In 2017 Colorado voters approved a measure that would allow unaffiliated voters to vote in Republican or Democrat Primaries.

In 2018 Colorado voters overwhelmingly supported amendments Y and Z in an effort to curb gerrymandering, but in doing so they gave unaffiliated voters more influence in drawing voting district lines.

I was flatly opposed to giving unaffiliated voters influence in Democrat or Republican Primaries, and while I support efforts to curb gerrymandering by either of the parties, I'm opposed to giving unaffiliated voters more influence in this.

I've long believed that unaffiliated voters, while they may not officially join a party, still have an agenda and a bias, and I believe that they largely lean to the Left...and the recent mid-term elections would seem to support that.


Here’s why Colorado’s unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly picked Democrats in 2018

Here’s why Colorado’s unaffiliated voters overwhelmingly picked Democrats in 2018. The story starts with Donald Trump.

Four in 10 unaffiliated voters polled by Magellan Strategies said a vote for Democrat Jared Polis in the governor’s race was a statement against President Donald Trump

NOV 15, 2018 6:00AM MST

John Frank
@ByJohnFrank
The Colorado Sun — johnfrank@coloradosun.com

The record turnout among Colorado unaffiliated voters — and their negative view of President Donald Trump — assured disaster for the Republican Party in the midterm election last week, a new poll shows.

Four in 10 unaffiliated voters who voted for Democrat Jared Polis in the governor’s race did so to make statement against Trump and GOP policies. And more broadly, about one third of all unaffiliated voters were less likely to vote for any Republican candidate because of Trump’s influence.

The findings appear in a survey released Thursday by Republican pollster Magellan Strategies that examined the preferences of unaffiliated voters in Colorado as part of a post-mortem examination of the GOP’s “extraordinary” losses.

For the first time in a midterm election, unaffiliated voters in Colorado cast more ballots than either major political party and delivered decisive victories for Democratic candidates, who won all statewide constitutional races and both chambers of the General Assembly — a feat not achieved since 1936.

Unaffiliated voters cast 878,360 ballots as of Tuesday, compared with 849,610 from Democrats and 813,644 from Republicans.

“Time will tell if the 2018 election was an acceleration of the Republican Party’s waning ability to win statewide elections in Colorado, or a sobering period of clarity that sparked a new direction for the GOP,” David Flaherty at Magellan Strategies said.

Either way, he added, “all Colorado Republicans should be worried.”

Right now, only 23 percent of unaffiliated voters would vote for Trump in 2020, compared with 55 percent who said they would support an unspecified Democratic candidate. Another 17 percent were undecided.

The poll of only unaffiliated voters from the 2018 election was conducted Nov. 7-9. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Polis won 59 percent of the unaffiliated voters in the governor’s race, according to the new numbers, compared with 25 percent for Republican Walker Stapleton. The remainder refused to say who they voted for or cast a ballot for someone else.

The figures reflect unaffiliated voters’ underlying opinion of the Republican Party this year. About half reported an unfavorable view of the GOP and only 25 percent had a favorable opinion. Another 20 percent said they were neutral toward the party. The dynamic appeared most strongly among women, who favored the Democratic Party — and Polis — by a 3 to 1 margin.

“It was extraordinary because in the past 20 years never has one political party been so overwhelmingly rejected at every level of representative government by the electorate,” said Flaherty.

The poll also offered insights into why unaffiliated voters sided with the Democrat at the top of the ticket.

The top issues for the voters in an open-ended question were health care, education and the environment — the same ones that led them to support Polis.

The concerns identified about Polis matched Republican talking points — that he would raise taxes and increase government spending. For instance, 36 percent of those polled said their vote for Stapleton was really a vote against Polis, rather than a vote for the Republican candidate.

Unaffiliated voters told the pollsters that they liked Stapleton’s business focus, but had an impression that he was “untrustworthy” or “dishonest” and he appeared to be more focused on immigration than education and health care — all Democratic attack lines.

Other numbers the survey found:

Only 32 percent of unaffiliated voters watched a gubernatorial debate in 2018.
About two-thirds of unaffiliated voters have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of confidence in the Colorado media, compared to one-third who have “not very much” or “none at all.”
Three in 10 unaffiliated voters say the best way for a campaign to reach them is through a digital ad on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or internet radio, compared with 22 percent who said a TV commercial.
Updated 10 a.m. Nov. 15, 2018: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the number of voters who said they cast ballots for Democrat Jared Polis as a reaction to President Donald Trump.

Proof you can't fix stupid.
This state has sure changed in the past 60 years. I don't even venture to metro Denver anymore; not even to see family.

‘Either way, he added, “all Colorado Republicans residents should be worried.’
Fixed

Yes, Colorado has sure changed since I was stationed at Carson in 1960/61. Been over run with commies who fucked up Kalifornistan and then could not stand the shit they created.

Kind of like Oregon and Washington west of the mountains.

So if I'm following correctly, unaffiliated voters opted to screw themselves in large numbers because they don't like a vastly growing economy, low unemployment, more national security, and more judges on the bench who actually respect and follow the law and constitution. Maybe this is also a sign that legalizing pot makes people stupid. Yet another state to add to my list of places I've been before but won't be going back to.

They voted against the Orange Man because they've been told he's bad.

quote:

They voted against the Orange Man because they've been told he's bad.

That's exactly right. And if you don't believe it, wait until you run across somebody who says they don't like Trump's policies on ____________. Then ask them to be specific. You'll get a deer in the headlights look.

They know they have a problem with him, they just can't really tell you why. They will then start babbling on about how he's a racist, a sexist, and simply isn't presidential.

I would be willing to bet the vast majority of these voters were actually pissed at Jeff Sessions for his stance on weed.

I'm afraid that Colorado has become "East California" and there may be no hope for them.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
I'm afraid that Colorado has become "East California" and there may be no hope for them.

flashguy

You're not wrong. Then again, my home state of TX is decidedly purple these days too.....

I'm retiring mid next year and then I'm out of here, taking my 5th wheel and traveling around until I need to plant my flag. Unfortunately the red areas are getting smaller.....

quote:

Originally posted by stoic-one:
I would be willing to bet the vast majority of these voters were actually pissed at Jeff Sessions for his stance on weed.

Perhaps, but there was nothing in the Exit Polls to suggest this...and several of the defeated state Republican candidates either supported pro-pot positions or were at least willing to work within the voter mandate for pro-legalisation...no, I believe this is a deeper more visceral reaction by unaffiliated voters.

Remember that we had record mid-term voter turnout and that unaffiliated voters cast most votes than either Democrat or Republican voters.

unaffiliated my ass. They are perpetually scared folks who are more worried that people would label them conservative, republican, liberal or democrat.

We have all met these folks, the line walkers, the
Equivocators of any conversation, Folks who in public have always been and always will be
squishy mobs of mush shaped by the prevailing wind of the moment.

in private they are sniveling socialists.

quote:

unaffiliated voters

How many are unaffiliated illegal alien voters?

Republican loss in Colorado in 2018 is self-inflicted.
In 2016 they effectively shut out the grass root support of Trump in the caucus. They did not let the grass root Republican elect bound delegates to the next higher level. They believe in top-down control.
In 2016 the Colorado delegation to the national convention had the gall to walk out because of Trump. This infuriated the grass roots Republican. They have never apologized.
U.S. Representative Mike Coffman is a RINO and campaigned against Trump in his bid for re-election in 2018. He lost.
Colorado U.S. Senator Cory Gardner is a RINO. He will not stand behind Trump but will bad-mouth him at the slighted provocation.
And now, the Colorado Republicans blame Trump for their humiliating defeat in Colorado!!
That is why Colorado is now East California.

quote:

Originally posted by arlen:
Republican loss in Colorado in 2018 is self-inflicted.
In 2016 they effectively shut out the grass root support of Trump in the caucus. They did not let the grass root Republican elect bound delegates to the next higher level. They believe in top-down control.
In 2016 the Colorado delegation to the national convention had the gall to walk out because of Trump. This infuriated the grass roots Republican. They have never apologized.
U.S. Representative Mike Coffman is a RINO and campaigned against Trump in his bid for re-election in 2018. He lost.
Colorado U.S. Senator Cory Gardner is a RINO. He will not stand behind Trump but will bad-mouth him at the slighted provocation.
And now, the Colorado Republicans blame Trump for their humiliating defeat in Colorado!!
That is why Colorado is now East California.

Representative Mike Coffman's district was redrawn, gerrymandered, by Democrats and the new district lines placed many more Democrats as his constituents. No Democrat had ever held this seat prior to this election. If he was to retain his seat he had no choice but to moderate his previous Conservative positions. You may not like or agree with it, but to deny this is to deny political reality.

Coffman, like Flake, may have publicly criticized President Trump, but when it came time to vote he largely voted with the Party and President.

Your explanation conveniently ignores the article I posted above. Republicans with hurt feelings aside for a moment, your explanation doesn't address the political reality that unaffiliated voters cast the most votes in the mid-term and overwhelmingly rejected President Trump, and by association, Republican candidates.

Only a few years ago Colorado was almost exactly split, 1/3 Democrat, 1/3 Republican, 1/3 unaffiliated voters...and both the Democrats and Republicans vied for the unaffiliated vote...as of the 2018 CO mid-terms election unaffiliated slanted heavily in favor of Democrats...and according to the Exit Polls this was a response to President Trump. You can't pin this recent loss on Republicans who, with heavily Democrat populated districts, shied away from Trump support.

Colorado Republicans need to find a way to reconnect with some of these unaffiliated voters without compromising core party values...and fast.

The underlying problem is that the political demographics of the state has changed. Nothing is going to stop that.

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
The underlying problem is that the political demographics of the state has changed. Nothing is going to stop that.

Yes, the front range controls the elections and they vote communist.

The CO GOP is an absolute mess, they're truly stupid and ignorant.

The GOP in Colorado has been an absolute mess for a long time. In the 90's when I moved back there the regions right had a strangle hold on the party that alienated many. The only reason I was a registered republican rather than independent was so I could vote against whatever candidate Focus on the Family and Coloradoans for Family Values endorsed.

One only needs to look at the governor's race a few years back when the republicans put up Dan Maes for a candidate and he earned less than 10% of the vote. Tancreado running as an independent was very close to unseating Hickenlooper.

There's always complaints of the dems taking over Colorado. Some of that may be true. But the bigger problem is a state republican party that's totally lost touch with their electorate.