Arapahoe County

Incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet joined the U.S. Senate in 2009 after Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter appointed him to succeed Sen. Ken Salazar after Salazar was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Barack Obama. Prior to his appointment, Bennet served as Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, presiding over increased student enrollment and graduation rates.

Sen. Bennet won his first full term in office in the close 2010 election against Rep. Ken Buck. In 2013, Bennet played a key role as a member of the Gang of Eight in the passage of comprehensive immigration reform out of the U.S. Senate. In twelve years of service in the Senate, Sen. Bennet has been a consistent supporter of voting rights, abortion rights, nondiscrimination and LGBTQ+ rights, reducing gun violence, environmental protection and confronting human-caused climate change, and ending the failed War on Drugs.

Sen. Bennet's signature policy achievement in office came with the March 2021 passage of the Child Tax Credit expansion as part of the American Rescue Plan. The expanded Child Tax Credit resulted in an historic reduction in child poverty for the one-year period in which the program was fully funded. Sen. Bennet's top priority in 2023 is to make the Child Tax Credit expansion permanent. In 2019, Sen. Bennet joined with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney to call for a universal basic income standard for children.

Sen. Bennet can negotiate with Republicans across the aisle and influence policy with the Democratic Senate majority and the White House. Bennet was the driving force behind President Joe Biden's establishment of a new national monument at Camp Hale and drilling protections in the ecologically sensitive Thompson Divide.

Sen. Bennet's opponent, concrete executive Joe O'Dea, tried and failed to hide his far-right agenda from Colorado voters. During the Republican primary, O'Dea claimed to be "personally very pro-life," and proudly admitted after winning the nomination that he was a supporter of Proposition 115, an abortion restriction measure that failed overwhelmingly in 2020. Despite this, O'Dea has falsely claimed to be "pro choice" in deceptive campaign ads. O'Dea was proud to claim the support of members of the Trump administration during the primary, then tried to back away from Trump after winning the nomination.

The contrast between Michael Bennet's record of service and policy wins in the U.S. Senate and Joe O'Dea's empty promises concealing a right-wing agenda could not be greater. Bennet is the clear progressive choice.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette is seeking her 14th term representing Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. DeGette, a lawyer, is Colorado’s most senior national legislator, the dean of its nine-member delegation, and the state’s only female Democrat in Congress.

A lifelong Denverite, she has dedicated her career to protecting the environment, expanding access to health care, and fighting for reproductive justice. Before being elected to Congress, DeGette served two terms in the Colorado House of Representatives, where she protected access to abortion clinics. She continues this work in Congress as co-chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus.

DeGette has been recognized for her ability to work across party lines to deliver results. Some of her biggest achievements include playing an important role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act, co-authoring legislation that modernized medical research, and spearheading improvements in protecting our nation’s food supply. As chair of a key oversight panel, DeGette has led the effort to hold the Trump administration accountable for separating undocumented children from their families. DeGette has also been an outspoken advocate for enacting commonsense gun safety measures, safeguarding Colorado’s public lands, and protecting American consumers. 

DeGette's Republican opponent, Jennifer Qualteri, is an accountant for the State of Colorado. Qualteri has no political or earned media record other than her nomination to run in one of the state's Democratic strongholds. Qualteri's social media posts include references to baseless claims of election fraud in 2020.

Diana DeGette is one of the state's longest-serving and most effective progressive leaders. If reelected, DeGette will continue being the strong, progressive voice that Denver needs in Washington. 

We recommend she be retained in office to continue serving the people of Denver.

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. Progressives should cast their vote for McCorkle.

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 worked 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.

Rep. Crow's opponent Steven Monahan is a political newcomer and officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. In Monahan's candidate questionnaire from the Denver Post, Monahan repeated discredited talking points about the Inflation Reduction Act and expressed support for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Rep. Crow has served the residents of the 6th Congressional District with distinction and is the clear progressive choice in this race.

Incumbent Gov. Jared Polis' record of public service to the state of Colorado goes back over two decades to his election in 2000 to serve as at-large member of the Colorado State Board of Education. After helping found the New America Schools to serve recent immigrant students focused on English language instruction, Polis was elected in 2008 to represent Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, succeeding Mark Udall who was elected to the U.S. Senate that year.

In the U.S. House, Polis was a strong advocate for health care and immigration reform, serving on the House Education, Natural Resources, and Rules Committees. Polis received an 89% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters after leading the fight for a variety of important environmental reform initiatives including reducing methane pollution, protecting clean water resources, and addressing the threat of human-caused global climate change.

Elected to his first term as Governor of Colorado in 2018, Polis quickly went to work with the progressive majority in the Colorado General Assembly to successfully enact a comprehensive agenda of health care reform, inclusive economic development, education funding, anti-discrimination and equal wage protections, and environmental justice legislation. Senate Bill 19-181, a fossil fuel extraction reform measure, fundamentally changed the purpose of Colorado's oil and gas oversight authorities to prioritize public health and environmental protection over industry profits.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Polis' leadership and deliberate work to minimize partisan conflict with the Trump administration helped the state reduce economic harm while keeping the state's overall death rate from the pandemic well below the national average. Once the threat of the pandemic's spread without vaccines and effective treatments was past, Polis was at the head of the curve nationally in working to re-open Colorado's economy.

Polis' opponent, University of Colorado Regent Heidi Ganahl, is the only remaining statewide Republican elected official after years of losses in recent elections. Ganahl described herself as "The MAGA candidate Colorado has been waiting for," and is by for the most openly pro-Trump candidate on the statewide ballot in Colorado. As CU Regent, Ganahl enthusiastically supported Trump coup plotter John Eastman's paid appointment as the school's "Visiting Conservative Scholar." Ganahl's campaign has employed key members of Trump's former legal team. Ganahl's platform of slashing state revenue while promising to pay for crucial state services has been widely denounced as unrealistic. As governor, Ganahl has pledged to roll back recently-passed legislation protecting abortion rights in Colorado.

Jared Polis has served the state of Colorado with distinction during one of the greatest period of crisis in the entire nation's history. The choice between Polis and Ganahl's Trump-style bad faith could not be easier. Polis deserves your vote.

Incumbent Secretary of State Jena Griswold is an attorney with experience in voting rights and accessibility. Before winning office in 2018, Griswold served as the director of Gov. John Hickenlooper's federal liaison in Washington, D.C. and as an attorney for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

As Secretary of State, Griswold has overseen elections featuring some of the highest rates of voter participation in America, while defending Colorado's gold standard mail ballot election system from repeated baseless attacks from President Donald Trump and election conspiracy theorists. Griswold conducted the initial investigation into a breach of election security by Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters that resulted in numerous felony charges against Peters.

Griswold's opponent, former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson, severely damaged her once-commendable reputation for standing up to right-wing misinformation by campaigning with Republicans who dispute the results of the 2020 elections. Anderson has refused to condemn election deniers who support her campaign, claiming that would “divide or ostracize people.” Less than two years after Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections, Coloradans cannot responsibly entrust Pam Anderson and the Party of Trump with control over our elections.

Secretary Griswold is the clear progressive choice in this important statewide race.

Incumbent Treasurer Dave Young is running for his second term as Colorado Treasurer after winning office in 2018. Prior to Young's election as Treasurer, he served as a state legislature representing House District 50 in Weld County. In the legislature, Young served on the powerful Joint Budget Committee and chaired the House Appropriations Committee, some of the most important fiscal posts in the General Assembly. On the JBC, Young worked across the aisle each year to hammer out the state's most important annual piece of legislation, the "Long Bill" general fund budget. In 2013, Young helped communities he represents recover from that year's devastating floods.

As Treasurer, Young worked closely with Gov. Jared Polis to successfully manage the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on keeping Colorado's small business afloat during the worst of the crisis and swiftly reopening Colorado's economy once it was safe to do so. Young has also worked to streamline and expedite payments to Colorado property owners under the Great Colorado Payback program.

Young's opponent is Lang Sias, a perennial candidate for a variety of elected offices in Colorado who most recently lost the election to serve as lieutenant governor under Walker Stapleton in 2018. While serving in the U.S. Navy, Lang Sias attended a pilot's convention known as "Tailhook" in 1991 that resulted in nationwide scandal, with allegations of sexual assault committed against 83 women and seven men. Currently a FedEx pilot, Sias' run for this office is due to its availability, not Sias' fiscal policy experience.

Re-electing Treasurer Dave Young should be one of the easiest choices on this year's ballot.

Incumbent Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is seeking his second term after winning office in 2018. Prior to serving as Colorado Attorney General, Weiser served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Justice Department during the Obama administration. Weiser also served as a senior counsel at the Justice Department Antitrust Division during the Clinton Administration. Early in his career, Weiser served as a law clerk for Justices Byron White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

As Colorado's Attorney General, Weiser has fought to defend Colorado's historic recent progress on health care reform, protecting consumers from exploitation, anti-discrimination laws and Colorado's gold standard election system. Weiser was a nationwide leader in holding drug manufacturers accountable for their role in the opioid addiction crisis, as well as legal action to forgive the student loans of thousands of victims of predatory lenders and scam for-profit colleges.

Weiser's opponent is District Attorney John Kellner, who succeeded George Brauchler as Arapahoe County DA after Brauchler lost his race for Attorney General in 2018. Kellner's dishonest attacks on Weiser over Colorado's crime rate ignore the stark increase that has occurred in Kellner's own district during the same period. Kellner has expressed his support for the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, and has promised to "support Colorado law" despite his fellow Republicans' determination to repeal Colorado laws protecting abortion rights.

Phil Weiser has done an examplary job as the state's chief attorney, and has earned a second term in office.

Kathy Plomar has been heavily invested in public education as former President of the Adams 12 Board of Education and former President of the Parent Teacher Organization. Plomar believes in bringing people together with different life experiences to ensure all kids receive an excellent education. Plomar lists three key priorities that will define her work as an at-large State Board of Education member: academic excellence, respecting teachers, and transparency and accountability. Plomar is a solid progressive choice for the State Board of Education.

The Republican candidate for this seat is Dan Maloit, a parent of three and a medical device sales manager. Maloit recently became involved in politics when he organized for the reopening of schools for full-time, in-person learning in August of 2020, before the development of any COVID-19 vaccines or effective treatments. We recommend voting for Plomar.

Incumbent Rebecca McClellan has served the 6th Congressional District on the Colorado State Board of Education since 2017. She has taken various roles on the board including a term as the Board Liaison to the Colorado Special Education Advisory Committee, as well as State Board Legislative Liaison. More recently she has been fighting against conservative board members who have been advocating for conservative social studies standards that erase LGBT people and people of color from history. McClellan has proven to be a defender of education and Colorado needs her continued leadership. McClellan is the progressive choice.

Molly Lamar is the Republican candidate. Lamar has been endorsed by many conservative Republicans including Steve Durham, a conservative extremist State Board of Education incumbent that represents the 5th Congressional District. Lamar would be a dangerous addition to the State Board of Education.

Wanda James is an entrepreneur and a graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, Class of 1986. After graduating, James was commissioned into the United States Navy. She continued her education and graduated from the Inaugural Class of the Los Angeles African American Women's Public Policy Institute at the University of Southern California.

Politically, she has been a leader in the decriminalization of cannabis and criminal justice reform. As CU Regent, James hopes to develop a national reputation for affordable excellence while ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral parts of the university system. Wanda James is the ideal candidate to represent the future of CU.

Wanda James is the progressive choice for the CU Board of Regents.

Jack Barrington is a Navy veteran, teacher, truck driver and mechanic. Barrington has traveled throughout the state of Colorado and learned about the diversity in our state. Living in the far Southeast plains, he is interested in representing the citizens of CD4 as a board member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents. Jack Barrington is the candidate to elect.

Frank McNulty is the Republican candidate. He is a Republican political operative. As former House Speaker, he is notorious for stalling the Colorado Civil Unions bill, ensuring its failure.

Jack Barrington is the progressive choice for the CU Board of Regents.

Representative Tom Sullivan is seeking election to the Colorado State Senate to represent District 27. Sullivan spent over 30 years as a postal worker and is an Air Force veteran. He is a part of Colorado’s United Veterans Committee, and a strong advocate for gun safety. Sullivan was propelled to action after his soon was murdered in the Aurora theatre shooting in 2012. In 2018, Sullivan became the first Democrat elected to represent House District 37. In 2019, Sulllivan led the fight to pass Colorado's Extreme Risk Protection Order to address gun violence. Sullivan's top priorities include; safe and healthier communities, good and safe jobs, and caring for vets. Sullivan has been a strong supporter of our Colorado families.

Sullivan is running against conservative Republican Tom Kim is the Republican candidate. Tom thinks our reproductive rights bill last year went too far.

Representative Sullivan is the progressive choice for Colorado State Senate District 27.

Senator Rodriguez is the incumbent running for his second term to represent Colorado Senate District 32. Rodriguez grew up in Adams County. Rodriguez has worked as a senior analyst I the insurance industry and in Community Corrections and Treatment Center. Rodriguez received high scores from the Colorado Education Association and environmental groups. Senator Rodriguez hopes to continue his work on affordable housing and making providing families economic tools to build a better life. Vote for Senator Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is the progressive choice for Colorado Senate District 32.

Incumbent State Rep. Meg Froelich has a long history of activism for women’s rights, children’s welfare, education, community leadership, and environmental protection. Since being appointed to her seat in 2019, she has co-sponsored and passed bills on issues ranging from public-sector collective bargaining to accountability in law enforcement to expanding Medicaid. Most recently, Froelich was a primary sponsor on the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which made abortion a constitutional right for all Coloradans. She was at the forefront of addressing the Dobbs decision and the fall of Roe v. Wade. She has been a champion of environmental justice, and has worked to ban anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy.

Froelich’s experience as a successful legislator, her leadership in reproductive rights and health, and her dedication to the people of Colorado make her the preferred candidate in this race.

On the other side of the ballot is Republican Marla Fernandez. Fernandez is a conspiracy theorist with hard right positions in opposition to abortion rights, any environmental protections, and gun-violence prevention. Recently, Fernandez refused to apologize for a tweet referring to Black and Latina legislators "chimps," a deeply racist epithet. Under no circumstances should Fernandez become a state legislator.

We strongly encourage voters to reelect Meg Froelich.

Emily Sirota is the incumbent for House District 9. She was first elected to the statehouse in 2018, and has been described by former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb as a “progressive with strong roots in her community and deep experience in government, social work, and education.” Before joining the legislature, she helped run an early learning center and worked for the Colorado Progressive Coalition, where she organized support for paid sick leave policy.

Sirota is known for her progressive stance on Colorado’s conservative and inequitable tax code, as she championed state funding for the Child Tax Credit and increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit. She helped pass universal pre-k, gave relief to working families, mandated the teaching of the Holocaust and genocide in public schools, and had Colorado join the National Popular Vote Compact. Sirota also carried a bill for a task force to analyze how much money Colorado could save by going to a health-care-for-all system.

Sirota is the clear progressive choice.

Rep. Mike Weissman has served Colorado House District 36 since winning election in 2016, succeeding outgoing Rep. Su Ryden. Prior to election to the Colorado House, Weissman was a leading strategist in the historic progressive political realignment that took place in Colorado from 2004 to the present day. Weissman serves as chair of the Colorado House Judiciary Committee.

Weissman's relatively unknown opponent, William Walters, is a retired Denver Sheriff who believes schools are being "used [to] indoctrinate children."

Rep. Weismann is the clear progressive choice in House District 36.

Ruby Dickson is the progressive candidate running for Colorado House District 37 to succeed outgoing Rep. Tom Sullivan. Dickson is a graduate of the University of Oxford in economics, and currently serves as a Research Economist at a nonprofit focused on reducing global poverty.

Paul Archer is a businessman with no previous political experience. Archer told the Denver Post his top priority is to repeal criminal justice reforms passed by the Colorado General Assembly in recent years.

Dickson is the clear progressive choice to represent House District 37.

Incumbent Rep. David Ortiz has served Colorado House District 38 since 2020. Ortiz is a retired United States Army veteran helicopter pilot who was injured in Afghanistan. Ortiz underwent recovery and rehabilitation at Colorado's Craig Hospital, which led to Ortiz's work with that organization and eventually the United Veterans Committee of Colorado. Serving on the Colorado House Health and Insurance Committee, Rep. Ortiz helped pass major achievements in healthcare reform including the Colorado Option to reduce premiums on the individual market by up to 20%.

Ortiz's opponent, Jaylen Mosqueira, was a legislative aide for several conservative members of the Colorado House.

Rep. Ortiz is the progressive choice for Colorado House District 38.

Incumbent Rep. Naquetta Ricks has served Colorado House District 40 since winning election in 2020. Rep. Ricks resettled in Aurora, Colorado after fleeing the ongoing civil war in her native Liberia, and graduated from the University of Colorado with an MBA. Ricks serves on the House Business and Public Health Committees. Ricks was the prime sponsor of legislation to reform the practices of predatory towing companies.

Ricks' opponent, Le Sellers, is a retired Army officer. On Sellers' Facebook page, he rails against "LGBTQ+ indoctrination in the government-run, tax-funded, welfare schools" and asked who speaks for "the 98% of children who are not so afflicted."

Naquetta Ricks is the easy choice for progressives in Colorado House District 40.

Incumbent Rep. Iman Jodeh has represented Colorado House District 41 since 2020. Jodeh is the first Muslim ever elected to the Colorado General Assembly. Prior to winning election in 2020, Jodeh served as community liaison for the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado. Jodeh serves on the House Appropriations and Public & Behavioral Health Committees. The Council of State Governments chose Jodeh as one of the “20 Under 40” elected officials whose careers in public service show promise.

Jodeh's opponent, Stephanie Hancock, is an artist and President of the Aurora Cultural Arts District. Hancock's social media profiles including controversial posts on a range of issues from disparaging transgender children to opposition to abortion rights.

Rep. Jodeh is the progressive choice to represent Colorado House District 41.

Incumbent Rep. Mandy Lindsay has represented Colorado House District 42 since January of 2022, appointed to replace outgoing Rep. Dominique Jackson. Lindsay was Rep. Jackson's legislative aide prior to her appointment. Lindsay serves on the House Transportation and Acriculture Committees.

Rep. Lindsay's right-wing opponent, Cory Parella, is running on a bizarre promise to "make abortion obsolete" through the development of an "artificial uterus." Parella supported the repeal of Roe v. Wade, and has promised if elected to repeal police accountability legislation passed in Colorado two years ago.

Rep. Lindsay is the clear progressive choice for House District 42.

Kathleen Conway is running to represent Colorado House District 56, which includes rural Adams, Arapahoe El Paso, Elbert, and Lincoln Counties. Conway has a long history of community service and leadership in her career and as a volunteer. She has served on the Governor’s Foreclosure Prevention Task Force and as the Chief Clerk and Recorder for Douglas County. Conway will “work for the people” to preserve the rural way of life as well as the land and water. She will also work to address growth in Colorado.

Conway is the progressive choice for House District 56.

Eliza Hamrick is running to represent Colorado House District 61. Hamrick is running to improve education funding, bring about common sense gun safety legislation, and to lower the cost of living for working families – from health care to housing. The wife of an Air Force veteran, a mother, and grandmother, Hamrick has been a high school history and government teacher in Cherry Creek Schools for over 30 years. She understands how to build bridges and bring solutions to problems.

Hamrick is the Progressive Choice for House District 61.