Our post-legislative session event last week also featured four state lawmakers reflecting on the work they did in 2024, as well as looking back on their broader tenures at Capitol.
Here are the highlights:
THE SENATORS
Jim Smallwood, a term-limited Parker Republican, said it took him years to learn how to operate effectively in the legislature.
“When I got elected back in 2016, I was one of those very pro-term-limit types of guys,” he said. “Now that I know that I’ve been there for eight years, I’m like ‘wow, that was really, really juvenile.’ It takes, like, four years to figure out where the bathrooms are and where the parking lots are and to start to just get your bearings. To have any influence at all takes like five or six years.”
Smallwood said term limits end up meaning that lobbyists are the most experienced people at the Capitol.
Meanwhile, Sen Kyle Mullica, D-Thornton, talked about the Capitol culture.
“Oftentimes it is a lot harder to stand up against your own party than it is even the other party,” he said. “What I’m trying to get through to my side is that we have to continue having that big tent that has gotten us to where we are today. If we kind of go into this cancel culture and say ‘it’s either this way or highway,’ I think that we really run the risk of losing a lot of good people that are trying to get involved.”
Mullica also said he disagrees with Democrats who think the party’s big legislative majorities are an indication that voters handed the party a progressive mandate.
“I think that the political environment Colorado is in isn’t purely just because Democrats are good and we govern in a better way,” he said. “I think, partially, the ecosystem is a little messed up because of national politics.”
Smallwood said his proudest achievements in the legislature were finding ways to bridge the divide with Democrats on abortion. In particular, he pointed to his work on Colorado’s safe haven law, which lets people drop off infants at firehouses and hospitals without facing legal repercussions.
“What that did was at least prove that there is middle ground on these big social issues,” he said. “We’re not as not as divided as we think we are.”
Mullica, an emergency room nurse, said one of his priorities for next year is finding ways to better protect health care workers against harassment and violence.
“We’re starting to see violence in the workplace become a real issue and we’re starting to lose health care workers at a rapid rate,” he said.
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THE REPRESENTATIVES
In contrast to the two senators, there wasn’t much our House panelists agreed on.
Rep. Iman Jodeh, an Aurora Democrat, spoke at length about her efforts this session to promote housing density near transit — the central piece of a package of land-use legislation that was largely opposed by Republicans.
“The reason why this was a big deal was because we know that currently, Coloradans cannot afford to live and work and play and age and worship or do anything of the sort in the communities that they want to live in,” Jodeh said. “It is too expensive.”
Jodeh said one way House Bill 1313 differed from last year’s land use debate was that Democrats were more “intentional” about including anti-displacement protections for existing residents. Often, new development can lead to gentrification that prices out lower-income families.
“We have to make sure that building in anti-displacement (policies) ensures that vulnerable communities and vulnerable people, whether senior citizens or people of color or first generation immigrants and refugees, do not feel essentially targeted by legislation that we’ve put forth,” she said.
But while Jodeh maintains there’s enough flexibility in the new law to allow local governments to decide how their communities develop, Republican Rep. Anthony Hartsook disagreed.
“As Republicans, we believe that local governments and your planning commissions and your municipalities — they should decide what is best for their communities,” said Hartsook, who lives in Parker. “If you look out the window behind you, you see beautiful mountains and beautiful areas. People don’t move here to live in high rises, they move here for the open spaces.”
Hartsook said his favored housing solution is to reduce financial barriers to construction — like streamlining permitting and limiting how homeowners in condominium units can sue for shoddy work through the state’s construction defects laws.
On tax policy, Jodeh said it was time to repeal the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — an idea that drew some cheers from the audience at DU.
“The very short and best answer I can give you is: repeal TABOR,” Jodeh said, when asked how the state should fund public services in the future. “I think TABOR is really what has forced the hands of Democrats to get creative with how we can fund basic services for our children, for our communities, for our sustainability and our infrastructure.”
Hartsook balked at her proposal, noting that most Coloradans view the constitutional restrictions on taxes favorably, polling shows. But he did praise the bipartisan property tax cut bill that cleared the General Assembly in the session’s final days.
“This is one of those bipartisan bills that everyone came away going, I don’t like it, I don’t love it, but everyone gave up something and everyone got something,” Hartsook said. “That’s how legislation works.”
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
TINA PETERS
A federal judge Monday dismissed the remaining claims made by former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in the lawsuit she filed seeking to halt her criminal prosecution and the ongoing criminal investigations into her conduct. U.S. District Court Judge Nina Wang previously dismissed Peters’ claims against Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein. Wang followed that up Monday by dismissing Peters’ claims against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the federal government, ordering that their attorneys fees be paid, apparently by Peters. Additionally, Wang disclosed — apparently for the first time — that a federal grand jury was convened in 2022 to investigate Peters on suspicion of identity theft, computer crimes and conspiracy, but no charges have been brought to date. Grand jury proceedings are secret.
CD4 DEBATES
The Republicans running to represent the 4th Congressional District will face off in a series of upcoming debates moderated by journalists. The first will be held May 29 will be hosted by CBS Colorado. It will be taped and rebroadcast. The second is May 30 and will be hosted by 9News. It will be televised live. The second is May 30 The third will be June 1 and is hosted by the Republican Women of Weld. Jesse is one of the moderators. The Women of Weld debate, held at the Grizzly Rose, will also feature a 4th District special election debate between Republican Greg Lopez and Democrat Trisha Calvarese. Primary ballots start being mailed out to voters June 3.
KEN BUCK
Former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck’s leadership PAC donated $150,000 last month to the American Exceptionalism Institute, a national political nonprofit that has donated to several super PACs supporting Republican candidates. After he resigned from Congress in March, Buck moved money from his congressional campaign into his One Generation leadership PAC, which may donate to candidate campaigns or nonprofits. One Generation still had about $275,000 at the end of April.
COLORADO GOP
The Colorado GOP continues to take sides in Republican primaries, sending an email Monday endorsing youth minister Bill Jack over Castle Rock Town Council Member Max Brooks in House District 45. The district is currently represented by Republican state Rep. Lisa Frizell, who is running for state Senate.
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ELECTION 2024
Dark money ads hit the airwaves in the 3rd Congressional District Republican primary
A super PAC with shadowy financial backing is spending $96,000 on TV ads supporting Durango businessman Lew Webb and opposing Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd in the Republican primary in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
Our American Century reported the spending late last week, and Federal Communications Commission ad contracts show the group’s cable TV ads started running May 17 and will air through the June 25 primary. On Monday, the super PAC reported receiving a single $100,000 donation from Apex Spendthrift Trust.
No previous contributions appear in FEC data from the trust.
Two years ago, $12 million of the $14 million raised by Our American Century came from billionaire Stephen Wynn, a developer and former casino owner. Most of that was spent supporting Republican candidates and opposing Democrats.
Webb put $150,000 into his campaign earlier this year. He has yet to file a federal disclosure of his finances.
Hurd has been endorsed by a host of big-name Colorado Republicans, including former Gov. Bill Owens and former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown. A spokesman for Hurd said his campaign will begin airing TV ads in the coming days. The super PAC Americans for Prosperity Action has spent $201,000 on mailers and canvassing supporting Hurd.
Webb and Hurd are among six candidates running in the Republican primary in the 3rd District.
JANAK JOSHI GETS ON TV
Former state Rep. Janak Joshi is spending $12,000 to air TV ads on Fox News through May 26 as he competes with state Rep. Gabe Evans for the 8th Congressional District Republican nomination.
The winner of the June 25 primary will face U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, in the general election.
CHART OF THE WEEK
Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams and conservative commentator Jeff Crank, who are running against each other in the Republican primary in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, faced off last week in a debate sponsored by the Lincoln Club of Colorado.
The two slammed President Joe Biden and praised former President Donald Trump, and also brought up Americans for Prosperity and Christianity. The Unaffiliated used a transcript of the debate in Colorado Springs to determine the number of times each candidate referred to one of these four terms.
Crank mentioned Biden 20 times and Trump 13 times. Williams used Trump’s name 15 times, often referring to the endorsement he received from the former president. He mentioned Biden only eight times.
Williams took aim at Americans for Prosperity, where Crank is a regional vice president, three times, while Crank defended the group’s work four times. The national conservative political nonprofit is supporting Crank through its federal super PAC.
Crank said “Christianity” once, while Williams mentioned Christianity or Jesus Christ half a dozen times.
DIGGING INTO THE DEBATE
Williams and Crank agreed on several issues, including the need to close the southern border, cut government spending and support the oil and gas industry. But they disagreed on some key points:
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: Colorado GOP chair’s embrace of Trump tactics splits party as he tries to boost his own campaign
THE BIGGER PICTURE
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Corrections & Clarifications
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