What Happened to Colorado Republicans?

Following a midterm bloodbath for the GOP, here’s what Republicans must realize to move forward.

Y ou’d be forgiven if you thought magic mushrooms were decriminalized in Colorado prior to November. Colorado Republicans were emphatic that this was the year they could turn around the Centennial State and win the fast-growing pool of unaffiliated voters who were concerned about inflation, rising crime, and a faltering public-education system.

Were we all sampling the product a bit early?

It wasn’t for lack of trying to appeal to the middle. For the U.S. Senate, Republicans put forth pro-choice candidate Joe O’Dea, who made waves when he said he would “actively campaign against” Donald Trump should the former president run again. Our candidate for secretary of state, Pam Anderson, landed on the cover of Time magazine as a “Defender of Democracy,” in part for her efforts to defend Colorado’s election system against members of her own party. Up and down the ballot, voters rejected extremist candidates on the GOP primary ballot, giving hope for a competitive general election.

But once the dust settled, no statewide Republican candidate had taken more than 43.03 percent of the vote.

Republicans hobbled away that Election Night with smaller legislative minorities than they’ve had in nearly a century, zero statewide officeholders, and a loss in the newly drawn eighth congressional district. The consolation prize was aimless bomb-throwing congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s barely hanging on by fractions of a percentage point in a seat that Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated as “likely Republican.”

In 2002, National Review declared Colorado’s governor, Republican Bill Owens, the “Best Governor in America” and placed him on a September cover. Two months later, Owens won reelection by nearly 29 points over his Democratic challenger. In 2004, George W. Bush won Colorado’s nine electoral votes. Republicans held the state senate and every constitutional office (except for governor) as recently as 2018. So 2022 felt like the year the pendulum would swing back, restoring balance to the once-battleground state.

This begs the question: What happened to Colorado?

Donald Trump happened. Joe Biden isn’t particularly popular in Colorado, but what many on the right overlooked was that his ascension to the presidency had less to do with who he was and more to do with who he wasn’t. Biden was elected because he wasn’t the other guy. So while his approval rating barely hovered over 40 percent leading into Election Night, Donald Trump’s popularity remained even lower.

That is not to say that Trump was the only factor in Colorado Republicans’ implosion. Trump got more votes in the state during the 2016 election than Al Gore did in 2000. The key difference is that Gore decided to pursue other hobbies once he left public office, while Trump has done everything he can to maintain his control of the GOP.

Dobbs happened. Since 1973, conservatives have worked for the overturning (or overriding by constitutional amendment) of Roe v. Wade. In 2022, they got their wish.

Even with the advance notice afforded by an unprecedented leak, the pro-life movement still had no plan in place for such a monumental reversal from the Supreme Court. Other states’ hastily enacting legislation to limit and ban abortion — or allowing previously enacted “trigger” laws to take effect — led to unintended consequences and tragic anecdotes (many which were exaggerated and sometimes completely false) that stirred concern among those who were perhaps never before motivated by the issue.

Even in a state such as Colorado, where most Republican lawmakers would exhibit hesitancy in pushing forth stronger restrictions or bans, those voters became wary of trusting our candidates, no matter their expressed sentiments on the issue.

Heidi Ganahl and Jared Polis happened. Jared Polis remains a popular governor. His quirky persona, relatively light-handed approach to Covid-19, and lack of notable scandals have all provided him with a healthy popularity rating. It also didn’t hurt that he invested nearly $50 million into both of his races.

Heidi Ganahl’s uninspiring campaign didn’t help matters. Her attempts to win over any non-GOP voters were all for naught. In one exit poll, only 42 percent of voters said they were willing to even consider voting for her.

Few objective observers believed that Polis’s popularity (and financial advantage) could be bested, but almost nobody predicted that he would nearly double his margin of victory from 2018. Ganahl managed to muster a mere 39.2 percent of the vote, the worst of any Republican running for statewide office.

Disorganization and outspending happened. Yours truly was asked by the Denver Post about the impending election of a new state party chair come March. I bluntly responded that only the “insane, incompetent, or incapacitated” would consider pursuing the position. While I maintain that an individual would probably have to fall into at least one of those categories to desire that role, I also secretly hope that an individual with competence steps forward, if for no other reason than to show the unaffiliated and disaffected Republican voters that a strain of rational thought still exists within the DNA of the GOP. Most candidates who have announced their intention to seek the role deny the validity of the 2020 election, have lost multiple races for office, and continuously flirt with the most radical factions of the party.

Colorado’s Left is, at this point, a well-oiled machine. The apparatus first contrived by a group of liberal multimillionaires (Polis, Pat Stryker, Tim Gill, and Rutt Bridges) in the early 2000s has paid dividends. One of them is governor, another’s son is a state senator, and their party’s political power is at its peak. Voter-registration efforts, grassroots mobilization, unification of the Left, and gobs of money have made a state that was won by Barack Obama by just over four points into one that went for Joe Biden by over 13.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Republican Party sits in shambles. There are worthwhile organizations working to fill the gaps, but the party itself is consumed by infighting, disorganization, and anemia. The GOP’s share of voter registration has declined by over six percentage points in the last eight years. Our current chair has generally been an effective leader, working to focus the party on issues that concern those “in the middle” such as inflation, education reform, and crime, but consistent efforts to undermine her leadership and turn media attention toward the fringe have voided that good work.

Democrats clobbered Republicans in the money game. Setting aside Polis’s self-funding, Democrats also outraised Republicans by a two-to-one margin in the Senate race, a twelve-to-one margin in the attorney-general race, a 14-to-one margin in the secretary-of-state race, and a two-to-one margin in the state-treasurer race.

A frequent refrain heard from conservatives in the state is that those pesky Californians are moving into the state in droves and bringing their politics with them. This theory is unsubstantiated, and based on exit polls that we’ve seen in other states, such as Texas, it isn’t happening. In the 2018 U.S. Senate race there, exit polling indicated that Beto O’Rourke won those born in the state, while Ted Cruz won those born elsewhere. One can assume that migration to Colorado could play a role, but to rest on that assumption while evidence points elsewhere is irresponsible.

So what can Republicans do to regain ground?

While the Colorado electorate has moved toward Democratic candidates, it hasn’t necessarily moved toward Democratic policies. This is apparent when you look at many of the ballot measures that conservatives have successfully passed (and defeated) in recent years.

In 2018, Coloradans rejected Proposition 112, a de facto ban on fracking. A year later, in 2019, they rejected Proposition CC, which would have eliminated Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights refunds that occur when government revenue exceeds population growth and inflation. In 2020, we lowered our state income-tax rate from 4.63 percent to 4.55 percent, and we did it again in 2022, taking it down to 4.4 percent.

Polling shows that charter schools remain extremely popular, as is the concept of expanding school choice. In the aftermath of Covid-19, which gave parents a glimpse of the failures of the status quo, Republicans should seize the opportunity to provide an alternative path forward. With most Colorado students not reading, writing, or doing math at grade level, we should be bold with our policy proposals, taking on the public-school-employee unions with gusto.

Republicans must propose policies that ease our housing crisis by decreasing regulation and allowing for development. We should fight for nuclear power as a clean, reliable energy source. We have an electorate that cares about the environment. We should ensure that violent criminals remain behind bars while those who are a threat to nobody but themselves have options for rehabilitation. We should fix our damn roads while not asking Coloradans for another dime of their hard-earned money.

California, Colorado is not. During his State of the State address this year, Governor Polis reiterated his support for eliminating the income tax. Coloradans want a Republican Party that is a party of ideas, not infantile delusions of conspiracy. They want conservatives with a willingness to govern that rises above the urge to produce fundraising-focused, hyper-partisan drivel. They want a conservative movement that places individuals above institutions, students above schools, and good governance above the slapdash legislating that comes from Democrats.

Denying realities has created an albatross for conservatives in the Rockies. Relevancy is merely a speck in our spyglass, but before we unfurl the sails, we must first stop taking on water. Heave ho!