Top Colorado Republicans will vote next month on whether to abandon their party’s statewide primaries in 2022, a move that some in the GOP warn could alienate unaffiliated voters, who make up 43% of the electorate, and solidify Democratic control. Under the proposal, a fraction of registered Republicans would select general election candidates for U.S. […]
primary election
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: The Colorado GOP may opt out of open primaries – and into a death spiral
The Colorado Republican Party may opt out of open primaries later this year, and I am torn over how I feel about it. On one hand, I am an unaffiliated voter who has publicly taken advantage of the ability to participate in either major party primary. Proposition 108, approved by voters in 2016, granted unaffiliated […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Nonprofit cash being spent in Colorado campaigns still impossible to trace despite 2019 law
Outside groups spent nearly $1.7 million on eight highly contested Colorado legislative primary races. But it isn’t always easy to figure out where the money came from, despite a 2019 law touted as bringing more transparency to a system that includes cash from dark-money funded nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors. In other instances, discerning […]
Posted inColoradans, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s GOP U.S. House candidate Lauren Boebert is latest linked to QAnon conspiracy theory
By Jim Anderson, Nicholas Riccardi and Alan Fram, The Associated Press When Lauren Boebert was asked in May about QAnon, she didn’t shy away from the far-right conspiracy theory, which advances unproven allegations about a so-called deep state plot against President Donald Trump that involves satanism and child sex trafficking. “Everything that I’ve heard of […]
Posted inBusiness, Politics and Government
Oil and gas donors become an issue in Democratic primary, but most of the money is flowing to the GOP
Andrew Romanoff is criticizing his opponent in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary for accepting money from oil and gas executives, but most of the industry’s campaign cash is headed to the Republican incumbent. John Hickenlooper, the former Colorado governor who worked decades ago as a geologist for an oil and gas company, accepted about $63,000 […]
Posted inBusiness, COVID, Crime and Courts, Education, Energy, Environment, Health, Politics and Government
Where Hickenlooper and Romanoff split on major policies in Democratic U.S. Senate primary
The Democratic U.S. Senate primary is offering Colorado voters clear choices in terms of what policy direction they want to see in Washington. Former Gov. John Hickenlooper is taking a more centrist approach and calling for an evolution when it comes to health care and the environment, while former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff wants […]
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
2020 battle for power at the Capitol starts with these big-money Colorado legislative primaries
Colorado’s legislative primaries are coming down to a battle of partisanship: Is one Republican more conservative than another? Which Democrat will hold the party line? The ideological tests — which mirror the party purity tests in th U.S. Senate race and at the national level — could significantly influence the conversation at the Capitol next […]
Posted inPolitics and Government
Colorado’s Democratic race for U.S. Senate is essentially set. It’s Romanoff vs. Hickenlooper.
The primary ballot is all-but official: It’s a two-man race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Colorado. John Hickenlooper, the two-term former governor, and Andrew Romanoff, the former state House speaker, will compete in June for the chance to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in one of the nation’s most-watched November contests. […]
Posted inCOVID, Politics and Government
How the coronavirus snuffed the primary for U.S. Senate and cemented Hickenlooper as the front-runner
Not too long ago, this week should have marked a definitive moment in Andrew Romanoff’s campaign for the U.S. Senate. The insurgent progressive expected to stand on a big stage, in front of hundreds of supporters at the Colorado Democratic Party assembly, and claim the top line on the June 30 primary ballot. Instead, the […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Nicolais: Colorado’s presidential primary was an improvement, but we still need to make some tweaks
For years, Colorado politicos complained about our presidential selection process. Even after a host of fixes, this year’s primaries demonstrate a tweak or two may yet be needed. In previous years, Colorado used the Byzantine caucus system to dole out its delegates. Generally occurring in early March, the caucuses originated as means to bring politics […]