Thanks to all of you who attended our post-legislative session event Wednesday night at the University of Denver with Gov. Jared Polis and a group of state lawmakers.
For those who missed it, here are the highlights:
WATCH: Recapping the 2024 Colorado legislative session
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CORRECTION: An item in Tuesday’s newsletter incorrectly reported the number of state House primaries in Colorado this year. There are 18.
ADVICE FOR BIDEN
We closed with asking Polis if he has any advice for President Joe Biden as the November election nears and polls show he is trailing in some key battleground states.
“I would encourage him to talk about the future,” the governor said. “When I run for office, I never talk about what I did. I talk about what I want to do and a vision.”
THE NARRATIVE
National Republicans roll their eyes at Colorado GOP’s endorsements in congressional races
When the Colorado GOP decided last month to endorse U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in the Republican primary in the 4th Congressional District, some in the party groaned because the party has traditionally stayed neutral in primaries.
But this week, the party went a big step further — and raised the stakes immensely —by endorsing two vulnerable, far-right allies running in primaries in competitive congressional contests. That’s drawing the attention — and frustration — of national Republicans as they battle to keep control of the U.S. House.
The Colorado GOP endorsed former state Reps. Ron Hanks in the 3rd Congressional District and Janak Joshi in the 8th Congressional District. Hanks is one of five Republicans running in the June 25 primary in the 3rd District, including State Board of Education Director Stephen Varela, who won the district’s nominating assembly last month. Joshi faces state Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton in the Republican primary in the 8th District, who got 62% of the delegate vote at the district’s assembly vote.
“This is going to work out for them about as well as it worked out for the Nebraska GOP,” said a national GOP strategist, who asked not to be named so they could speak candidly about the situation.
The Nebraska Republican Party, which like the Colorado GOP is now run by Trump loyalists, endorsed primary challengers to all five of the state’s GOP incumbents. None of the challengers won Tuesday, when the state’s primaries were held.
Joshi has few ties to the district. He surrendered his medical license more than a decade ago, but still presents himself as a doctor in campaign materials. Hanks is an election conspiracy theorist and conservative firebrand.
Both are seen as the riskiest options in their respective districts for Republicans heading into November. The 8th District is a toss-up where Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo is fighting for reelection. The 3rd District leans heavily in Republicans’ favor, but Boebert nearly lost her 2022 reelection bid there to Democrat Adam Frisch after voters soured on her.
The endorsements came after the Colorado GOP sent candidates a survey with questions meant to effectively be a litmus test on their support for former President Donald Trump.
Varela and Evans, who refused to fill out the survey, took issue with the endorsements.
Varela said in a written statement that the party had been “hijacked by a cabal of imposters.”
Evans said the decision to endorse Joshi was made by out-of-touch party bosses.
“I was honored to earn the endorsement of grassroots Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin at the 8th Congressional District Republican Assembly,” Evans said. “Those hardworking Republican primary voters are the ones I care about.”
Meanwhile, here’s what the Pueblo County GOP said on Facebook: “The state GOP is perpetuating fake news and engaging in election interference toward Stephen Varela who won top line at the State Assembly.”
Something you should know: Joshi lived in Colorado Springs for decades before changing his voter registration to an apartment in Thornton in February.
Also: Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams supposedly recused himself from the Hanks endorsement decision.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
CONGRESS
Members of Colorado’s congressional delegation ranked high — and low — in a Lugar Center recent study of bipartisanship in the U.S. House and Senate in 2023. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, ranked highest at No. 18, while first-year Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, ranked 28th. Reps. Jason Crow, D-Centennial, and Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, also ranked among the top 60 of the 435 House members. Former Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, ranked 146th; Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, ranked 169th; Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, ranked 298th; and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Windsor, ranked 428th. Boebert’s ranking is up from the last Congress, when she was last. Sen. John Hickenlooper ranked 27th among the 100 senators and Sen. Michael Bennet ranked 32nd.
PERSONNEL FILE
Nico Delgado is now the U.S. Senate campaign communications director for American Bridge 21st Century, an opposition research firm that tracks Republican candidates. He previously worked for Strategies 360 in Denver, and before that did stints with the Colorado Democratic Party and U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s 2020 campaign.
ENDORSEMENT
U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, this week endorsed former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, a Republican, in the 4th Congressional District special election June 25. Scalise said Lopez “will draw on his experience as a veteran and small business owner to represent Colorado’s 4th District with selfless service.”
ENDORSEMENT
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert returned the favor by endorsing Colorado GOP Dave Williams in the Republican primary in the 5th Congressional District. (The GOP earlier endorsed Boebert in the 4th District Republican primary.) “We’ve got enough cranks in Congress already,” Boebert posted on social media in a dig at Williams’ opponent, conservative commentator Jeff Crank.
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THIS WEEK’S PODCAST: Colorado’s new land-use laws and how they may affect housing affordability
ELECTION 2024
Political TV advertising heats up as primaries near
Republican Jeff Crank, a conservative podcast host, hit the 5th Congressional District airwaves this week with nearly $17,000 in TV ads that started Wednesday and will air until Tuesday, based on contracts filed with the Federal Communication Commission. The ads air on four Colorado Springs stations, mostly on local and national news shows. Another $3,000 will air on cable TV’s Fox News during the next two weeks.
That outpaces the $15,000 spent by GOP Chairman Dave Williams for cable TV ads between April 15 and May 26. All of those ads are airing on conservative cable channels Fox News and Newsmax.
Crank’s initial message focuses on immigration and closing the border, while Williams’ spots emphasize his conservative credentials, including his endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
The two will face off in the June 25 Republican primary for the congressional seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs.
8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Those numbers are small beans compared with what’s being spent in the toss-up 8th Congressional District. Most of the money is aimed at helping Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo of Thornton win reelection in a race that could decide which party controls Congress.
The dark-money group Protect Our Care spent $273,000 on cable TV ads in the 8th District from March through early May. It’s a political nonprofit and thus doesn’t have to disclose its donors.
The group’s ad benefiting Caraveo features a narrator saying she’s fighting for lower health care costs in Congress, and is part of a $5 million national ad campaign by the group.
Meanwhile, the Democratic House Majority PAC has reserved $3.4 million in Denver TV ad time for September and October, based on FCC filings. That time is almost certainly aimed at the 8th District.
State Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton and former state Rep. Janak Joshi, who until recently lived in Colorado Springs, are running against each other in the June 25 Republican primary that will decide who takes on Caraveo in November.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
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Corrections & Clarifications
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