Trump Will Need Pueblo – Denver Post

Pueblo County Court House
Photo: David Shankbone

If Donald Trump is going to win Colorado, he will need to keep it close in Pueblo.

In a long analysis, Denver Post reporter John Frank highlights both Trump’s weaknesses in Pueblo, such as the Democratic registration advantage, and his possible strengths, such as a blue collar town where a candidate’s position on guns is a lot more important than their viewpoint on gay marriage.

Frank points out that there have been recent Republican candidates who have done well or better than expected in the county, including Congressman Scott Tipton and Senator Cory Gardner.

I offer the observation that running reasonably well in Pueblo is important for a statewide Republican candidate as the old Republican counties in Denver’s south and west suburbs have been much less reliable during the last decade.

Trump’s messages about better jobs and law and order hit home in Pueblo, where a recent survey showed crime and the economy as the top two issues. Only 29 percent believe the county is headed in the right direction, half the proportion as Denver voters.

“I don’t think a Republican could get dead even in the polls without being very close in Pueblo,” said Floyd Ciruli, a Colorado political pollster who conducted the recent survey, “because the Denver metro area is not nearly as fertile as it used to be for Republicans.”