Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent to affect the primary for a seat on the state Board of Education, a race that could determine the future of Colorado charter schools for years to come.
What’s at stake is the panel’s willingness to overturn local districts when they reject a charter school’s application.
Nearly $600,000 from Progressives Supporting Teachers and Students, a pro-charter school state-level super PAC, has poured into the contest in the 2nd Congressional District to support education consultant Marisol Lynda Rodriguez in her bid against former Boulder Valley School Board President Kathy Gebhardt.
Board members are elected to six-year terms in each of the state’s eight congressional districts, with a ninth member elected statewide. The 2nd District — which is highly favorable to Democrats — is centered in Boulder, but also includes Fort Collins and Summit, Routt, Eagle and Grand counties.
Whoever wins the primary will almost surely win in November, too, replacing Democrat Angelika Schroeder, who is term-limited.
Schroeder is part of the 5-4 majority on the Colorado Board of Education that is willing to overturn local school districts when they deny charter school applications. She has endorsed Rodriguez.
Should the board majority swing, new charter schools could face serious hurdles in getting approval, according to Van Schoales, a senior policy director at the Keystone Policy Center.
“It’s likely that any appeal to the state board, a charter versus a school district, the school districts will win,” said Schoales, who is supporting Rodriguez. “So I think that that will force the charters to either not exist in those school districts or for them to make whatever deal that school districts offer.”
The Colorado League of Charter Schools independent spending committee, most of which comes from an affiliated nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors, gave $125,000 to Progressives Supporting Teachers and Students in late May.
It’s unclear where the rest of the committee’s money has come from. The donor or donors won’t be revealed until campaign finance reports due on Monday are filed.
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THE MONEY AND THE MESSAGING
Progressives Supporting Teachers and Students spent nearly $570,000 on the race through Thursday, including $150,000 on TV ads that will run through the June 25 primary election. The other money has been spent on digital and newspaper ads, as well as mailers.
One mailer sent by the group says Rodriguez “will never stop fighting MAGA Republicans to protect our kids’ education and safety.” Another says “Extreme MAGA Republicans want to ban books and weaken our schools … Marisol Rodriguez will stop them.”
The messaging appears to be aimed at shifting the framing of the race away from charter schools.
All but one of the mailers sent by Progressives Supporting Teachers and Students and seen by The Colorado Sun emphasize Rodriguez’s endorsement by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who lives in the 2nd District and founded two charter schools.
Gebhardt, on the other hand, boasts endorsements from U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, who represents the 2nd District in Congress, as well as state Treasurer Dave Young, Senate President Steve Fenberg and the Colorado Education Association.
At a candidate forum earlier this month, Gebhardt criticized the super PAC spending.
“I hate the role that dark money is playing in all of our campaigns,” she said. “I think we should all be running on our qualifications.”
The Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union and one the loudest voices challenging the spread of charter schools, shares those concerns.
“There may be people who believe that there are certain ideological views that may be at stake on the state board,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, president of CEA. “We want to ensure a candidate who will represent students, parents, educators and public education and not a certain ideology or view.”
Gebhardt isn’t being supported by any state-level super PAC spenders thus far. And no state-level super PAC spending is happening in the three other Colorado Board of Education races on the November ballot.
Of the three other state education board races on the ballot, only the one in the 8th Congressional District could also sway the charter-sympathetic majority on the board if Democrat Rhonda Solis — who is in the charter-skeptical minority — doesn’t win reelection.
Because the state education board seats that will be on the ballot in 2026 aren’t expected to shift the charter-view dynamic on the panel, the outcome of the races this year will have a yearslong effect on how the board operates as it pertains to charter schools.
Colorado Sun staff writer Erica Breunlin contributed to this report.
COLORADO LEGISLATURE
Senate Ethics Committee holds its first meeting as it considers complaint against Faith Winter
The Senate Ethics Committee convened to review a complaint against Sen. Faith Winter, D-Broomfield, met for the first time this week to begin its work. At stake for Winter, the Senate’s assistant majority leader, are a possible reprimand, censure or even expulsion from the legislature.
Background: The complaint filed by the Northglenn City Council in May alleges Winter committed misconduct during her legislative duties by showing up drunk to a community meeting in April about a state plan to open a controversial mental health transitional living facility that could house people convicted of sex offenses. She announced the next day that she was seeking substance abuse treatment and that she was stepping down as chair of the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee.
The ethics committee is chaired by Democratic Sen. Julie Gonzales and includes Democratic Sens. James Coleman and Dylan Roberts and Republican Sens. Paul Lundeen and Bob Gardner. During their meeting Tuesday the committee asked the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Legal Services to compile evidence, including:
The committee is expected to receive the materials next week, with its next meeting scheduled for June 20 — though it may be delayed if more time is needed.
Winter and her attorney listened into the committee meeting. She said she didn’t have any questions about the process and thanked the panel for taking the situation seriously.
“I assure you I’m taking it seriously as well,” she said.
NEXT STEPS
The committee’s first job is to determine whether there’s probable cause that a violation occurred. If probable cause exists, the panel must notify Winter, who would have seven days to request a hearing at which she would be able to testify, present evidence and cross-examine witnesses while being represented by a lawyer.
The hearing would have to happen 14 days after it is requested.
The ethics committee could then dismiss the complaint or find that action should be taken against Winter, including in the form of a reprimand, censure or expulsion.
A reprimand or censure could pass the Senate with a simple majority, while expulsion would require the support of two-thirds of the Senate to pass — a threshold that likely couldn’t be met given Winter’s list of allies in the chamber.
A few things you should know: Ethics investigations in the legislature are exceedingly rare, but this one may end up unearthing embarrassing complaints about Winter’s alcohol use at the Capitol. While the process is unlikely to result in Winter being expelled from the legislature, she may lose her leadership position and face long-term consequences to her political career, which at one point included discussions of a gubernatorial bid.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
VICTOR BENCOMO
Victor Bencomo, the Navy veteran who ran as a Democrat in House District 8 in northeast Denver, has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Bencomo did not make the primary ballot in March. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma in late April. Bencomo was given 18 months to live and believes his cancer stems from exposure to toxic burn pits during his combat tour in Iraq. He is raising money on GoFundMe to pay for an experimental treatment he hopes will extend his life by as much as a year.
HOUSE DISTRICT 6
Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday endorsed attorney Sean Camacho in his Democratic primary bid to unseat state Rep. Elisabeth Epps in House District 6. Polis rarely weighs into competitive Democratic primaries. “I trust Sean Camacho to fight hard in the legislature for solutions that address our state’s biggest challenges,” the governor said in a written statement. The governor’s other big Democratic legislative primary endorsements are Rep. Lindsey Daugherty in her Senate District 19 race against Westminster City Councilman Obi Ezeadi, as well as Aurora Public Schools Board Member Michael Carter over APS teacher Bryan Lindstrom in House District 36.
5TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Super PAC spending to defeat Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams in the 5th Congressional District continues. Conservatives For Excellence has spent about $160,000 on ads against Williams, while America Leads Action has spent $5,000. The total spending to beat Williams in his Republican primary against conservative commentator and activist Jeff Crank has been about $2.3 million.
COLORADO GOP
The executive committee of the Colorado GOP censured Jeffco Republicans Chairwoman Nancy Pallozzi, who is pushing for the ouster of state party Chairman Dave Williams.
8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton, is one of 10 Democrats targeted by a $9.5 million TV and digital ad campaign by American Action Network, a conservative political nonprofit. About $600,000 worth of ads will run in the toss-up 8th Congressional District urging Caraveo and other Democrats to support closing the border to immigration.
GOVERNOR
Gov. Jared Polis is visiting Denmark, Sweden and Finland this week as part of a trade mission with members of his economic development team and state business and educational representatives. “I am thrilled to help build new partnerships in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, nations that share our commitment to renewable energy, technological innovation, quantum computing and other thriving Colorado industries,” the governor said in a statement.
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ELECTION 2026
Former House speaker embarks on statewide listening tour. Is she planning another run for higher office?
Former Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran — back in Denver after a three-year stint working on political campaigns in New York — won’t say what she’s doing next.
But with a slate of major statewide races looming in 2026, an email the Democrat sent to supporters this week raised some eyebrows.
After announcing she had been elected as a delegate to this year’s Democratic National Convention, Duran said she planned a listening tour across Colorado — the sort of thing that might presage a run for statewide office.
“Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you would like to talk, host a gathering, or if there is an event that you think I should attend,” she wrote to her supporters, in an email shared with The Colorado Sun.
We caught up with Duran, a lawyer, in a phone interview this week to ask about her plans.
“I’m taking things day by day,” she said, declining to answer if she plans to run for office. “I’m very much focused on issues that people face and thinking about how we can make sure that there are solutions to the issues that people face in the state.”
Duran, who unsuccessfully primaried U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in 2020, went on to say she wants to start looking at policy issues “through a lens of harm — whether it is financial, whether it is physical, whether it is emotional. What are the drivers of harm in Colorado and what are the solutions to address harm? We need cultures whereby people don’t feel like they need to harm others to get ahead or to survive.”
SHADOW PRIMARIES
The statewide offices of governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer will all be up for grabs in 2026 because of term limits.
With so many marquee offices opening up, the Democratic shadow primary for the jobs is starting to sizzle. A host of big-name Democrats are jockeying behind the scenes for interest-group support and trying to position themselves for the next cycle.
Among the folks we’re watching: Attorney General Phil Weiser, Secretary of State Jena Griswold, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, state Sen. Jeff Bridges, state Sen. Jessie Danielson, Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, former state Rep. Joe Salazar, former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and EPA Regional Director KC Becker.
Let us know what other names we should add to that list.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
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