As part of our weekly roundup of articles about political extremism in Colorado, the Colorado Times Recorder is highlighting Jason Salzman’s analysis of evidence showing that GOP congressional candidate Gabe Evans was anti-LGBTQ+ throughout his life. He also reported on a series of misleading ads put out by the Denver Gazette. We are also highlighting Craig Mason’s Letter to the Editor analyzing state Rep. Brandi Bradley’s presidency of an anti-government group and reporting from Colorado Newsline’s Quinton Young on how a counterterrorism exhibit in Denver downplays the events of January 6th.
News
MyPillow CEO Lindell Claims Without Proof That ‘Many’ CO Clerks Shared Election Security Info With His Conspiracy Group
Across Colorado, county clerks are preparing for the first presidential election since former President Donald Trump denied the results of his 2020 loss. The conspiracy theories he and his supporters promoted ultimately led not only to the attack on our country’s Capitol, but to localized threats of violence against election officials nationwide as well as here in Colorado.
DAVIS: Keeping Local Politics Local in Alamosa
An old adage insists that “all politics is local,” but it’s not true. The rapid advance of the internet age has flipped the adage on its head: these days, all politics is national. With Fox News, CNN, and Facebook blasting their signals into every corner of the once vast and untrammeled wilderness, truly local issues have fallen by the wayside. Now, local races are dominated by the headwinds of national political discourse, and local candidates are incentivized to rhetorically overextend themselves in service of signaling to the tribe. It is a politics of pantomime, with potholes and passing lanes supplanted by abortion and immigration as the issues du jour – in races for offices which will have no jurisdiction over either – and too few candidates speaking to the particulars and prerogatives of the positions they seek.
BRIEF: Owners of Colorado Springs Indy Host Fundraiser for GOP Congressional Candidate
When the Pikes Peak Media Company, owned by JW Roth and Kevin O’Neil, bought the Colorado Springs Independent and the Colorado Springs Business Journal, they promised to continue the newspaper’s tradition of independent journalism.
CO Springs Rep. ‘More Liberal than Elisabeth Epps’ Faces El Paso County Commissioner in Senate Race
In El Paso County’s Senate District 12, Colorado Rep. Marc Snyder (D-Manitou Springs) is running against El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf to replace Sen. Bob Gardner (R-Colorado Springs).
‘Freedom Is Maybe One Election Away From Extinction:’ Trump Supporters Rally in Greeley
Navarro Former President Donald Trump may be a long-shot bet to win Colorado, but you wouldn’t know it from the 100 energized Republicans who attended Sunday’s “Trump Rally” in Greeley.
Anschutz’s Denver Gazette Stops Paying for Ads Promoting Falsehoods About Venezuelan Gangs in Aurora
UPDATE Sept. 25: Two of the Gazette’s four ads that stopped running Sunday, September 22, are “active” again, as of Tuesday, Sept. 24. One “active” ad states that a “Venezuelan gang used violence to seize an Aurora apartment complex.” This ad had disappeared from the Denver Gazette’s ad library on Facebook on Sunday. It’s now back in the library. Another ad, which quotes Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman calling the gang situation a “nightmare,” is labeled “active” on in the library today after being “inactive” on Sunday. Two other ads (“gangs taking over two Aurora apartment complexes” and “councilwoman promotes claims of Venezuelan gang takeover”) that became “inactive” on Sunday remain inactive today. Below you can see screenshots (taken Sunday) of the ads labeled as “inactive.” You can also see a screenshot (taken today) of the Coffman “nightmare” ad labeled “active” — as well as a screenshot taken today of the ad (“Venezuelan gang used violence to seize an Aurora apartment complex.”) that disappeared on Sunday but has now returned.
Denver Gazette Paying for Ads With Falsehoods About Gangs Seizing an ‘Aurora Apartment Complex’
It’s now well established that Venezuelan gangs did not take over apartment complexes in Aurora, but the Denver Gazette, a conservative online newspaper owned by GOP billionaire Phil Anschutz, is still running Facebook advertisements falsely claiming that a “Venezuelan gang used violence to seize an Aurora apartment complex” and “New video seems to show Venezuelan gangs taking over two Aurora apartment complexes.” See these ads and other dubious ones here.
Extremist Rewind
As part of our weekly roundup of articles about political extremism in Colorado, the Colorado Times Recorder is highlighting Heidi Beedle’s coverage of the Pueblo City Council, David Flomberg’s article on a series of antisemitic fliers that have continued to pop up around Colorado, and Owen Swallow’s coverage of the Charlie Kirk rally held at CU Boulder last week. In addition, we have included reporting from Colorado Politics’s Marissa Ventrelli on the strange package that was mailed to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
How a State Legislative Race Could Define the Future of an Evolving Community North of Denver
A race for a House seat in northern Colorado is shaping up to play a pivotal role in the future of two of the state’s largest counties and the power dynamics under the Gold Dome in Denver.