Hi there, Open Threaders!
So I am just wrapping up my job: electing for the first time ever an openly trans person to Colorado office, in a district solidly held by the GOP since 2010. Brianna Titone prevailed by a margin currently holding at 439 votes (a smidge under 1%), when on the first report from Election Night, the number was a 355 vote deficit. Yeah, this is a pretty big deal, and I am ultra proud of her and the work our campaign did to win. Now I get to be every bit as tired as I was after losing elections the past two years, but with a smile on my face. :-)
Other candidates trailing on Election Night who later pulled ahead are Rochelle Galindo (State House) in Greeley, Bri Buentello (State House) in Pueblo, and Clerk & Recorder candidates Josh Zygielbaum, Joan Lopez, and George Stern in the three biggest suburban counties of Adams, Arapahoe, and Jefferson, respectively.
In addition to this, candidates declared winners on Election Night saw their margins expand. So while our wave took its time coming ashore, Democrats now have full control of State government, and dramatically expanded power if not control in the major suburban counties.
Oh, the places we’ll go!
...WE HOPE.
The mandate for Democratic governance is IMO even larger than these results reveal. On these same ballots, voters rejected almost every citizen-initiated Amendment and Proposition. Only Prop 111, reining in payday lending, cruised to victory; everything else dramatically underperformed previous polling, and was voted down. While the CO GOP is spinning this as voters rejecting progressive ideas/spending, and simply choosing Dems as Not Trump, I think they’re (per the usual) full of shit.
I think the majority of voters turned these down even if they kinda agreed with their premises, because Colorado voters are increasingly tired of being asked to be policy experts and legislate from the ballot to this extent. It was a LOOONNNNG ballot in every county; in more urban counties, substantially longer.
Instead of legislating with an overabundance of direct democracy, the voters chose the people they wanted—trusted—to make those decisions. They chose Our team, Our people.
So, we have a major mandate to govern. I hope we will succeed! And to that point, if you have experience and talents to bring, please do so. Your County has boards and commissions on multiple policy arenas, and these likely have vacancies. Contact your county and apply. Do It. There’s never been a better time to get involved with this power we now have, because that power’s durability is not known, and we need as much involvement as possible to ensure we do the best job.
Colorado State Open Thread usually happens on Mondays at 7pm MT. Join Us!
And with that, this Thread is… OPEN!