Five Colorado Election Takeaways

Denver Country Club, Denver, Colorado

The following are five takeaways from Colorado’s November election. Although the Democrats held their dominance in the legislature and Kamala Harris won the state by 11 percent as predicted, Republicans won a new congressional seat and voters moved toward a more conservative position on law and order.

1. Colorado’s Democrat freshman congressperson lost due to immigration and a low-key first term. The Gabe Evans win made a contribution to House Republican majority.
2. Lauren Boebert saved her job. Her MAGA identity overcame the carpetbagger label and Beetlejuice reputation. But Douglas County, which is about half the district, is barely on board. With Donald Trump in White House, she will continue to be a lightning rod for Colorado Republicans.
3. Republican Party filled two out of three of its open seats with more mainstream members. Jeff Hurd and Jeff Crank can become the base of a more competitive party.
4. Voters strongly supported a package of law and order measures related to bail bonds, parole, and money for police. Denver Democrats, paused on a hefty new sales tax for housing but voters in the metro area said yes to large school bond packages.
5. A new election system sold by advocates of reduced party control of politics failed. They spent nearly $20 million to sell the proposal with an underfunded opposition campaign. It was judged an excessively complicated solution that didn’t fit the problem. Five other states had some version of nonpartisan primaries and rank choice voting on the ballot and all failed.

Floyd Ciruli presented a post-election analysis to the Metro Denver Executive Club at the Denver Country Club Wednesday morning, November 6.