December 28, 2016 11:29 AM UTC

Top Ten Stories of 2016 #6: Dems Grow State House Majority

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• by: Colorado Pols

Democratic hopes grew throughout the 2016 election season, anticipating major gains at all levels as Donald Trump went down to inglorious defeat and took a large swath of the Republican Party with him.

As you may be aware, that didn’t happen.

In Colorado, the net results of the 2016 elections were, with one notable exception, a preservation of the status quo ante. Democrats carried the state for Hillary Clinton and held Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat–albeit by a much smaller than anticipated margin than expected. Colorado’s congressional delegation remained unchanged despite determined attempts by Democrats to pick up two seats held by the GOP. The Colorado Senate remained in GOP hands by a single seat, just as in 2014.

But in the Colorado House, Democrats picked up several seats–a result that stands out from the general lack of movement elsewhere on the ballot. In particular, House Democrats were successful in flipping tightly competitive seats held by Republicans in nominally Republican areas of the state, like House District 59 in southwest Colorado held by J. Paul Brown and Kit Roupe’s House District 17 in urban Colorado Springs. At the same time, GOP pickup opportunities in the House fizzled despite arguably strong contenders–the best example being Rep.-elect Jeff Bridges’ victory over Katy Brown in outgoing Rep. Daniel Kagan’s House District 3.

The credit for Colorado House Democrats outperforming on this year’s ballot goes to two factors. The first is candidates like Bridges who worked very hard at retail politicking in their district, tirelessly knocking on thousands of doors to earn their seats the old-fashioned way. The second is that Colorado House Democrats have on their side one of the very best “527” independent messaging apparatuses in the nation. With the exception of two years from 2010 to 2012 when Republicans had control of the Colorado House by a single seat, the chamber has been in Democratic hands since Andrew Romanoff led House Democrats to victory in 2004.

The victory of Colorado House Democrats year after year, regardless (and sometimes despite) of what happens up the ticket, is something that everyone who does politics for a living should be studying. They are a model for enduring success in a world without coattails.