The Colorado legislature will look a lot different in 2025 than it does now.
There will be a lot of turnover in the House and Senate as lawmakers are termed out of the General Assembly, run for different elected office or resign because they’ve simply had enough of the gold dome.
The Unaffiliated counts at least 15 seats in the House that are being vacated, as well as at least seven seats that are being vacated in the Senate. Those numbers, which represent nearly a quarter of the legislature, will likely grow.
Why it matters: At the start of the 2023 legislative session, there were 32 lawmakers who were brand new to the 100-person General Assembly and 42 who were serving in their chamber for the first time. That dynamic certainly had an effect on the way the Capitol functioned — or didn’t.
In addition to changing political and policy dynamics, turnover at the Capitol means institutional knowledge is leaving.
The House is where the biggest change will be in 2025 since many of the vacated Senate seats will likely be filled by representatives who are running to move to the upper chamber. The 19-member House GOP caucus will look particularly different.
The Republican representatives who aren’t running for reelection in 2024:
House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, is also expected to launch a congressional bid in the coming weeks and not run for reelection to his statehouse seat.
In the House Democratic caucus, here’s who is departing:
There will also be a replacement announced in the coming weeks for Rep. Ruby Dickson, D-Greenwood Village, who is resigning Dec. 11 after less than one year in office because of the “sensationalistic and vitriolic” political environment.
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MORE: Here’s who is departing the Senate in 2025:
Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, is running to be a Douglas County commissioner. If he loses, his term in the Senate isn’t over until early 2027.
ADDENDUM: There may be some unplanned exits from the legislature after next year’s session if some incumbents lose their 2024 primaries or general election races.
State Rep. Tim Hernández, D-Denver, is facing a primary challenge from Cecelia Espenoza, a former immigration judge, in House District 4. State Rep. Elisabeth Epps, D-Denver, doesn’t have a credible primary challenger yet, but we hear one may announce in the coming weeks.
On the GOP side, we hear there’s an effort underway among far-right Republicans to recruit a primary challenger for Rep. Anthony Hartsook, R-Douglas County.
Meanwhile, several House Democrats are running for reelection next year in toss-up districts. The Democratic incumbents most in danger of losing their reelection bids to a Republican are Reps. Jennifer Parenti of Erie; Stepanie Vigil of Colorado Springs; Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch; and Mary Young of Greeley.
In the Senate, Sen. Chris Kolker, D-Centennial, Republican Sens. Cleave Simpson of Alamosa and Perry Will of New Castle will run for reelection in toss-up districts that were redrawn during the 2021 redistricting process.
ADDENDUM NO. 2: Jarvis Caldwell, an Air Force veteran and the former director of communications for the House Republican caucus, filed to run to represent House District 20, which is currently represented by Wilson. He announced his campaign Monday.
The Sun is keeping a list of declared candidates for state House and Senate.
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
CHART OF THE WEEK
Colorado’s eight U.S. House members spent nearly $10 million on personnel, travel, rent and other expenses to operate their offices in the first nine months of 2023.
The Colorado Sun analyzed those expenses from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30. U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, was the top spender, at about $1.4 million, followed by U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, at $1.3 million.
The two newest members of the delegation — U.S. Reps. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, and Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton — were at the bottom of the list in total spending, at just over $1 million and just under $1 million, respectively.
Most House members get about $1.9 million to run their offices. Thus far, 78% of the total spending by Colorado’s delegation has gone to pay staff.
Jeff Small, chief of staff for Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, was the highest-paid staffer working for Colorado’s eight U.S. House members. Small made $147,000 in the first nine months of the year. That represents 16% of the $943,000 Boebert spent on staff during that time, but the Garfield County congresswoman spent the least on payroll among Colorado’s eight House members.
Members of Congress are paid $174,000 annually, but their staffers may be paid a salary of up to $212,100. Each U.S. House office may employ up to 18 full-time staffers.
Ben Morris III, Neguse’s chief of staff, joins Small as the only other staffer for a House member from Colorado slated to make more than a congressional salary by the end of this year. Morris was paid $137,000 in the first nine months of the year. Neguse has spent the most of any House member from Colorado on staff so far this year, at nearly $1.2 million.
Among the more interesting job titles for a staffer to a House member from Colorado: faith outreach coordinator, for which Nathan O’Neal was paid nearly $147,000 by U.S. Rep. Ken Buck’s office in the first nine months of the year.
MORE: The second-highest expenses for members of Colorado’s House delegation were rent and utilities, while travel was third. This year is the first that House members could be reimbursed for lodging and other expenses incurred in Washington, D.C., while they are in session.
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, topped the list for spending for rent and utilities, at more than $108,000. Most of that went to the Colorado State Land Board for rent of a district office.
Boebert’s office spent the most on travel at more than $117,000, followed by the $106,000 spent on travel by Lamborn’s office. He spent nearly $50,000 on airfare for himself and his staff. That compares with the $25,000 spent on airfare by Boebert’s office.
Boebert’s 3rd Congressional District is the largest in the state, at more than 49,000 square miles. Lawmakers and staff may be reimbursed for vehicle travel in their districts, and Boebert’s office spent $14,000 to reimburse staff members for their travel.
Boebert’s office spent nearly $28,000 on car rentals, only $400 of which was attributed to office employees. That was neary $10,000 more than what was spent on rental cars by the rest of Colorado’s U.S. House delegation combined.
Boebert’s office also paid Sill-TerHar Motors in Broomfield $6,000 to lease a car for the month of July.
MEDIA
Campfire Colorado is gone — at least for now
Campfire Colorado, the conservative news site created by Republican operative Matt Connelly in the lead up to the 2022 election, has been indefinitely extinguished.
The site no longer exists and all of the posts it had made on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, have been erased. (Connelly’s posts on X are gone, too.) Campfire Colorado’s other social media accounts have also gone dormant.
“Since day one, Campfire Colorado was a scrappy media startup founded by myself and my golden retriever,” Connelly told The Unaffiliated in a written statement. “In October, we decided to put the website on a strategic pause because the workload had become too much for two hands and four paws to maintain effectively. While we contemplate the future of the website, I will forever be grateful for all of the support I received for this fun project and all the lessons learned while launching a startup business.”
Connelly told Axios Denver when he launched Campfire Colorado last year that the site was meant to “talk to conservatives and be a gathering place for Colorado conservatives.” He interviewed big-name Republicans for the site, including then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton, Tim Scott and Joni Ernst.
The site also attacked local journalists and news outlets, including The Colorado Sun, for perceived biases.
But Campfire Colorado’s activity seemed to drop off after Republicans were walloped in Colorado’s 2022 election.
The big picture: Campfire Colorado was one of a limited number of news sites in the state geared toward Republicans. It seemed particularly aimed at combating the rise of its liberal counterparts, like The Colorado Times Recorder, but it didn’t have the same resources or produce the same kind of original journalism.
Connelly, who worked as press secretary for Republican Cory Gardner’s successful 2014 U.S. Senate campaign and then as national press secretary in 2015 for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, was hired in May as vice president of media for Advance Colorado. But he left that job at the conservative political nonprofit a few months ago.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER#A quick rundown of the latest political news in Colorado
>> YADIRA CARAVEO: A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, alongside U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, calling for additional federal research into “zombie drugs” is on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk after the U.S. House on Monday adopted a Senate amendment to the measure. The legislation received unanimous approval. The bill compels the National Institute of Standards and Technology to focus on the effects of xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer known as “tranq,” and other synthetic drugs that are often being mixed with powerful opioids. The measure, introduced in May, will be Caraveo’s first to be signed into law. Her office says once signed, it will be the first piece of legislation from a first-year lawmaker in the 118th Congress to pass and be signed.
>> LAUREN BOEBERT: The Gazette editorial board, a leading conservative voice in Colorado, endorsed Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd over U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in the Republican primary in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. “Boebert has a seemingly intractable image problem, which has manifested in lackluster financial support. She appears divisive at a time when voters want peace,” the editorial board wrote.
>> ELECTION 2023: Secretary of State Jena Griswold certified the results of the Nov. 7 election Monday after bipartisan canvass boards in all 64 counties submitted their final results.
STORY: Colorado state worker pay has improved. Other jobs still pay more.
STORY: Percentage of people without health insurance coverage in Colorado hits an all-time low
CHALKBEAT: Proposed ban on religious instruction in Colorado’s state-funded preschools may spark legal fight
COLORADO POLITICS: GOP congressional candidate Scott James unveils endorsements from more than 20 county commissioners
9NEWS: Statehouse committee debates where original Colorado Constitution should be displayed
CBS: Transcript: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on “Face the Nation”
THE DENVER POST: Busload of migrants is dropped off at state Capitol in Denver
ELECTION 2024
George Brauchler won’t run for CD4, but he’s eyeing a bid for DA in Colorado’s new 23rd Judicial District
Republican George Brauchler says he won’t toss his hat into the ring in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, where a swarm of GOP candidates are expected to vie to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ken Buck.
“I’m flattered and a bit humbled by the number of folks who have voiced support for me to consider this,” Brauchler, who lives in Parker and is the former top prosecutor in the 18th Judicial District, told The Colorado Sun. “But, at the end of the day, there are just more important opportunities and obligations closer to home.”
He added: “I want to continue to serve, I just don’t think for right now the House of Representatives is the right place to do that.”
If Brauchler had made a run to represent the 4th District, whose electorate is overwhelmingly Republican, he would have likely been a top contender.
Brauchler, who is working as a conservative talk radio host, says he is seriously considering continuing his public service by running in 2024 to be the district attorney in Colorado’s new 23rd Judicial District, which will include Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties. The new judicial district is being formed because of population growth in the 18th Judicial District, which currently includes those counties as well as Arapahoe County
MORE: The current DA in the 18th Judicial District is John Kellner, a Republican who is wrapping up his first term. Starting in 2024, the district will only include Arapahoe County, which is dominated by Democrats.
Kellner, who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general last year, hasn’t filed to run for reelection in 2024.
“I haven’t made a decision yet,” Kellner told The Unaffiliated. “I’ve been very focused on leading the office through the jurisdiction split and that will continue to be a priority over the next year. I’ll talk it over with family and have a decision after the holidays.”
Word on the street is Kellner isn’t going to seek another term in a nod to the political realities of the district’s new boundaries.
The only candidate currently running to be district attorney in the 18th Judicial District is Amy Padden, a former federal, state and local prosecutor who lost narrowly to Kellner in 2020 and made an unsuccessful attorney general bid in 2018.
ELECTION 2024
Colorado GOP gets its love on X
The Colorado GOP is getting lots of love on X lately — not that the people doling out the praise have any choice in the matter.
Three Republican presidential candidates have satisfied a major part of the party’s requirements to appear on the state’s 2024 primary ballot by posting about the primary and the Colorado GOP on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
In addition to donating between $20,000 and $40,000 to the Colorado GOP, Republican presidential candidates must also post on X and another social media platform about “their excitement to be on the Colorado ballot” to qualify for the state’s 2024 primary. The posts must tag the Colorado GOP’s username and “directly encourage their followers to follow the party’s social media accounts for updates about the party primary and events.”
The requirements were part of presidential primary ballot-access rules adopted by the party in August.
We haven’t seen X posts yet from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson or former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Time is running out. Dec. 11 is the deadline for presidential candidates to file with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to run in Colorado’s March 5 primary.
How much candidates have to pay depends on whether they visit the state or hold a fundraiser for the Colorado GOP. If they are willing to do one of those things, their ballot-access fee is only $20,000. If not, they must pony up $40,000 to appear on the Colorado GOP presidential primary ballot March 5.
Trump paid $40,000 to the party earlier this year. The only other candidate whose payment has shown up in campaign finance reports was North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, whose campaign paid $20,000 before he dropped out of the race Monday.
Something you should know: The Colorado GOP reposted what Trump and Ramaswamy shared on X. It did not repost the missive from DeSantis.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
>> Tensions are bubbling up at thirsty Arizona alfalfa farms as foreign firms exploit unregulated water (The Associated Press)
>> Key Congress staffers in AI debate are funded by tech giants like Google and Microsoft (Politico)
>> George Santos reveals one truth: It’s easy to abuse campaign finance laws (The New York Times)
>> Donald Trump attempts to spin anti-democracy, authoritarian criticism against Joe Biden (The Washington Post)
>> Inflation is your fault (The Atlantic)
