CO's no contest races. Put your attention and resources into state level races that would help elect conservatives. Disgusting double standards on "dangerous" rhetoric by CPR and the Sun.
No contest Colorado fights, but I don't mean MMA.
The Sun article linked below details several "no contest" races for statewide office.
Before looking at the races in brief, let's cross our t's and dot our i's by noting the following from the article. Quoting:
"The Sun defines a candidate as running unopposed if they don’t have any general election opponent or if their only opponent is a third-party candidate, since it is exceedingly rare in Colorado for such candidates to mount a competitive state legislative campaign."
The Sun identified 13 races, 10 Dem and 3 Rep, where there was no, or no serious opposition.
Screenshots 1a and 1b show the Colorado House races, screenshot 2 shows the Colorado Senate races, and screenshot 3 shows the one Board of Ed seat race. Quick aside: you'll note that I highlighted my own local House race.
It's not surprising that would be candidates running unopposed. No Democrat stands a chance from my district for example, just like I bet no Republican stands a chance against, say, Hansen.
Let's all face facts here too that the Republican party in this state is in disarray. Scratch that, calling our statewide party "in disarray" is giving it too much credit. Republicans got nothing and won't for some time.
But this doesn't come without cost. The disarray means that Republicans (and thus all conservatives, Republican or no) are losing what could be decent chances at winnable seats.
Not enough to tilt the balance of power back to this state, but if you are a conservative in this state, you need all the help you can get and a credible minority party could pump the brakes on the over the top leftist policy coming out of the capitol.
What can you do? My answer is not necessarily to tell you to run. If you feel moved to do that, please. I'm not running. I have no desire to. My talents don't lie there. So I'm not going to recommend that.
There are things to do besides running, however.
Get involved in the races where there are opponents with a decent chance. If you don't already know of a race, I got a list from a reader and that list will be in the post following this one. Offer your support to things where there is a decent chance of doing some good.
Alternatively, get involved in Republican party politics, but do it only at the local level. Republicans of goodwill and good character will have to rebuild the state party from the ground up. Your local party is the ground. Get involved there and do not do anything until the state level stuff straightens out.
Get involved with the local, non-party races and politics.
If you want to get involved and ideas could help, first check the post following this one and if you still want thoughts, let me know. I'll see about connecting you to resources.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/09/16/uncontested-colorado-legislative-races-2024/
Focus your attention (and therefore your resources) on the local races where you might help elect a conservative.
About the same time as I saw the Sun article in the previous post, I got an email from someone. Quite a timely email it turns out.
This individual was writing about a series of races where the Republican candidate has a decent chance of winning.
In the last post, I talked about the need to do something, to be involved in some way, if you want politics to return to even the bare semblance of balance, centrism, and sanity in this state.
I alluded to contributing to (either money or time) races where it was tight. The list of those races with some commentary by the reader is below.
If you feel moved to do something to help out in these winnable and critical races, I suggest that you contact the individual's campaign directly and ask how to contribute.
Giving money to the state party is like throwing it at random in a dark room. Right now there's no telling where it would go.
Email follows.
I offer the following races for the Colorado State Legislature in which almost all are Republican challengers who have a "good" chance of unseating a Democrat incumbent, or beating a new Dem candidate. This is based on Voter Registration statistics, the geography of the district (e.g. tends to be more conservative), and in certain cases, which party has historically won the district. But regardless of the Dem versus Republican voter registration numbers, these races all depend in large measure on to what extent the candidates can appeal the Unaffiliated voter block. My analysis is data based, but also in essence a qualitative judgement. These are my own personal recommendations and do not represent any group or organization.
Thanks for distributing this to the attendees at this past Thursday's attendees at the weekly Good Old Boys club luncheon. John
HD13 Jackson/Lake/Park/Chafee Counties. Julie McCluskie (D) vs Dave Williams (R). Republicans hold slight registration edge, but McCluskie is current House Speaker. She presided over the abominable abortion bill passage two years ago and needs to be held accountable.
HD16 Colorado Springs. Stephanie Vigil (D) vs Rebecca Keltie (R). Republicans hold 2000 voter registration edge. Keltie is a distinguished military vet. Conservative district.
HD18 Colorado & Manitou Springs/Cascade. Amy Paschal (D) vs James Bolens (R). Incumbent is Marc Snyder (D) who is running for State Senate. Republicans hold 2000 voter registration edge. Pachal is first time candidate. Race is competitive.
HD19 Longmont/Erie/Brighton. Jennifer Parenti (D) vs Dan Woog (R). Parenti has withdrawn from race. Woog is former incumbent in 2022; should never have lost. Should win.
HD25 Littleton/Jefferson Count/Pine. Tammy Story (D) vs George Mumma (R). Story is first term Rep but served in State Senate previously. District should be competitive: Republicans hold 2600 voter registration edge.
HD26 NW Colorado/Eagle/Routt Counties. Meghan Lukens (D) vs Nathan Butler (R). Lukens is undistinguished first term Rep. Republicans hold 3000 voter registration edge. This should be a competitive district.
HD28 Littleton/Lakewood/Wheat Ridge. Sheila Lieder (D) vs Peter Boddie (R). Dems and Republicans have almost exactly the same number of registered voters; the district should be competitive. Lieder is an undistinguished first term Rep. Republicans need to start to take back suburban Jefferson County!
HD34 Northglen/Thornton. Jennifer Willford (D) vs Craig 'Sully' Sullivan (R). This is a stretch since Dems hold a 4000 voter registration and there are two third party candidates in the race. But Willford is beatable and the Republicans need to at least put a scare into the Dems. Sullivan is the Vice Chair of the Adams County GOP.
HD37 Centennial/Englewood. Chad Clifford (D) vs Danny Moore (R). The Dems and Republicans again have almost exactly the same number of registered voters, and Clifford was appointed last in the first term House Rep Ruby Dixon, who resigned in disgust at the way things worked in the State Legislature. Clifford has no record so no natural advantage over Moore. Get Out The Vote Republicans!
HD38 Littleton/Centennial. Gretchen Rydin (D) vs Jeff Patty (R). Incumbent Ortiz is not running for re-election, so Rydin is a first term candidate. The Dems and Republicans again have almost the exact same number of registered voters so this should be a competitive district. Jeff Patty was the Legislative Aide for Representative Stephanie Luck (HD60) so received very good experience at the State Legislature.
HD50 Greeley/Evans. Mary Young (D) vs Ryan Gonzalez (R). Second time Gonzalez is running against Young; lost by a relatively small margin in 2022. Could be a competitive district but Dems hold a 1600 voter registration edge. Young is undistinguished as a Legislator.
HD59 SW Colorado, San Juan/Archuletta/La Plata Counties. Katie Stewart (D) vs Clark Craig (R). This should be a Republican leaning district with a 4000 Republican voter registration edge, but incumbent Democrat McLachlan is termed out after being elected to four terms. Republicans need to make a fight of this and demonstrate time for a change.
SD05 Gunnison/Montrose/Aspen. Cole Buerger (D) vs Marc Catlin (R). Incumbent Perry Will (R) is running for County Commissioner. The Republicans hold an 8000 voter registration edge, and Cole Buerger is a first time candidate, while Marc Catlin served eight years in the State House. The Republicans better not screw this up.
SD13 Greely/Platville/Fort Lupton. Matt Johnston (D) vs Scott Bright (R). Both candidates are first time, to replace incumbent Priola, a former Republican who turned his coat in 2022. The voter registration for Dems and Republicans are almost exactly the same. This is a very competitive race, but in a district that has historically been Republican leaning, even after the recent redistricting due to the 2020 Census. The Republicans need to pull this one out.
SD16 Littleton/Centennial/Englewood. Chris Kolker (D) vs Robyn Carnes (R). Kolker is an incumbent, but Republicans hold a 2800 voter registration edge, and Carnes is a highly energetic and dynamic challenger. The Republicans need to GOTV, especially from among the Unaffiliated Voters (48% of the total registered).
Disgusting double standards on "dangerous" rhetoric by CPR and the Sun.
Did you know there was an assassination attempt against Donald Trump? Some left-leaning Colorado outlets seem to have missed it. No, not that one, there was a new one. Down in Florida at Trump's golf course.
Depending on what news you read, you may have not heard about it. The Sun has had no coverage to my knowledge, and CPR news has only had a glancing mention in an interview with Rep Jason Crow.
I follow political news outside the state and local issues I usually cover, albeit not always writing about them. As I saw local stories and noise coming up on social media, I kept wondering at the silence from outlets like The Sun or CPR.
I don't believe that’s changed: I don’t think either one has done a story of their own. I don’t think they’ve reposted any AP stories either. The Sun has taken the time to have a GigaFact check on aspen tree roots, but not this. Surely an assassination attempt would be as newsworthy as whether or not aspens share roots, no?
If you think that this is where it ends, I have some bad news. It gets worse from here; it's not just disregard.
The first two links below are to Sun and CPR (well, Denverite which is an arm of CPR)stories which contain at least one thematic element in common: heated rhetoric is putting Venezuelan apartment dwellers in danger.
Are there any stories about how heated rhetoric about Trump has put him in danger? Any stories about how the words of Democrats in this state (some of them Federal-level elected officials), including claims that democracy itself will end with a Trump presidency, that Trump is an existential threat, are directly related to and causing harm? Any stories that point out specific politicians and what they've said that led to harm (in the same way Trump and other conservative/Republican politicians are named)?
No. There aren’t.
Doesn't end there, however. It gets even worse. The third link below is an interview between CPR’s Ryan Warner and Democrat Rep Jason Crow. Crow, you will remember, is on the committee investigating the first attempted assassination.
Oh, and he also is one who has dipped his beak (repeatedly) into the “Trump =existential threat to democracy” puddle. The Complete Colorado article linked fourth below details Crow’s changing tone over time.
I want to refer you to a question that Mr. Warner had for Rep Crow in their sit down. Quoting the CPR interview:
"Warner: Well, you can tell me if this is a rabbit hole I'm pulling you into. I want to note that you were in the Capitol January 6, holing up in the House as Trump supporters stormed the building. We know that Mr. Trump has a long history of calling for political violence. Meanwhile, he's telling Democrats to tone down their rhetoric. Although I think there's some both-sides-ism going on there, but how do you view it?"
"Rep. Crow: Well, I reject the false equivalency and the both-sides-ism. Democrats have been very clear in their rejection of political violence. And you've seen this very consistently where Speaker Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Vice President Harris, President Biden, me and others uniformly reject violence. We believe that Americans and voters know the difference between people who are campaigning vigorously and being very serious about their issues and what's at stake in this election. And don't get me wrong, there's a lot at stake in this election. I've been very clear about that. I think this is the most important election of my lifetime, there's no doubt about it, and I'm going to campaign accordingly. But again, we have to be able to do both of these things. Also at the same time, condemn political violence and say, 'We're going to have a very, very, very vigorous debate, and it's going to be tough debate, and we're going to call things out as we see them and speak the truth. And at the same time, no violence is acceptable, period.'"
If you missed it let me reiterate what is going on here. After a second attempt on President Trump's life, in an interview nominally about threats to elected officials, CPR's Warner gets in a question about January 6th of 2021.
He then implies that Trump calling for violence (something I do not agree with in every case though Warner gives no specifics so we could actually assess what Trump did/did not call for) somehow ameliorates or makes less of someone trying to kill him.
Crow, for his part, makes no acknowledgement of the beam in his (and his party's) eye regarding heated rhetoric causing violence.
Then at no point in the interview does Warner press him about his words.
The Sun and CPR do not deign to cover a foiled assassination attempt on a former president who is now running for office.
The Sun and Denverite (CPR) equate heated (and sometimes abhorrent) rhetoric about gangs with causing harm and violence. They do not seek out, report, nor equate heated (and sometimes abhorrent) rhetoric from those they agree with politically as causing harm and violence against a former (and currently running) elected official. Hell, they don't bother even reporting on it!
CPR's Ryan Warner, on with Jason Crow, someone who has made comments that one could just as easily characterize in the same way the Sun or Denverite have, points out that telling Democrats to tone down their talk is "both-sides-ism". This after Trump was actually shot at. Warner also comes right up to the point of hinting that Trump may deserve and/or have earned what happened.
I'm sorry. I'm usually a bit more detached than what you're about to read, but this is disgusting.
This is propagandistic. This is an unambiguous double standard which holds one group to one standard and not another. All this by a media which holds itself out as a check on power, who claim to work for ALL people, who put themselves forth as alone on the bridge defending democracy.
If any of the Sun reporters wonder why the press enjoys so little trust...
If CPR and/or Denverite or their reporters wonder why the press enjoys so little trust ...
I have no more to say than to tell them to look at their own actions and they'll have a big part of the answer.
https://denverite.com/2024/09/05/venezuelan-gang-aurora-colorado-quick-explainer/
https://coloradosun.com/2024/09/06/venezuelan-gangs-aurora/
https://pagetwo.completecolorado.com/2024/07/17/jason-crow-attack-trump-breather-political-rhetoric/
Great article! Thank you for boosting our local R candidates!!