Going into last Tuesday’s elections, Colorado Republicans thought they had hit the bottom of their years-long slide into the political abyss–a process that began in 2004 when Democrats retook the state legislature after years of Republican dominance, and then continued with only a few exceptions for over a decade before accelerating in backlash against Donald Trump in 2018 to the greatest level of political dominance Democrats have enjoyed in this state since Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President.
As it turned out, they had much farther to fall. Before Tuesday, local Republicans honestly believed they had a chance at retaking the Colorado Senate and narrowing the House majority, in addition to winning the U.S. Senate race and the state’s newest highly competitive congressional district. Instead, Democrats expanded their legislative majorities, easily defeated every statewide Republican candidate, and claimed the new CD-8 for a 5-3 Democratic majority congressional delegation–a majority that may yet grow to 6-2, in the event Democratic CD-3 challenger Adam Frisch prevails as the final votes are counted in his race against freshman GOP compounding calamity Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Speaking to Colorado Public Radio’s Bente Birkeland, GOP Rep. Colin Larson, who was expected to lead the House Minority in 2023 but was instead defeated in his re-election bid, echoes the total dejection Colorado Republicans are feeling after last week’s historic wipeout:
“Honestly I think Colorado Republicans need to take this and learn the lesson that the party is dead. [Pols emphasis] This was an extinction-level event,” said Republican Rep. Colin Larson. “This was the asteroid that ended the reign of the dinosaur, and in this case, the dinosaur was the Republican party.”
Larson’s pessimism is understandable. He was poised to be the incoming House minority leader after the sudden death of Rep. Hugh McKean. Instead, Larson unexpectedly lost his own race in Jefferson County…
Former Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams, who himself was ousted from that job years ago by the Colorado GOP’s then-incipient radical wing, is equally morose about the party’s long-term future in Colorado:
“Frankly, it couldn’t be much worse,” said Dick Wadhams, the former chair of the Colorado Republican Party. Wadhams largely blamed demographic shifts and the national Republican brand.
“And I think we put up very strong candidates who were worthy of consideration by all Colorado voters [Pols emphasis] and yet they were soundly rejected in favor of Democratic candidates,” Wadhams said. “So I don’t know what it’s gonna take for this to come back the other way.”
Here we come to the first major misconception Republicans are wrestling with in the wake of last week’s defeats, and there’s no moving on for them without recognizing this despite the hurt feelings it may cause. The 2022 Republican slate in Colorado was one of the worst ever fielded by the party in its history. Dick Wadhams himself enthusiastically supported Heidi Ganahl and Joe O’Dea, but in retrospect as Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and governor both were totally unqualified dreadful political mismatches for Colorado’s blue-trending electorate. Ganahl and O’Dea’s paths to double-digit defeat were a bit different, with Ganahl inexplicably lurching right immediately after winning the primary while O’Dea took a bit longer to show his true immoderate colors. But in the end, both of these terrible candidates at the top dragged the entire Republican ticket in Colorado down.
Once we’ve established that the top GOP candidates in Colorado failed to live up to the insistent hype from their campaigns and friendly talking heads, we come to the next logical question. Was it the issues too? The Denver Post’s political team caught up with GOP chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown, and to no one’s surprise, the former poster child of the Personhood abortion ban measures remains a true believer:
But others questioned whether the state’s electorate had shifted fundamentally, thanks to liberal-minded out-of-staters moving in. That was the assessment of Kristi Burton Brown, the chairwoman of the Colorado Republican Party, on Tuesday night. Her candidates had run on the correct issues, she said, and would focus on them going forward. [Pols emphasis]
“It’s just not what voters chose tonight,” she said.
There’s no way to sugar-coat this. No one should be more pleased to see the Colorado GOP chair conclude that Republicans “had run on the correct issues” than Colorado Democrats. Kristi Burton Brown’s unshakeable anti-abortion convictions make it impossible for her to recognize that the backlash to the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a major component of Republican failure in this year’s elections. Brown’s inability to recognize this political shift leaves the party unable to change course as long as she remains in charge.
As for the other issue that motivated voters to turn out for Democrats this year, the Republican Party’s ongoing threat to democracy under ex-President Donald Trump? Back to Colorado Public Radio’s story:
“January 6th, we just thought it had fallen from most people’s minds,” [Rep. Colin Larson] said. [Pols emphasis] “That just was not the case. They weren’t willing to look past the party.”
Smart Colorado Republicans knew that Trump was toxic going all the way back to 2016 when they revolted in favor of Ted Cruz. But instead of the Republican Party making a clean break from Trump in the aftermath of the violent January 6th insurrection and Trump’s plot to overturn the 2020 elections, Trump has remained the party’s de facto leader. Republicans like Joe O’Dea and Secretary of State candidate Pam Anderson who tried to triangulate off Trump this year either didn’t try hard enough (Anderson) or failed to persuade swing voters while bringing the wrath of the MAGA base down upon themselves (O’Dea).
As it turns out, Americans did not forget about January 6th. And as it turns out, overturning Roe v. Wade had dire political consequences for the party who sought that outcome for decades. There’s no “middle ground” for Republicans to stand on with these defining issues. There’s no “retooling” of the Republican Party’s message that can alter the fundamentals. This is not a question of packaging, it’s the product Republicans are offering that Colorado voters want no part of. Without the will to de-radicalize the MAGA base and truly moderate their wedge-issue-driven agenda, Colorado Republicans are glimpsing at long last what permanent minority status looks like.
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I can't understand why they're treating this as such a complex problem…
The road out of the wilderness is so fucking simple, but for the life of them they just can't see it. Stop embracing crazy bullshit ideas and crazy bullshit candidates. Stop showboating and actually do some meaningful work for the people of Colorado.
As I've already posted elsewhere; and I remain as a registered Republican…..
1) get rid of all the heavy handed MAGA bullshit. Focus on how the party can serve Colorado citizens, not serve Trump's ego. Focus on the entire state economy. As one example, outdoor recreation generates more dollars and jobs than oil & gas. And Rec is not subject to the traditional "boom and bust" cycle. Yet, the Rs…….
2) however possible, ditch the radical right wing religious agenda. The US is a constitutional republic with a secular Constitution. One of the major political parties should not be a bought and paid for arm of any religious agenda ("pro-life") or those supporting such an agenda.
Regardless of her personal religious views, or alignment with the Joe Oltmann wing of the Party, KBB needs to step down. She has to be accountable for her leadership failure.
Yeah, but if GOP chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown accepted responsibility and stepped down, who would be called to step up? Randy Corporon? Vickie Tonkins? Ron Hanks? Vera Ortegon? the Powerful Pear?
Who would want to ride the elephant on this merry-go-round?
If she had any honor, she'd admit she blew this and quit. Oh, I made a funny, didn't I?
KBB step down?
I mean… why? If she has another gig – ok.
Otherwise, I would be surprised if she leaves, impending recession and all.
Maybe she should send her resumé to Mar-A-Lago to see if they have a place for her in the upcoming campaign.
I like the sideways spin they put on the abortion debate. "Well, Colorado voters didn't understand that abortion would still be legal in CO, post Roe oeverturn. We assumed Colorado voters were informed on the issue, but they clearly weren't."
Jesus H. Christ. Colorado voters know this. But they care about women's rights NATIONWIDE, not just in Colorado. The devastation of the Roe overturn cannot be underestimated, and thank god voters got that.
Buh-bye, Colorado GOP! Thank god we hardly knew ye.
Also, if we elected these nimrods, it wouldn't be legal in Colorado.
After years and years of Eggmendments on our ballots, I'm pretty sure the Colorado voters are reasonably well-informed on who supports what side of that debate.
They are all living by that big river in Egypt. I hope this buffoonery continues.
The five words a Republican candidate doesn’t want to hear.
“Your opponent is Tammy Story.”
Larson is the latest to find out her prowess campaigning.
Hooray. Keri Lake has officially lost race for gov of Ariz to Katie Hobbs by nearly 21,000 votes.
Let her try to deny THAT election .
So, AZ Governor goes blue. Sec of State stays blue. AG has blue leading, but has not been called yet.
US House delegation will be 5 Republicans, 3 Democrats, and one yet to call (with the Republican ahead).
Sinema is getting dunked on for NOT campaigning for Democrats. Question is not IF she will be primaried, but who and what chance he or she might have. Going to be interesting to see how the US Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and her colleagues generally will act … with several people guessing Sinema will have NO colleague bothering to aid her campaign until it is determined who wins the primary.
Pretty sure Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) will be primarying her. He's been criticizing her for months now, publicly.
I don't know that the race will expand beyond those two. The way she's been acting, she might not even run for reelection – she might go for President.
GLWT, Kirsten. I’d love to see Gallego take her on, and out.