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Colorado Republicans are determined not to get caught in the town hall trap that helped sink the reelection bids of U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in 2018 and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020 as state and national Democrats mount a pressure campaign aimed at the state’s most vulnerable members of Congress.
Democrats are demanding that Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton hold an in-person town hall with his constituents, deploying the same tactics they used against Coffman and Gardner: a cardboard cutout paired with relentless messaging. U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction Republican who is considered less endangered in 2026, is also a target of Democrats.
It’s a lose-lose situation for Evans and Hurd, according to interviews with current and former Republican staffers. They can rebuff the needling and give Democrats an easy line of attack, or they can relent and contend with news stories about how they were shouted down by angry constituents.
Gardner and Coffman, for instance, waited and waited before eventually relenting to the goading, leading to negative headlines and viral clips that only served to help build Democrats’ narrative.
The general consensus is that the wait-it-out approach is the best way to go for GOP members of Congress, filling the void with telephone and virtual town halls. Earlier this month, the National Republican Congressional Committee recommended as much to GOP incumbents like Evans and Hurd, who have been in office for a little more than two months.
Hurd held a telephone town hall in recent days. Evans has signaled he will do the same.
A senior aide to a former Republican member of Congress from Colorado told The Unaffiliated that it was a miscalculation on the part of the GOP to not criticize those calling for in-person town halls as being partisans. (The aide spoke to The Unaffiliated on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.)
Now, Republicans are more willing to highlight who they say is behind the town-hall calls.
“We know paid liberal groups have been taking over town halls,” Evans’ spokeswoman, Delanie Bomar, said in a written statement. She said Evans wants any meetings with constituents to be productive and not a shout-fest.
Republicans also feel they can justify doing telephone and virtual town halls instead of in-person events because they reach more people and are more representative of the electorate; can be more cost effective; and come without personal security risks. From a political perspective, they’re also better because callers can be screened and even those who dupe the vetting can be cut off.
“My recommendation with all the real security threats would be: focus on teletown halls because you can connect with such a large audience, focus on the issues and not worry about the people who are distracting or interrupting,” said Jeff Small, the former chief of staff to Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert who is now a principal at the 76 Group, a conservative political firm.
Tyler Sandberg, a Republican operative who ran Coffman’s 2018 campaign, said GOP campaigns should be less judicious when screening telephone town-hall callers.
“I wouldn’t screen things to make them sterile,” he said. “If someone is frustrated, have it out. You can’t run from anger. That only makes it build.”
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WILL THE STRATEGY WORK?
Democratic strategist Ian Silverii was one of the architects of the town hall pressure campaigns against Coffman and Gardner. At the time, he was leading the liberal political nonprofit ProgressNow Colorado. He’s also married to Democratic U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood.
Silverii doesn’t think the wait-it-out strategy will work.
“You don’t do your town hall, people start protesting you at the airport, your official offices,” he said. “The tension just builds up — the resentment builds up. If you don’t face the music and justify what you’re doing and explain yourself to your voters, you’re done for.”
Silverii also said that doing a telephone or virtual town hall won’t work as a substitute.
“That’s totally their right,” he said. “But it’s going to cost you.”
(U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, recently held a virtual town hall and defended them as the best way to reach the most constituents. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, is also a frequent teletown hall user.)
Most of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress, meanwhile, have been on an in-person town hall blitz across the state. That serves two purposes: adding pressure to their Republican colleagues to do the same thing and acknowledging calls from their increasingly frustrated base to do more to push back against the Trump administration.
At U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s in-person town hall Thursday night in Colorado Springs, for instance, headlines touting Colorado Democrat’s pushback against the Trump administration were shown to attendees before Bennet took the stage.
GABE EVANS GETS AN EARFUL IN THE COLORADO SENATE
Evans visited the Colorado Senate on Monday, where a handful of Democratic senators took the opportunity to confront him about Republican efforts to slash Medicaid funding.
Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, went a step further, needling Evans from the Senate well during an immigration-centered speech on Latino/a Advocacy Day.
“I’m glad that he has made time (to be here),” Gonzales said. “And I hope that he will also visit with his constituents while he is here to talk with them about what he hopes to accomplish on these issues. I also personally really want to understand when he’s going to have his next town hall.”
The remark drew some eye rolls on the Republican side of the room.
Bigger picture: Gonzales and other Senate Democrats have been increasingly using speeches on the chamber floor to criticize the Trump administration and the Republican Congress. GOP senators so far have offered some tepid responses, but the tension seems to the building.
“We play it by ear,” Senate President James Coleman, D-Denver, told reporters when asked about how he’s keeping the peace. “We have good conversations with the minority party. We tell our members to be thoughtful about getting through the legislative process, and ‘if you have something to share, you gotta let us know in advance and try to share that with the minority.’”
DEMOCRATS LAUNCH ANTI-EVANS AD CAMPAIGNS
A Democratic dark money group is running digital ads in Colorado attacking U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Fort Lupton, over the GOP’s efforts to trim Medicaid spending.
The ad from the political nonprofit House Majority Forward, which doesn’t disclose its donors, encourages viewers to call Evans’ office to oppose Medicaid cuts.
Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, which Evans represents, is one of 23 toss-up congressional districts where the nonprofit is running such ads.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee and Colorado Democratic Party jointly purchased a billboard in the 8th District labeling Evans a “coward” for refusing to hold a town hall. The advertisement only ran for a day — which state Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib says was always the plan.
WHAT TO WATCH IN THE WEEK AHEAD
THE NARRATIVE
Democrats’ plan to save a Colorado school meal program has a timing problem
A legislative plan to shore up Colorado’s free school meals program has a big timing problem.
After higher-than-expected demand busted the budget of the Healthy School Meals for All program in its first year, Colorado Democrats want to go back to the ballot and ask voters to cover its costs going forward.
Sponsored by Rep. Lorena Garcia of Adams County and Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City, both Democrats, House Bill 1274 would ask voters to raise an additional $95 million a year by limiting tax breaks for higher earners — the same funding mechanism of Proposition FF, which created the program in 2022. The measure would also ask voters to retain $26 million in excess revenue collected by Prop. FF beyond what was initially advertised to voters.
The goal behind the push is to sustain the popular program without tapping the state general fund or the state education fund, both of which are in an increasingly precarious financial position.
Trouble is, state budget writers can’t wait another eight months for the voters to decide whether to keep the program funded. And budget analysts are worried that if they do, it could leave school districts in financial limbo. If voters say no to new taxes to keep the meal program running — and the state doesn’t provide assurances of its own — school districts could run out of money to administer it partway through the school year. That could lead to lunch staff layoffs and leave kids and their parents in the lurch.
The timing problem has divided lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee. The budget panel initially entertained the idea of eliminating the state’s $50 million contribution to the meal program — only to backtrack on that idea this week.
During a Wednesday hearing, JBC staff analysts offered another option — limit the free meal program to only schools where at least 25% of students qualify for federal assistance programs. At those schools, all kids would get free meals; at school districts with fewer low-income kids, only those who qualify for the federal school lunch program would get free meals.
“If we do this — if we don’t give ‘healthy school meals for all,’ I think it’s a pretty clear violation of what voters were asking us to do,” said JBC Chair Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat.
Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat, said she supported continuing to fund the program in its current form for a “gap year,” while the state awaits the ballot box decision.
Others on the panel aren’t so sure. Rep. Shannon Bird, a Democrat from Westminster said she worried about depleting the State Education Fund to sustain the program for another year. Sen. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat, said the state couldn’t afford to pay for the lunches of families who aren’t in need.
“I want the kids who are the most needy — who need mental health services, who need child welfare services, I want them to get every penny we can squeeze out of this budget,” she said.
If the JBC can’t agree on a path forward, the school meals program has what’s known as “overexpenditure authority” in state law — meaning it could theoretically go over its budget to cover the remaining costs if voters say no.
JBC PICKS FORECAST
For the third year in a row, the budget panel voted to use the governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting forecast to balance the spending plan.
Thursday’s decision bucks the JBC’s tradition of picking the more conservative of the two revenue estimates. The OSPB forecast gives the six-member panel an additional $168 million to work with in next year’s budget versus the Colorado Legislative Council staff forecast.
The vote was 4-2, with the committee’s two Republicans opposed, insisting on caution given the growing risks of a recession.
“It scares me not to take the most conservative approach to this,” said Rep. Rick Taggart, a Grand Junction Republican.
The committee’s Democrats, however, said the two forecasts were pretty close to one another in the context of a $17 billion general fund. Picking the more conservative of the two, they said, would force the legislature to make more cuts to public services than necessary.
Sirota noted that if there is a recession, their choice would quickly become irrelevant, and require far more drastic cuts than either forecast.
“I don’t want to make those before we have to,” she said.
Thursday afternoon, the budget committee had all but given up on finishing the budget proposal this week, with Bridges announcing there was no need to work late into the night — they planned to wrap up their work Monday.
But just before gaveling out around 7 p.m., their plans changed. Legislative leaders decided to delay debate on a number of bills that were scheduled to be heard by the full General Assembly on Friday.
“We have a heavy day,” Bridges said. “We will do our best. I was counting for most of this day on those (bills) getting heard tomorrow and not having to finish tomorrow. So we’ll see how this goes.”
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
THE LOBBY
Former Colorado Senate President Leroy Garcia has returned to Colorado where he has taken a job leading the government relations practice (aka lobbying efforts) at the firm Perry Jacobson. He’ll be a partner there.
Garcia, a Pueblo Democrat, resigned from the legislature in 2022 to take a job in the Biden administration in Washington.
“Leroy was a natural addition as we looked to expand our services,” Jonas Jacobson, cofounder of Perry Jacobson, said in a written statement. “His excellent national and state reputation gives us the opportunity to offer our clients an even greater level of connectivity and expertise. Leroy strengthens our team with leaders who can help our clients accomplish their goals.”
Garcia said in a statement that his state and federal experience has “given me the tools to effectively advocate for businesses, nonprofits and communities.”
ELECTION 2026
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet told The Unaffiliated on Thursday night in Colorado Springs that he will decide whether to run for governor “soon.”
His top aides and advisers are telegraphing that the Colorado Democrat has already made up his mind to run. But once he announces his decision, that triggers state and federal campaign filing requirements.
LABOR
Kallie Leyba has joined Service Employees International Union Local 105 and Colorado Workers for Innovative and New Solutions, aka Colorado WINS, as the unions’ new executive director of electoral, legislative, member and public advocacy.
Leyba is the former executive director of the American Federation of Teachers of Colorado, the state’s second largest teachers union.
“Having a voice in the state House is just as important as having a voice in your job,” said Hilary Glasgow, the executive director of Colorado WINS, the state employees union. “As Colorado braces for federal funding cuts, we must defend our state by supporting state employees and keeping state services strong. This year is a pivotal moment for state employees and we are excited for Kallie’s leadership.”
PERSONNEL FILE
Pete Maysmith has been promoted to lead the League of Conservation Voters, where he had been serving as senior vice president of campaigns. He was previously the executive director of Conservation Colorado and Colorado state director for Common Cause.
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YOU HEARD IT HERE
It’s apparently never too early to start talking about a special legislative session!
Congress earlier this month passed a budget that keeps the federal government open through September. Democrats fear Republicans will try to make cuts to social safety-net programs like Medicaid at that time, which would upend states’ spending plans.
The financial burden for most Medicaid patients in Colorado is split about 50-50 between the state and federal governments; but for the expansion population covered under the Affordable Care Act, the federal share jumps to 90%. If the federal share goes down, Colorado lawmakers will have to figure out how to respond in an already tough budget year.
“There are some things that they could do that they’ve talked about that wouldn’t be as consequential,” Amabile said. “For example, a work requirement for the expansion population. While that would be complicated to implement, it wouldn’t be that costly. But if they say ‘we’re no longer going to fund the expansion population at 90%, we’re going to drop that down to 50%’ or ‘we’re not going to fund it at all,’ that’s dramatic. That is a big deal.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
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“We should be looking at all the democratic leadership.”
“We should always be asking whether we are fielding the best team. I don’t have a more clear answer to that tonight.”
THE LOBBY
Former Colorado House Speaker KC Becker, a Boulder Democrat, has been named head of the Colorado Solar and Storage Association. She most recently served as regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“This is a pivotal moment to leverage my experience in building a climate-safe future for our communities and position Colorado as a top-five solar energy state,” Becker said in a written statement. ““Solar and energy storage aren’t just key to decarbonizing our environment and improving air quality — they have the potential to be powerful drivers of economic growth.”
Becker is widely expected to run in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District should U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, vacate the seat to run for governor or if he is appointed to the U.S. Senate should U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet win the 2026 gubernatorial race.