hit the singingly progressive notes that Kolker does, and he could do more in the office.
Ian Chapman, an intensive care nurse, is running to represent District 39 after having served two tours for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and retiring in 2015. In a recent campaign social media post, he noted that his baby daughter is the main reason he is running, saying “I couldn’t just stand by and let the world burn. … We all need to fight for our future.”
With his “people-first” view, he wants to end political cultivation of racism and anti-Semitism. He says he’s tired of “obstructionist politicians” who stand in the way of progress and wants to unite people on the big issues. Some of the top issues for him are the COVID-19 response and advancing access to affordable and high-quality health care, particularly in rural areas. He also acknowledges that wildfire safety and mitigation are key for the district and vows to advocate for funding not just for forest programs but for assistance for individual landowners and communities. Other priorities include infrastructure development, working families, and term limits for elected officials.
Chapman is a fresh choice, and his outlook makes him a solid candidate to support in this race.
He is taking on incumbent State Rep. Mark Baisley, who has a “constitutional conservative” platform. In his own words, he believes we need to “recapture our inheritance of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” by focusing on “the laws of nature and of nature’s god.” His legislative priorities have been to support anti-vaccine policies, defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and restricting the adoption of children to opposite-sex couples only, which would destroy thousands of families in Colorado. Despite his stated priorities of government transparency and “right to life,” he voted against the recent bipartisan law enforcement accountability bill. Progressive voters beware.
Also in the race is Bonnie Pyle. She has little to no political presence, and from what information can be obtained on social media, she has a strictly grassroots campaign. She says choose to run as a Libertarian because her “core beliefs revolve around the rights of the individual.”
Ian Chapman, an intensive care nurse, is running to represent District 39 after having served two tours for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and retiring in 2015. In a recent campaign social media post, he noted that his baby daughter is the main reason he is running, saying “I couldn’t just stand by and let the world burn. … We all need to fight for our future.”
With his “people-first” view, he wants to end political cultivation of racism and anti-Semitism. He says he’s tired of “obstructionist politicians” who stand in the way of progress and wants to unite people on the big issues. Some of the top issues for him are the COVID-19 response and advancing access to affordable and high-quality health care, particularly in rural areas. He also acknowledges that wildfire safety and mitigation are key for the district and vows to advocate for funding not just for forest programs but for assistance for individual landowners and communities. Other priorities include infrastructure development, working families, and term limits for elected officials.
Chapman is a fresh choice, and his outlook makes him a solid candidate to support in this race.
He is taking on incumbent State Rep. Mark Baisley, who has a “constitutional conservative” platform. In his own words, he believes we need to “recapture our inheritance of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” by focusing on “the laws of nature and of nature’s god.” His legislative priorities have been to support anti-vaccine policies, defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and restricting the adoption of children to opposite-sex couples only, which would destroy thousands of families in Colorado. Despite his stated priorities of government transparency and “right to life,” he voted against the recent bipartisan law enforcement accountability bill. Progressive voters beware.
Also in the race is Bonnie Pyle. She has little to no political presence, and from what information can be obtained on social media, she has a strictly grassroots campaign. She says choose to run as a Libertarian because her “core beliefs revolve around the rights of the individual.”
Ian Chapman, an intensive care nurse, is running to represent District 39 after having served two tours for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and retiring in 2015. In a recent campaign social media post, he noted that his baby daughter is the main reason he is running, saying “I couldn’t just stand by and let the world burn. … We all need to fight for our future.”
With his “people-first” view, he wants to end political cultivation of racism and anti-Semitism. He says he’s tired of “obstructionist politicians” who stand in the way of progress and wants to unite people on the big issues. Some of the top issues for him are the COVID-19 response and advancing access to affordable and high-quality health care, particularly in rural areas. He also acknowledges that wildfire safety and mitigation are key for the district and vows to advocate for funding not just for forest programs but for assistance for individual landowners and communities. Other priorities include infrastructure development, working families, and term limits for elected officials.
Chapman is a fresh choice, and his outlook makes him a solid candidate to support in this race.
He is taking on incumbent State Rep. Mark Baisley, who has a “constitutional conservative” platform. In his own words, he believes we need to “recapture our inheritance of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” by focusing on “the laws of nature and of nature’s god.” His legislative priorities have been to support anti-vaccine policies, defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and restricting the adoption of children to opposite-sex couples only, which would destroy thousands of families in Colorado. Despite his stated priorities of government transparency and “right to life,” he voted against the recent bipartisan law enforcement accountability bill. Progressive voters beware.
Also in the race is Bonnie Pyle. She has little to no political presence, and from what information can be obtained on social media, she has a strictly grassroots campaign. She says choose to run as a Libertarian because her “core beliefs revolve around the rights of the individual.”
Democratic candidate Jennifer Mitkowski is an experienced physician’s assistant running to represent District 43. She is an active community leader and a delegate with the Highlands Ranch Community Association, and she has worked on local school board elections. A mother of two, Mikowski will make health care and public education priorities for her district. Her platform emphasizes lowering health care costs, increasing transparency, increasing funding public schools, and representation in local politics.
Mitkowski is a strong local candidate who will push for progressive stances in the House. She is the recommended candidate for this race.
Incumbent State Rep. Kevin Van Winkle says he is a small-business owner and is running for his fourth and final term. Van Winkle is opposed to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in a time when we need it the most, and he opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, while at the same time being the lone vote against funding for dropout prevention programs for pregnant teens. He has actively opposed gun safety bills that would curb much of the violence and mass shootings we see far too often. And he’s even against using public health knowledge to protect families from the coronavirus pandemic. Van Winkle hasn’t given progressives a single reason to vote to keep him, so you shouldn’t.
Democratic candidate Jennifer Mitkowski is an experienced physician’s assistant running to represent District 43. She is an active community leader and a delegate with the Highlands Ranch Community Association, and she has worked on local school board elections. A mother of two, Mikowski will make health care and public education priorities for her district. Her platform emphasizes lowering health care costs, increasing transparency, increasing funding public schools, and representation in local politics.
Mitkowski is a strong local candidate who will push for progressive stances in the House. She is the recommended candidate for this race.
Incumbent State Rep. Kevin Van Winkle says he is a small-business owner and is running for his fourth and final term. Van Winkle is opposed to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in a time when we need it the most, and he opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, while at the same time being the lone vote against funding for dropout prevention programs for pregnant teens. He has actively opposed gun safety bills that would curb much of the violence and mass shootings we see far too often. And he’s even against using public health knowledge to protect families from the coronavirus pandemic. Van Winkle hasn’t given progressives a single reason to vote to keep him, so you shouldn’t.
Democratic candidate Jennifer Mitkowski is an experienced physician’s assistant running to represent District 43. She is an active community leader and a delegate with the Highlands Ranch Community Association, and she has worked on local school board elections. A mother of two, Mikowski will make health care and public education priorities for her district. Her platform emphasizes lowering health care costs, increasing transparency, increasing funding public schools, and representation in local politics.
Mitkowski is a strong local candidate who will push for progressive stances in the House. She is the recommended candidate for this race.
Incumbent State Rep. Kevin Van Winkle says he is a small-business owner and is running for his fourth and final term. Van Winkle is opposed to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in a time when we need it the most, and he opposes abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, while at the same time being the lone vote against funding for dropout prevention programs for pregnant teens. He has actively opposed gun safety bills that would curb much of the violence and mass shootings we see far too often. And he’s even against using public health knowledge to protect families from the coronavirus pandemic. Van Winkle hasn’t given progressives a single reason to vote to keep him, so you shouldn’t.
Democratic candidate Kyra Storojev is an avid community volunteer and a board member for Habitat of Humanity Interfaith Group. She is also a former on-air expert for KCBS-TV providing updated information on new technological communication systems. Storojev has straightforward priorities of expanding access to mental health, education, and the environment. She is committed to reducing the subsidies for oil and gas extraction by applying them to alternative energies to reduce our overall reliance on carbon-based energies. She is a solid candidate for progressives to support.
Incumbent State Rep. Kim Ransom is a Republican and has been in the office for five years. Ransom recently made news for being the only member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee to refuse to wear a mask during hearings about how to handle the enormous budget cuts Colorado faced due to the economic devastation from the coronavirus. She has repeatedly voted for some of the most extreme conservative legislation brought in Colorado, and as a result, we can not recommend Ransom’s reelection.
Brian Meyer is on the ballot as a Libertarian. He seems to have no campaign website or discoverable social media presence nor made any public policy statements, and so his policy stances outside of his party affiliation are unknown.
Democratic candidate Kyra Storojev is an avid community volunteer and a board member for Habitat of Humanity Interfaith Group. She is also a former on-air expert for KCBS-TV providing updated information on new technological communication systems. Storojev has straightforward priorities of expanding access to mental health, education, and the environment. She is committed to reducing the subsidies for oil and gas extraction by applying them to alternative energies to reduce our overall reliance on carbon-based energies. She is a solid candidate for progressives to support.
Incumbent State Rep. Kim Ransom is a Republican and has been in the office for five years. Ransom recently made news for being the only member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee to refuse to wear a mask during hearings about how to handle the enormous budget cuts Colorado faced due to the economic devastation from the coronavirus. She has repeatedly voted for some of the most extreme conservative legislation brought in Colorado, and as a result, we can not recommend Ransom’s reelection.
Brian Meyer is on the ballot as a Libertarian. He seems to have no campaign website or discoverable social media presence nor made any public policy statements, and so his policy stances outside of his party affiliation are unknown.
Democratic candidate Kyra Storojev is an avid community volunteer and a board member for Habitat of Humanity Interfaith Group. She is also a former on-air expert for KCBS-TV providing updated information on new technological communication systems. Storojev has straightforward priorities of expanding access to mental health, education, and the environment. She is committed to reducing the subsidies for oil and gas extraction by applying them to alternative energies to reduce our overall reliance on carbon-based energies. She is a solid candidate for progressives to support.
Incumbent State Rep. Kim Ransom is a Republican and has been in the office for five years. Ransom recently made news for being the only member of the powerful Joint Budget Committee to refuse to wear a mask during hearings about how to handle the enormous budget cuts Colorado faced due to the economic devastation from the coronavirus. She has repeatedly voted for some of the most extreme conservative legislation brought in Colorado, and as a result, we can not recommend Ransom’s reelection.
Brian Meyer is on the ballot as a Libertarian. He seems to have no campaign website or discoverable social media presence nor made any public policy statements, and so his policy stances outside of his party affiliation are unknown.
Democratic candidate Katie Barrett is a longtime teacher with a variety of political priorities. When she announced her candidacy, she said she is running “because our current representative is too busy supporting costly recall elections and focusing on divisive issues.” We agree.
As a former educator, it’s no surprise Barrett would like to see more resources for schools, but she specifically suggests finding more ways to prepare students who want to go straight into the workforce. She thinks labor unions can play a key role in this and would support them more fully. Among her other top priorities are expanding accessibility to health care; exploring the intersection of infrastructure growth and the environment; and transitioning to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. Barrett takes a strong stance on balancing “Second Amendment rights” with responsible firearm ownership and commonsense gun laws.
In this race, Barrett is the best choice.
She is taking on incumbent Republican State Rep. Patrick Neville, who describes himself as “a principled conservative with a passion for protecting life, liberty, and the constitution.” Neville is the current minority leader in the Colorado House and is frequently backed by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Colorado’s so-called “no compromise” gun lobby. Neville recently made headlines for filing a lawsuit against the governor for the statewide COVID-19 mask requirement which was quickly dismissed. He is also vocal about his disdain of the protests supporting Black Lives Matter. Voters should not support Neville for another term.
Also on the ballot is Caryn Ann Harlos, the current secretary of the Libertarian National Committee, the national executive body of the Libertarian Party. With a long history in other Libertarian Party roles, her priorities are strongly aligned with the party. She does not seem to have publicized any Colorado-specific political plans. Neither Neville nor Harlos will represent progressive interests well to say the least, and so we recommend backing Barrett.
Democratic candidate Katie Barrett is a longtime teacher with a variety of political priorities. When she announced her candidacy, she said she is running “because our current representative is too busy supporting costly recall elections and focusing on divisive issues.” We agree.
As a former educator, it’s no surprise Barrett would like to see more resources for schools, but she specifically suggests finding more ways to prepare students who want to go straight into the workforce. She thinks labor unions can play a key role in this and would support them more fully. Among her other top priorities are expanding accessibility to health care; exploring the intersection of infrastructure growth and the environment; and transitioning to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. Barrett takes a strong stance on balancing “Second Amendment rights” with responsible firearm ownership and commonsense gun laws.
In this race, Barrett is the best choice.
She is taking on incumbent Republican State Rep. Patrick Neville, who describes himself as “a principled conservative with a passion for protecting life, liberty, and the constitution.” Neville is the current minority leader in the Colorado House and is frequently backed by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Colorado’s so-called “no compromise” gun lobby. Neville recently made headlines for filing a lawsuit against the governor for the statewide COVID-19 mask requirement which was quickly dismissed. He is also vocal about his disdain of the protests supporting Black Lives Matter. Voters should not support Neville for another term.
Also on the ballot is Caryn Ann Harlos, the current secretary of the Libertarian National Committee, the national executive body of the Libertarian Party. With a long history in other Libertarian Party roles, her priorities are strongly aligned with the party. She does not seem to have publicized any Colorado-specific political plans. Neither Neville nor Harlos will represent progressive interests well to say the least, and so we recommend backing Barrett.
Democratic candidate Katie Barrett is a longtime teacher with a variety of political priorities. When she announced her candidacy, she said she is running “because our current representative is too busy supporting costly recall elections and focusing on divisive issues.” We agree.
As a former educator, it’s no surprise Barrett would like to see more resources for schools, but she specifically suggests finding more ways to prepare students who want to go straight into the workforce. She thinks labor unions can play a key role in this and would support them more fully. Among her other top priorities are expanding accessibility to health care; exploring the intersection of infrastructure growth and the environment; and transitioning to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. Barrett takes a strong stance on balancing “Second Amendment rights” with responsible firearm ownership and commonsense gun laws.
In this race, Barrett is the best choice.
She is taking on incumbent Republican State Rep. Patrick Neville, who describes himself as “a principled conservative with a passion for protecting life, liberty, and the constitution.” Neville is the current minority leader in the Colorado House and is frequently backed by Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Colorado’s so-called “no compromise” gun lobby. Neville recently made headlines for filing a lawsuit against the governor for the statewide COVID-19 mask requirement which was quickly dismissed. He is also vocal about his disdain of the protests supporting Black Lives Matter. Voters should not support Neville for another term.
Also on the ballot is Caryn Ann Harlos, the current secretary of the Libertarian National Committee, the national executive body of the Libertarian Party. With a long history in other Libertarian Party roles, her priorities are strongly aligned with the party. She does not seem to have publicized any Colorado-specific political plans. Neither Neville nor Harlos will represent progressive interests well to say the least, and so we recommend backing Barrett.
Incumbent State Rep. Julie McCluskie has represented District 61 since being elected in 2018. McCluskie’s background assisting local schools with mental health and community engagement has informed her important work at the Capitol, where she has helped pass numerous education bills, including a renewal of the READ Act. As a key part of the joint budget committee, she helped prioritize critical services during the Covid-19 pandemic. McCluskie’s stances on health care, education, and opportunities for working families are reflective of a progressive vision for the future of her district, and she is the clear recommended candidate in this race.
Republican Kim McGahey is challenging her for the seat. He is a former real estate broker, citizen’s advocate, and volunteer in Breckenridge. McGahey’s emphasis on fiscal conservancy and constitutional freedoms reflect conservative stances that are likely to obstruct progress in Colorado. Additionally, his virulent opposition to economic shutdowns earlier this year reflects a disregard for public health and safety.
Incumbent State Rep. Julie McCluskie has represented District 61 since being elected in 2018. McCluskie’s background assisting local schools with mental health and community engagement has informed her important work at the Capitol, where she has helped pass numerous education bills, including a renewal of the READ Act. As a key part of the joint budget committee, she helped prioritize critical services during the Covid-19 pandemic. McCluskie’s stances on health care, education, and opportunities for working families are reflective of a progressive vision for the future of her district, and she is the clear recommended candidate in this race.
Republican Kim McGahey is challenging her for the seat. He is a former real estate broker, citizen’s advocate, and volunteer in Breckenridge. McGahey’s emphasis on fiscal conservancy and constitutional freedoms reflect conservative stances that are likely to obstruct progress in Colorado. Additionally, his virulent opposition to economic shutdowns earlier this year reflects a disregard for public health and safety.
Incumbent State Rep. Julie McCluskie has represented District 61 since being elected in 2018. McCluskie’s background assisting local schools with mental health and community engagement has informed her important work at the Capitol, where she has helped pass numerous education bills, including a renewal of the READ Act. As a key part of the joint budget committee, she helped prioritize critical services during the Covid-19 pandemic. McCluskie’s stances on health care, education, and opportunities for working families are reflective of a progressive vision for the future of her district, and she is the clear recommended candidate in this race.
Republican Kim McGahey is challenging her for the seat. He is a former real estate broker, citizen’s advocate, and volunteer in Breckenridge. McGahey’s emphasis on fiscal conservancy and constitutional freedoms reflect conservative stances that are likely to obstruct progress in Colorado. Additionally, his virulent opposition to economic shutdowns earlier this year reflects a disregard for public health and safety.
Amy Padden, the Democratic candidate for District 18, is a seasoned prosecutor with a stunning resume, having worked at all levels of law enforcement. Recently, she has been a deputy district attorney for District 5, and she has been both an assistant and deputy chief U.S. attorney and an assistant attorney general in Colorado. Padden wants to use all of that experience for criminal justice reforms like protecting vulnerable populations and addressing systemic inequities like police use of force and over-incarceration. It’s clear Padden stands for progressive reforms and is the clear choice in this race.
Running on the Republican side is John Kellner. He is a Marine Corps veteran and prosecutor in both Boulder County and District 18 and specializes in cold cases. While Kellner undeniably has lengthy experience, progressive voters should be cautious about the fact that he doesn’t seem at all interested in seriously needed criminal justice reforms. Padden is the preferred candidate in this race.
Amy Padden, the Democratic candidate for District 18, is a seasoned prosecutor with a stunning resume, having worked at all levels of law enforcement. Recently, she has been a deputy district attorney for District 5, and she has been both an assistant and deputy chief U.S. attorney and an assistant attorney general in Colorado. Padden wants to use all of that experience for criminal justice reforms like protecting vulnerable populations and addressing systemic inequities like police use of force and over-incarceration. It’s clear Padden stands for progressive reforms and is the clear choice in this race.
Running on the Republican side is John Kellner. He is a Marine Corps veteran and prosecutor in both Boulder County and District 18 and specializes in cold cases. While Kellner undeniably has lengthy experience, progressive voters should be cautious about the fact that he doesn’t seem at all interested in seriously needed criminal justice reforms. Padden is the preferred candidate in this race.
Amy Padden, the Democratic candidate for District 18, is a seasoned prosecutor with a stunning resume, having worked at all levels of law enforcement. Recently, she has been a deputy district attorney for District 5, and she has been both an assistant and deputy chief U.S. attorney and an assistant attorney general in Colorado. Padden wants to use all of that experience for criminal justice reforms like protecting vulnerable populations and addressing systemic inequities like police use of force and over-incarceration. It’s clear Padden stands for progressive reforms and is the clear choice in this race.
Running on the Republican side is John Kellner. He is a Marine Corps veteran and prosecutor in both Boulder County and District 18 and specializes in cold cases. While Kellner undeniably has lengthy experience, progressive voters should be cautious about the fact that he doesn’t seem at all interested in seriously needed criminal justice reforms. Padden is the preferred candidate in this race.
The Gallagher Amendment Repeal and Property Tax Assessment Rates Measure (Amendment B) would repeal the Gallagher Amendment of 1982, which fixed residential and business property tax rates at 45% residential and 55% business. This measure is intended to relieve downward pressure on local public school funding across the state through the repeal of the current property tax assessment formula. The Gallagher Amendment has skewed the tax assessment of residential property in Colorado, resulting in significant shortfalls for school districts reliant on property tax revenue for their funding. Maintaining the Gallagher Amendment’s ratio of residential to business property tax has forced the state to step in with dwindling general fund revenue, causing budget cuts to critical services and an overall proportional reduction in total education funding over time.
Full text on the ballot: Without increasing property tax rates, to help preserve funding for local districts that provide fire protection, police, ambulance, hospital, kindergarten through twelfth grade education, and other services, and to avoid automatic mill levy increases, shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution to repeal the requirement that the general assembly periodically change the residential assessment rate in order to maintain the statewide proportion of residential property as compared to all other taxable property valued for property tax purposes and repeal the nonresidential property tax assessment rate of twenty-nine percent?
Amendment B, Repeal Property Tax Assessment Rates
The Gallagher Amendment Repeal and Property Tax Assessment Rates Measure (Amendment B) would repeal the Gallagher Amendment of 1982, which fixed residential and business property tax rates at 45% residential and 55% business. This measure is intended to relieve downward pressure on local public school funding across the state through the repeal of the current property tax assessment formula. The Gallagher Amendment has skewed the tax assessment of residential property in Colorado, resulting in significant shortfalls for school districts reliant on property tax revenue for their funding. Maintaining the Gallagher Amendment’s ratio of residential to business property tax has forced the state to step in with dwindling general fund revenue, causing budget cuts to critical services and an overall proportional reduction in total education funding over time.
Full text on the ballot: Without increasing property tax rates, to help preserve funding for local districts that provide fire protection, police, ambulance, hospital, kindergarten through twelfth grade education, and other services, and to avoid automatic mill levy increases, shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution to repeal the requirement that the general assembly periodically change the residential assessment rate in order to maintain the statewide proportion of residential property as compared to all other taxable property valued for property tax purposes and repeal the nonresidential property tax assessment rate of twenty-nine percent?
Amendment C, Bingo Raffles Allow Paid Help and Repeal Five-Year Minimum
The Charitable Bingo and Raffles Amendment (Amendment C) reduces the time period a charitable organization must exist before receiving a charitable gaming license from five years to three years. It also permits charitable organizations to hire staff to manage gaming activities. Charitable gaming in Colorado includes bingo, lotteries, raffles, and certain other games conducted by charitable organizations for fundraising purposes.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the conduct of charitable gaming activities, and, in connection therewith, allowing bingo-raffle licensees to hire managers and operators of games and reducing the required period of a charitable organization's continuous existence before obtaining a charitable gaming license?
Amendment C, Bingo Raffles Allow Paid Help and Repeal Five-Year Minimum
The Charitable Bingo and Raffles Amendment (Amendment C) reduces the time period a charitable organization must exist before receiving a charitable gaming license from five years to three years. It also permits charitable organizations to hire staff to manage gaming activities. Charitable gaming in Colorado includes bingo, lotteries, raffles, and certain other games conducted by charitable organizations for fundraising purposes.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the conduct of charitable gaming activities, and, in connection therewith, allowing bingo-raffle licensees to hire managers and operators of games and reducing the required period of a charitable organization's continuous existence before obtaining a charitable gaming license?
Amendment 76, Citizenship Qualification of Electors
The Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative (Amendment 76) purports to amend Section 1 of Article VII of the Colorado Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the United States who is 18 years of age or older can vote in federal, state, and local elections in Colorado. Currently, Article VII Section 1 of the Colorado Constitution states that “Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years, has resided in this state for such a time as may be prescribed by law, and has been duly registered as a voter if required by law shall be qualified to vote at all elections.” While the sole change made by the Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative is to replace the word “every” with “only a,” it also would upend current law which allows 17-year-olds who would be 18 by the general election to vote in that cycle’s primary. This seemingly simple change, therefore, has the effect of eliminating an otherwise valid group of young voters from the full election process, to say nothing of the fact that it is a clear attempt to confuse voters into believing that current Colorado law permits noncitizens to vote, which it does not.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution requiring that to be qualified to vote at any election an individual must be a United States citizen?
Amendment 76, Citizenship Qualification of Electors
The Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative (Amendment 76) purports to amend Section 1 of Article VII of the Colorado Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the United States who is 18 years of age or older can vote in federal, state, and local elections in Colorado. Currently, Article VII Section 1 of the Colorado Constitution states that “Every citizen of the United States who has attained the age of eighteen years, has resided in this state for such a time as may be prescribed by law, and has been duly registered as a voter if required by law shall be qualified to vote at all elections.” While the sole change made by the Citizen Requirement for Voting Initiative is to replace the word “every” with “only a,” it also would upend current law which allows 17-year-olds who would be 18 by the general election to vote in that cycle’s primary. This seemingly simple change, therefore, has the effect of eliminating an otherwise valid group of young voters from the full election process, to say nothing of the fact that it is a clear attempt to confuse voters into believing that current Colorado law permits noncitizens to vote, which it does not.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution requiring that to be qualified to vote at any election an individual must be a United States citizen?
Progressives are split on Amendment 77, known as the Allow Voters in Central, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek Cities to Expand Authorized Games and Increase Maximum Bets Initiative. Please read the arguments from both sides below to help you make your decision on this amendment.
VOTE YES
Vote YES for Amendment 77
Amendment 77, Local Voter Approval of Gaming Limits in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek
The Allow Voters in Central, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek Cities to Expand Authorized Games and Increase Maximum Bets Initiative (Amendment 77) would allow voters in these three gambling towns to vote to increase the maximum single bet allowed for any game beyond the current statewide limit of $100. Additionally, Amendment 77 would allow voters to approve games other than those currently allowed by Colorado law; currently allowed games in Colorado casinos include blackjack, craps, poker, roulette, and slot machines. The proposed measure would also change the distribution of gaming tax funds for community colleges to prioritize student retention and credit completion.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution and a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning voter-approved changes to limited gaming, and, in connection therewith, allowing the voters of Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek, for their individual cities, to approve other games in addition to those currently allowed and increase a maximum single bet to any amount; and allowing gaming tax revenue to be used for support services to improve student retention and credential completion by students enrolled in community colleges?
Amendment 77, Local Voter Approval of Gaming Limits in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek
The Allow Voters in Central, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek Cities to Expand Authorized Games and Increase Maximum Bets Initiative (Amendment 77) would allow voters in these three gambling towns to vote to increase the maximum single bet allowed for any game beyond the current statewide limit of $100. Additionally, Amendment 77 would allow voters to approve games other than those currently allowed by Colorado law; currently allowed games in Colorado casinos include blackjack, craps, poker, roulette, and slot machines. The proposed measure would also change the distribution of gaming tax funds for community colleges to prioritize student retention and credit completion.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution and a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning voter-approved changes to limited gaming, and, in connection therewith, allowing the voters of Central City, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek, for their individual cities, to approve other games in addition to those currently allowed and increase a maximum single bet to any amount; and allowing gaming tax revenue to be used for support services to improve student retention and credential completion by students enrolled in community colleges?
Proposition EE, Cigarette, Tobacco and Nicotine Products Tax
The Colorado Tobacco and E-Cigarette Tax Increase for Health and Education Programs Measure (Proposition EE) would close a tax loophole on vaping products that currently leaves these products untaxed in Colorado, bringing the tax in line with other tobacco products. The measure would also increase cigarette taxes from $0.84 per pack currently to $2.64 per pack by 2027. The revenue from this measure would provide $375 million to public schools over the next three years to offset budget cuts from COVID-19, with $90 million specifically going to rural school districts. The revenue would also provide access to free, universal preschool to all four-year-olds in Colorado. The measure would also provide $110 million in additional money for smoking and vaping education and cessation programs as well as $35 million for affordable housing and eviction programs over the next three years.
Full text on the ballot: Shall state taxes be increased by $294,000,000 annually by imposing a tax on nicotine liquids used in e-cigarettes and other vaping products that is equal to the total state tax on tobacco products when fully phased in, incrementally increasing the tobacco products tax by up to 22% of the manufacturer's list price, incrementally increasing the cigarette tax by up to 9 cents per cigarette, expanding the existing cigarette and tobacco taxes to apply to sales to consumers from outside of the state, establishing a minimum tax for moist snuff tobacco products, creating an inventory tax that applies for future cigarette tax increases, and initially using the tax revenue primarily for public school funding to help offset revenue that has been lost as a result of the economic impacts related to COVID-19 and then for programs that reduce the use of tobacco and nicotine products, enhance the voluntary Colorado preschool program and make it widely available for free, and maintain the funding for programs that currently receive revenue from tobacco taxes, with the state keeping and spending all of the new tax revenue as a voter-approved revenue change?
Proposition EE, Cigarette, Tobacco and Nicotine Products Tax
The Colorado Tobacco and E-Cigarette Tax Increase for Health and Education Programs Measure (Proposition EE) would close a tax loophole on vaping products that currently leaves these products untaxed in Colorado, bringing the tax in line with other tobacco products. The measure would also increase cigarette taxes from $0.84 per pack currently to $2.64 per pack by 2027. The revenue from this measure would provide $375 million to public schools over the next three years to offset budget cuts from COVID-19, with $90 million specifically going to rural school districts. The revenue would also provide access to free, universal preschool to all four-year-olds in Colorado. The measure would also provide $110 million in additional money for smoking and vaping education and cessation programs as well as $35 million for affordable housing and eviction programs over the next three years.
Full text on the ballot: Shall state taxes be increased by $294,000,000 annually by imposing a tax on nicotine liquids used in e-cigarettes and other vaping products that is equal to the total state tax on tobacco products when fully phased in, incrementally increasing the tobacco products tax by up to 22% of the manufacturer's list price, incrementally increasing the cigarette tax by up to 9 cents per cigarette, expanding the existing cigarette and tobacco taxes to apply to sales to consumers from outside of the state, establishing a minimum tax for moist snuff tobacco products, creating an inventory tax that applies for future cigarette tax increases, and initially using the tax revenue primarily for public school funding to help offset revenue that has been lost as a result of the economic impacts related to COVID-19 and then for programs that reduce the use of tobacco and nicotine products, enhance the voluntary Colorado preschool program and make it widely available for free, and maintain the funding for programs that currently receive revenue from tobacco taxes, with the state keeping and spending all of the new tax revenue as a voter-approved revenue change?
The Colorado National Popular Vote Interstate Compact Referendum (Proposition 113) would affirm the Colorado General Assembly’s passage of Senate Bill 19-042, which entered Colorado into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact to ensure Colorado's Electoral College votes are awarded to the winner of the nationwide popular vote in presidential elections. Colorado has been carried by the winner of the nationwide popular vote in every presidential election since 2004, and the compact would end the unequal valuation of American votes in presidential elections. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would not take effect until an Electoral College majority of states joins. As of August 2020, 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation that would trigger the compact in the event 270 Electoral College votes are achieved.
Full text on the ballot: Shall the following Act of the General Assembly be approved: An Act concerning adoption of an agreement among the states to elect the President of the United States by national popular vote, being Senate Bill No. 19-042?
Proposition 113, National Popular Vote
The Colorado National Popular Vote Interstate Compact Referendum (Proposition 113) would affirm the Colorado General Assembly’s passage of Senate Bill 19-042, which entered Colorado into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact to ensure Colorado's Electoral College votes are awarded to the winner of the nationwide popular vote in presidential elections. Colorado has been carried by the winner of the nationwide popular vote in every presidential election since 2004, and the compact would end the unequal valuation of American votes in presidential elections. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would not take effect until an Electoral College majority of states joins. As of August 2020, 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation that would trigger the compact in the event 270 Electoral College votes are achieved.
Full text on the ballot: Shall the following Act of the General Assembly be approved: An Act concerning adoption of an agreement among the states to elect the President of the United States by national popular vote, being Senate Bill No. 19-042?
The Colorado Gray Wolf Reintroduction Initiative (Proposition 114) directs the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to reintroduce and manage the population of gray wolves in specific areas of the state by the end of 2023. The commission would be required to develop a plan to reintroduce gray wolves to locations west of the Continental Divide that it will determine, manage reintroduced wolf populations, and compensate property owners who may be affected. Reintroducing gray wolves in Colorado would restore an unbroken connection of protected wolf populations from Canada to Mexico.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning the restoration of gray wolves through their reintroduction on designated lands in Colorado located west of the continental divide, and, in connection therewith, requiring the Colorado parks and wildlife commission, after holding statewide hearings and using scientific data, to implement a plan to restore and manage gray wolves; prohibiting the commission from imposing any land, water, or resource use restrictions on private landowners to further the plan; and requiring the commission to fairly compensate owners for losses of livestock caused by gray wolves?
Proposition 114, Restoration of Gray Wolves
The Colorado Gray Wolf Reintroduction Initiative (Proposition 114) directs the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to reintroduce and manage the population of gray wolves in specific areas of the state by the end of 2023. The commission would be required to develop a plan to reintroduce gray wolves to locations west of the Continental Divide that it will determine, manage reintroduced wolf populations, and compensate property owners who may be affected. Reintroducing gray wolves in Colorado would restore an unbroken connection of protected wolf populations from Canada to Mexico.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning the restoration of gray wolves through their reintroduction on designated lands in Colorado located west of the continental divide, and, in connection therewith, requiring the Colorado parks and wildlife commission, after holding statewide hearings and using scientific data, to implement a plan to restore and manage gray wolves; prohibiting the commission from imposing any land, water, or resource use restrictions on private landowners to further the plan; and requiring the commission to fairly compensate owners for losses of livestock caused by gray wolves?
Proposition 115, Prohibition on Abortions Later in Pregnancy
The Colorado 22-Week Abortion Ban Initiative (Proposition 115) would prohibit abortion procedures after 22 weeks of gestational age. Under the rule, an abortion after 22 weeks would only be permitted in an immediate life-threatening emergency with no exceptions for rape, incest, a lethal fetal diagnosis, or the health or medical needs of the patient. Abortion after 22 weeks only accounts for about 1% of total abortion procedures and in many cases is the result of major gestational complications that are found later in pregnancy. Colorado has emerged as a national safe haven for abortion care in these complex circumstances because of gestational bans in other states. Any physician who performs an abortion after 22 weeks would be found in violation of this initiative and face criminal charges and suspension of their medical license by the Colorado Medical Board.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning prohibiting an abortion when the probable gestational age of the fetus is at least twenty-two weeks, and, in connection therewith, making it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine to perform or attempt to perform a prohibited abortion, except when the abortion is immediately required to save the life of the pregnant woman when her life is physically threatened, but not solely by a psychological or emotional condition; defining terms related to the measure including “probable gestational age” and “abortion,” and excepting from the definition of “abortion” medical procedures relating to miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy; specifying that a woman on whom an abortion is performed may not be charged with a crime in relation to a prohibited abortion; and requiring the Colorado medical board to suspend for at least three years the license of a licensee whom the board finds performed or attempted to perform a prohibited abortion?
Proposition 115, Prohibition on Abortions Later in Pregnancy
The Colorado 22-Week Abortion Ban Initiative (Proposition 115) would prohibit abortion procedures after 22 weeks of gestational age. Under the rule, an abortion after 22 weeks would only be permitted in an immediate life-threatening emergency with no exceptions for rape, incest, a lethal fetal diagnosis, or the health or medical needs of the patient. Abortion after 22 weeks only accounts for about 1% of total abortion procedures and in many cases is the result of major gestational complications that are found later in pregnancy. Colorado has emerged as a national safe haven for abortion care in these complex circumstances because of gestational bans in other states. Any physician who performs an abortion after 22 weeks would be found in violation of this initiative and face criminal charges and suspension of their medical license by the Colorado Medical Board.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning prohibiting an abortion when the probable gestational age of the fetus is at least twenty-two weeks, and, in connection therewith, making it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine to perform or attempt to perform a prohibited abortion, except when the abortion is immediately required to save the life of the pregnant woman when her life is physically threatened, but not solely by a psychological or emotional condition; defining terms related to the measure including “probable gestational age” and “abortion,” and excepting from the definition of “abortion” medical procedures relating to miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy; specifying that a woman on whom an abortion is performed may not be charged with a crime in relation to a prohibited abortion; and requiring the Colorado medical board to suspend for at least three years the license of a licensee whom the board finds performed or attempted to perform a prohibited abortion?
Proposition 116, Decrease Income Tax Rate from 4.63% to 4.55% Initiative
The Decrease Income Tax Rate from 4.63% to 4.55% Initiative (Proposition 116) would reduce the state income tax rate for individuals and corporations, resulting in state budget cuts of over $150 million per year, forever. Large businesses and people with incomes over half a million dollars per year will receive 70% of the benefit from this tax reduction. Meanwhile, the average Colorado family will get a tax cut of only $37 per year. The state is currently facing billions of dollars in budget shortfalls due to economic contraction from the COVID-19 pandemic, and this tax cut would have to be paid for by cuts to education, public safety, health care, and transportation to the tune of over $200 million in just the first year.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes reducing the state income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%?
Proposition 116, Decrease Income Tax Rate from 4.63% to 4.55% Initiative
The Decrease Income Tax Rate from 4.63% to 4.55% Initiative (Proposition 116) would reduce the state income tax rate for individuals and corporations, resulting in state budget cuts of over $150 million per year, forever. Large businesses and people with incomes over half a million dollars per year will receive 70% of the benefit from this tax reduction. Meanwhile, the average Colorado family will get a tax cut of only $37 per year. The state is currently facing billions of dollars in budget shortfalls due to economic contraction from the COVID-19 pandemic, and this tax cut would have to be paid for by cuts to education, public safety, health care, and transportation to the tune of over $200 million in just the first year.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes reducing the state income tax rate from 4.63% to 4.55%?
Proposition 117, Require Voter Approval of Certain New Enterprises Exempt from TABOR Initiative
The Voter Approval of Certain New Enterprises (Proposition 117) would require a statewide vote on new state enterprises generating over $100 million in revenue within the first five years of operation. Enterprises were authorized by the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) as independent entities that administer fee-based programs for specific goods and services such as unemployment insurance, road and bridge construction, cleaning up chemical waste and oil spills, the sale of hunting and fishing licenses by the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife, higher education institutions, and the Colorado State Fair. This initiative is entirely funded by out-of-state billionaires and corporations who often pay the fees this measure would limit. Proposition 117 is confusing and poorly written and will lead to years of lawsuits, unintended consequences, and future cuts in education, transportation, and health care.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes requiring statewide voter approval at the next even-year election of any newly created or qualified state enterprise that is exempt from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado constitution, if the projected or actual combined revenue from fees and surcharges of the enterprise, and all other enterprises created within the last five years that serve primarily the same purpose, is greater than $100 million within the first five fiscal years of the creation or qualification of the new enterprise?
Proposition 117, Require Voter Approval of Certain New Enterprises Exempt from TABOR Initiative
The Voter Approval of Certain New Enterprises (Proposition 117) would require a statewide vote on new state enterprises generating over $100 million in revenue within the first five years of operation. Enterprises were authorized by the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) as independent entities that administer fee-based programs for specific goods and services such as unemployment insurance, road and bridge construction, cleaning up chemical waste and oil spills, the sale of hunting and fishing licenses by the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife, higher education institutions, and the Colorado State Fair. This initiative is entirely funded by out-of-state billionaires and corporations who often pay the fees this measure would limit. Proposition 117 is confusing and poorly written and will lead to years of lawsuits, unintended consequences, and future cuts in education, transportation, and health care.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes requiring statewide voter approval at the next even-year election of any newly created or qualified state enterprise that is exempt from the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado constitution, if the projected or actual combined revenue from fees and surcharges of the enterprise, and all other enterprises created within the last five years that serve primarily the same purpose, is greater than $100 million within the first five fiscal years of the creation or qualification of the new enterprise?
Proposition 118, Colorado Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative
The Colorado Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative (Proposition 118) would establish a paid family and medical leave benefit for most Colorado workers. It would provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave, allowing 2.6 million Coloradans to take time to care for themselves, a new child, or a seriously ill family member. Eight states including California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have successfully passed or implemented similar, solvent paid family leave programs. Employees and employers fund the program together, each contributing 0.45% of an employee’s wages to the fund, with the average Colorado worker contributing $3.83 per week. When workers need to take leave, they are paid up to 90% of their salary during that time. Employers may optionally contribute up to 100% of the cost of coverage; businesses with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from paying the premium, but their employees are still covered. Employers that offer paid leave benefits equivalent to the state plan may opt out and keep their plans.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning the creation of a paid family and medical leave program in Colorado, and, in connection therewith, authorizing paid family and medical leave for a covered employee who has a serious health condition, is caring for a new child or for a family member with a serious health condition, or has a need for leave related to a family member’s military deployment or for safe leave; establishing a maximum of 12 weeks of family and medical leave, with an additional 4 weeks for pregnancy or childbirth complications, with a cap on the weekly benefit amount; requiring job protection for and prohibiting retaliation against an employee who takes paid family and medical leave; allowing a local government to opt out of the program; permitting employees of such a local government and self-employed individuals to participate in the program; exempting employers who offer an approved private paid family and medical leave plan; to pay for the program, requiring a premium of 0.9% of each employee’s wages, up to a cap, through December 31, 2024, and as set thereafter, up to 1.2% of each employee’s wages, by the director of the division of family and medical leave insurance; authorizing an employer to deduct up to 50% of the premium amount from an employee’s wages and requiring the employer to pay the remainder of the premium, with an exemption for employers with fewer than 10 employees; creating the division of family and medical leave insurance as an enterprise within the department of labor and employment to administer the program; and establishing an enforcement and appeals process for retaliation and denied claims?
Proposition 118, Colorado Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative
The Colorado Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative (Proposition 118) would establish a paid family and medical leave benefit for most Colorado workers. It would provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave, allowing 2.6 million Coloradans to take time to care for themselves, a new child, or a seriously ill family member. Eight states including California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island have successfully passed or implemented similar, solvent paid family leave programs. Employees and employers fund the program together, each contributing 0.45% of an employee’s wages to the fund, with the average Colorado worker contributing $3.83 per week. When workers need to take leave, they are paid up to 90% of their salary during that time. Employers may optionally contribute up to 100% of the cost of coverage; businesses with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from paying the premium, but their employees are still covered. Employers that offer paid leave benefits equivalent to the state plan may opt out and keep their plans.
Full text on the ballot: Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning the creation of a paid family and medical leave program in Colorado, and, in connection therewith, authorizing paid family and medical leave for a covered employee who has a serious health condition, is caring for a new child or for a family member with a serious health condition, or has a need for leave related to a family member’s military deployment or for safe leave; establishing a maximum of 12 weeks of family and medical leave, with an additional 4 weeks for pregnancy or childbirth complications, with a cap on the weekly benefit amount; requiring job protection for and prohibiting retaliation against an employee who takes paid family and medical leave; allowing a local government to opt out of the program; permitting employees of such a local government and self-employed individuals to participate in the program; exempting employers who offer an approved private paid family and medical leave plan; to pay for the program, requiring a premium of 0.9% of each employee’s wages, up to a cap, through December 31, 2024, and as set thereafter, up to 1.2% of each employee’s wages, by the director of the division of family and medical leave insurance; authorizing an employer to deduct up to 50% of the premium amount from an employee’s wages and requiring the employer to pay the remainder of the premium, with an exemption for employers with fewer than 10 employees; creating the division of family and medical leave insurance as an enterprise within the department of labor and employment to administer the program; and establishing an enforcement and appeals process for retaliation and denied claims?
Depending on where you live, you may have one of the below congressional districts on your ballot.
4th Congressional District
U.S. Representative
Ike McCorkle
6th Congressional District
U.S. Representative
Jason Crow
University of Colorado Board of Regents
CU Regent, 6th Congressional District
Ilana Spiegel
State Senate
Depending on where you live, you may have one of the below State Senate races on your ballot.
Senator, District 4
State Senator
Elissa Flaumenhaft
Senator, District 27
State Senator
Chris Kolker
State House
Depending on where you live, you may have one of the below State House races on your ballot.
Representative, District 39
State Representative
Ian Chapman
Representative, District 43
State Representative
Jennifer Mitkowski
Representative, District 44
State Representative
Kyra Storojev
Representative, District 45
State Representative
Katie Barrett
Representative, District 61
State Representative
Julie McCluskie
District Attorney, 18th Judicial District
District Attorney, 18th Judicial District
Amy Padden
Statewide Ballot Measures
Amendment B
Repeal Property Tax Assessment Rates
YES
Amendment C
Bingo Raffles Allow Paid Help and Repeal Five-Year Minimum
YES
Amendment #76
Citizenship Qualification of Electors
NO
Amendment #77
Progressives are split on Amendment 77, known as the Allow Voters in Central, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek Cities to Expand Authorized Games and Increase Maximum Bets Initiative. Please read the arguments from both sides below to help you make your decision on this amendment.
Local Voter Approval of Gaming Limits in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek
YES
Proposition EE
Cigarette, Tobacco and Nicotine Products Tax
YES
Proposition #113
National Popular Vote
YES
Proposition #114
Restoration of Gray Wolves
YES
Proposition #115
Prohibition on Abortions Later in Pregnancy
NO
Proposition #116
Iniciativa para disminuir la tasa del impuesto sobre la renta de 4.63% a 4.55%
NO
Proposition #117
Require Voter Approval of Certain New Enterprises Exempt from TABOR Initiative
NO
Proposition #118
Colorado Paid Family and Medical Leave Initiative
YES
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Progressives are split on Amendment 77, known as the Allow Voters in Central, Black Hawk, and Cripple Creek Cities to Expand Authorized Games and Increase Maximum Bets Initiative. Please read the arguments from both sides below to help you make your decision on this amendment.