LEFT: State Rep. Mike Weissman, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for an Aurora state senate seat, left, talks with Casey Henderson while canvassing in Aurora on Thursday, June 20, 2024. RIGHT: Idris Keith, Democratic candidate for the Colorado Senate, right, hands a flyer to Jason Fulton over Fulton’s dog Louis while canvassing in Aurora on Thursday, June 20, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
A dizzying array of outside groups have unloaded more than $3.7 million on several Democratic primary races in and around metro Denver, as labor groups, corporations and more opaque spenders jockey to steer the ideological direction of the Democratic Party in newly blue Colorado.
Much of the spending has been concentrated on state House and Senate races, all of which are safe Democratic seats whose ultimate winner will almost certainly be determined by Tuesday’s primary vote. The contests — for seats in Aurora, Denver, Lakewood, Fort Collins, Boulder and Thornton — likely won’t affect the party’s majorities in the legislature but could broadly shape the type of Democratic Party that controls the state Capitol.
It underscores the state’s new, blue streak, as deep-pocketed interest groups — including those that, by design, mask their donors — battle for influence. In addition to warring factions within education and labor organizations, it’s also introduced business groups that traditionally play more in Republican races into Democratic politics.
“Because we’ve been successful in not only winning large majorities but also because the Republican Party has so completely collapsed into itself ideologically and structurally, people see Democratic races as a place to invest, to have an impact,” said Shad Murib, the chair of the Colorado Democratic Party.
The outside spending also reflects the growing, but now-familiar, struggle over the party’s ideological center. An active and growing left, represented most prominently in the state House, has pushed for more economic and structural change and has been willing to criticize more moderate peers in the process. Two prominent members of that flank, Denver Reps. Tim Hernández and Elisabeth Epps, face primary challenges.
Meanwhile, the more established, “mainstream” core of the party is being bolstered by groups seeking less foundational changes in how government works, with people involved in the fight frequently invoking descriptions like “pragmatic” and “practical” in describing their preferred candidates. Several officials and candidates said their efforts were a direct push against leftist activists like the Democratic Socialists of America.
That side of the spending received an additional boost late last week, when a new group backed by wealthy Denverite Kent Thiry dropped more than $1 million in support of several more moderate candidates in 13 statehouse primaries. Eight of those 13 races are Democratic, and most have already received significant outside spending.
Colorado turning blue “meant different things to different people,” said Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat and one of the more left-wing state legislators. “For some people that meant mostly maintaining the economic status quo in our state, but being very strongly pro-gay marriage, being for gun control. And then for other people, it meant …read more
Source:: The Denver Post – Politics
