Colorado Primary 2018: Down To The Wire

ACROSS COLORADO – By Corey Hutchins for The Colorado Independent. Across Colorado, voters are voting. Ballots have been open on kitchen tables for more than a week— with less than a week to go— and already nearly half a million voters made up their minds, checked some boxes, and mailed them back in.
What do the numbers show? So far, more Republicans have voted, but unaffiliated voters who can participate in the primaries for the first time— and can pick only one party’s ballot— are breaking left, choosing to vote in the Democratic primary at a greater clip.

Here were the numbers from the Secretary of State’s office as of June 20: So far, 478,309 Coloradans have voted. “Of that total, 183,446 ballots were cast by Democrats, 185,810 by Republicans and 109,053 by unaffiliated voters,” the office says.

So that unaffiliated number— big or small? Well, the Secretary of State’s office went back and crunched the data looking to see how many unaffiliated voters switched to a party so they could vote in a primary within 30 days of the 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 elections. The total, added up, was 39,831. So, already about 70,000 more voters have already cast ballots than all four years combined. That’s participation.

As we hope you know, this is the first year unaffiliated voters are able to participate in the party primaries while remaining unaffiliated and are getting two ballots in the mail. Unfortunately, hundreds of these voters are screwing up and mailing two ballots back in— meaning their vote won’t count. As of last week, 7 percent of unaffiliated ballots cast in El Paso County alone won’t be counted because voters didn’t follow directions, according to state officials. And a whopping 18 percent reportedly mucked up their ballots in Pueblo County.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, there is no way for a voter to remedy the mistake.

What a damn shame. We made a video you can share with your unaffiliated friends to make sure their vote counts:

The last day to cast a ballot is June 26.

Onward…

We are now in the final stretch, and the past week has been marked again by Democratic in-fighting over negative ads with Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper blowing the referee whistle.

During the final Democratic debate this Monday, a new battle erupted on the stage over campaign finance. Read our recap of that debate— and see where the Dems stand on drilling setbacks, declaring Colorado a “sanctuary state,” gun violence and more by clicking the link below (bonus: Find out what their spouses think is their most annoying trait).

5 takeaways from the final Democratic debate for Colorado governor

Speaking of these Democrats running for governor, if you want to know how we got here in this four-way Democratic primary between Jared Polis, Cary Kennedy, Mike Johnston and Donna Lynne, you have to read our columnist Mike Littwin’s in-depth piece that lays bare the inside story of this dramatic, watershed race.

Littwin: So much for the Dem civil war. In CO gov primary, it’s all nuance and Trump.

On the GOP side, two Republicans, State Treasurer Walker Stapleton and Victor Mitchell, spent the last week taking shots at each other— and, we might add, both relying on reporting from The Colorado Independent in their ads to do so. Both of them are also injecting more of their own money into the race in the final stretch, with Mitchell set to spend more than $5 million on this primary. (Don’t forget to read our in-depth profiles of Stapleton and Mitchell.)

Earlier this month, the largest gathering of conservatives outside of D.C., the Western Conservative Summit, took place in Denver, and former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez won the event’s straw poll for governor. Want to know more about him? Tina Griego profiled Lopez here as part of our in-depth candidate profiles.

In the final Republican debate of the primary, the four candidates remained largely civil, but some weird stuff came out of the end. (You’ll find out why that’s highlighted— and why it’s funny— when you click the link below for our big takeaways:

6 takeaways from the final Republican debate in the Colorado governor’s race

Read our in-depth candidate profiles

It’s been a long campaign season— and there are a lot of candidates in the governor’s race to choose from. Everywhere I go I hear people say they’re having a tough time deciding. To help, we have published the most in-depth profiles of these candidates to appear yet. We hope you’ll read and share them widely, and we hope they help you feel like you know these folks and whether or not they might make a good governor. Find them each below:

Republican Walker Stapleton: A political unknown 8 years ago who is the establishment GOP’s hope to break a blue wave.

Democrat Jared Polis, a Boulder congressman who has big plans and big money to push them.

Republican Victor Mitchell who built six companies and is self-funding his race with $5 million.

Democrat Mike Johnston, A charismatic campaigner trying to build bridges in bridge-burning times.

Republican Doug Robinson: In the shadow of a front-runner, a tall man makes his move.

Democrat Donna Lynne, a healthcare executive. A lieutenant governor. A first-time candidate fighting to make her mark.

Republican Greg Lopez, a “taste test” candidate counting on the personal touch to prove his skeptics wrong.

Democrat Cary Kennedy, the public education candidate who has the base, but will it be enough?

Read more in the Colorado Independent

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