On October 24, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Lakewood) joined a virtual rally advocating for national cannabis reform hosted by country singer Willie Nelson. Nelson organized the event in tandem with Vicente, a Colorado-based cannabis law firm, around the issue of cannabis legalization. Referred to as the Cannabis Community for Kamala, the event was moderated by Nelson, his wife Annie D’Angelo, and lawyer Dahr Jamail.
Bennet Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, both Democrats, issued a joint statement Friday supporting Eagle County’s argument before the U.S. Supreme Court that federal officials didn’t adequately analyze the environmental impacts of a Colorado railway project, violating federal law.
In less than two weeks, Coloradans will vote on Proposition 131, a ballot initiative that would abolish party primaries and create a top-four ranked choice voting (RCV) system for most state and federal elections in Colorado.
As part of our weekly roundup of articles on political extremism in Colorado, the Colorado Times Recorder is featuring Sharon Sullivan’s coverage of a campaign event in western Colorado where state Rep. Marc Catlin (and others running for elected office) refused to say whether Trump lost the 2020 Election and pushed election conspiracy theories, Jason Salzman and Erik Maulbetsch’s article on Colorado congressional candidate Gabe Evans continuing to pay Jessica Spindle (his former political director who was fired for a string of antisemitic and threatening posts), and James O’Rourke’s piece on former Lakewood City Councilwoman Ramey Johnson going after her rival in a statehouse race for using the same position as a ‘political stepping-stone’ and Johnson’s history of pushing climate change denialism and connection to QAnon conspiracists. Also highlighted below is a story by the Pueblo Chieftain’s James Bartolo about Colorado for Life’s attempt to get a proposed abortion ban reintroduced in the Pueblo City Council.
With Election Day rapidly approaching, it is important to remember that we may not have final results — in Colorado and nationally — until after November 5.
It is time once again for our weekly roundup of articles relating to political extremism in Colorado. This week, we feature Logan Davis’ column where he shows how conservative activists have been laying the groundwork to challenge the results of the 2024 election based on misinformation about ‘illegal immigrants’ voting. Other highlights include Erik Maulbetsch’s analysis of Gabe Evans’ support from groups that endorse the use of corporal punishment in schools and my coverage of a candidate for the Colorado House of Representatives who posted a cartoon from self-avowed racist. In addition, read Cassandra Ballard and the staff at Sentinel Colorado’s coverage of an Aurora City councilwoman’s accusations that Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston were smuggling migrants into Aurora.
A Western Slope Republican statehouse candidate who posted a racist cartoon on Facebook initially stood by his decision to share the image. A few minutes later, he called back to say he had reconsidered and would update his post with an apology, which he did, while also claiming that he “didn’t notice the ethnicities” of the people when originally posting the cartoon.
By now, ballots have been sent out to all registered voters in Colorado. To help you make sense of the numerous ballot issues and see where the candidates stand on the issues, the Colorado Times Recorder has put together a list of voter guides put out by the state and media outlets — as well as guides released by both left and right-leaning organizations/individuals.
As part of our weekly roundup of articles about political extremism in Colorado, the Colorado Times Recorder is featuring Erik Maulbetsch’s coverage of former CU Regent Heidi Ganahl’s press conference where she both called into question the results of the election she lost and announced a plan to recruit volunteers taken with election conspiracy theories to ‘monitor’ ballot boxes in the upcoming general election. We are also showcasing Jason Salzman’s and Maulbetsch’s analysis of mainstream Republicans endorsing election conspiracists in their races, Heidi Beedle’s coverage of posts from Lauren Boebert’s campaign manager that indicate the congresswoman had been in contact with Tina Peters ahead of her plan to undermine Mesa County’s election safety, and Owen Swallow’s coverage of a rally held by Gays Against Groomers, a group connected to other extremist groups like Moms For Liberty, and the counterprotests that outnumbered them. Take a look out for our coverage of yesterday’s Trump rally in Aurora.
Following through on his announcement, former President Donald Trump held a rally in Aurora today at the Gaylord Rockies Resort.
