Win Two – Lose 62

Amendment 66 only carried two counties in the entire state, Boulder, which votes for every liberal proposition offered to it, and Denver – the new definition of overreach.

But, it lost Democratic stalwarts, such as Conejos and Costilla. In fact, it lost the entire Valley, counties that would have allegedly benefitted from the tax revenue.  It lost Democratic Pueblo more than two-to-one. Obviously, a lot of Democrats voted against it. It also lost Arapahoe and Jefferson, Denver metro swing counties that Democrats have been winning lately. Even liberal strongholds, such as Pitkin and San Miguel, rejected it.

A comparison of the results of Amendment 66 with Proposition 103, which was defeated by a similar margin in 2011, shows the same voting pattern with a few differences. For example, Boulder’s own Senator Rollie Heath did better there [in his hometown] with his Proposition 103 than did Amendment 66. Heath lost Denver in 2011. In Tuesday’s election, Douglas County appeared to especially dislike Amendment 66 (7-point spread), no doubt a reflection of high Republican turnout due to the contested school board race.

However, the main difference between 2011 and today is that Senator Heath, who is famous for getting about a third of Colorado voters to support his candidacy and his initiatives, had a few hundred thousand dollars in 2011 and Amendment 66 spent $10 million.