Coloradans have been – and remain – tough critics of politicians and government and have retained a noticeable conservative bent despite more than a decade and a half of significant change.
This summer, my Colorado College colleague Bob Loevy and I commissioned a statewide poll of Coloradans’ political attitudes, a followup to a similar statewide survey we did in September 1990. Since then, Colorado has added nearly 1.5 million people.
Has this growth and change altered the political culture and how Coloradans think?
Not much.
Coloradans today, as in 1990, still view themselves as more conservative than liberal (41 percent conservative to 28 percent liberal), though a modest shift of people who called themselves “middle-of-the-road” shifted to “somewhat liberal.”
There has been a modest decline in Coloradans who call themselves Republicans, mostly representing a small shift to unaffiliated status or third-party preferences.
Statewide voter registration figures still show that Republicans enjoy approximately a 170,000-voter edge over Democrats, and the Democrats come in more than 100,000 voters shy of those registering as unaffiliated or with independent parties. Current registration, rounded off, is: Republican, 1 million; unaffiliated, 985,500; Democratic; 881,000; Libertarian, 6,000; Green Party, 5,000. That’s to 36 percent Republican, 34 percent unaffiliated and 30 percent Democratic.
Political views on a wide range of issues also have changed remarkably little.
Political views don’t seem much affected by how long you’ve lived in Colorado. Those who have lived here for 30 years or more are a little more conservative, and relative newcomers are more likely than others to describe themselves as “middle-of-the-roaders.” Longtime residents are, not surprisingly, more likely to be registered to vote and turn out to vote regularly.
Thus, the notion that newcomers may somehow be dramatically changing the political complexion of the state doesn’t have much supporting evidence in these surveys. It may well be that for every new liberal or moderate liberal who migrates to Aspen, Boulder or Denver is probably offset by a conservative gained in Colorado Springs, Grand Junction or Douglas County.
Only 28 percent of Coloradans admit to being liberal. Nearly 70 percent say the are conservative or moderate. This reality shapes Colorado electoral politics.
Other findings of the 2006 poll include:
More than 60 percent of the random sample of adult Coloradans believe “things in Washington … have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track in the past few years.”
Our survey indicates, in addition, that nearly a majority of Coloradans believe the “federal government has become too powerful and too intrusive.”
And, very few Coloradans believe the federal government operates efficiently compared to state and local governments.
When asked which of the three levels of government is the most efficient, Coloradans answered: local, 54 percent; state, 29 percent;and federal, just 9 percent.
But, a majority of Coloradans still don’t trust state government to do what’s right all or most of the time. Two-thirds don’t believe state leaders are adequately representing them; two-thirds believe Colorado state government “isn’t getting the job done” and has failed to keep their taxes down.
Only 14 percent of Coloradans say that “the overall quality of life has gotten better in the past two or three years.” A sobering 28 percent claim the quality of their lives has actually “gotten worse.”
Legislators and Gov. Bill Owens enjoy 56 and 54 percent approval ratings respectively, nearly twice what members of the U.S. Congress or Bush and Cheney’s ratings.
A majority of Coloradans believe state officials are unduly influenced by campaign contributors, and about 55 percent favor continuing TABOR spending limits.
What do Coloradans think of politics? Most say politics bores them. Few admire politicians. Only a third believe elected officials “care what people like me think.”
State political and business leaders regularly complain that there are too many ballot issues. Citizens disagree. While there has been an increase since 1990 of people saying there are too many initiatives on their ballot, a clear majority still believe there are about the right number or that they would like to see even more.
Moreover, two-thirds of adult Coloradans declare they would vote against any future ballot initiative making it harder to place citizen initiatives before the voters.
Coloradans acknowledge they need political leaders and that representative government requires compromise. Political leadership is needed, Coloradans say, in managing growth, protecting the environment and for addressing transportation needs.
Predictably enough, of course, Coloradans believe these things need to be done but taxes should be reduced.
Colorado may not be as “red” or Republican a state as it was a few years ago, yet it remains a conservative-leaning state, and religion may be an increasingly important factor. (The 1990 poll did not ask about religious views.)
Seventy-four percent of Coloradans report that religion is very or least somewhat important in their lives. Fifty percent said it was “very important.”
Forty percent answered agreed with the proposition that “God created man in his present form all at once within the last 10,000 years.”
Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to say religion plays a “very important role” in their lives (68 to 38 percent). Similarly, Democrats are far less likely to affirm an essentially “creationist” view. However, almost 20 percent of Democrats called themselves conservative, more than a third of the Democrats say religion is “very important” to them and more than a quarter of Democrats hold creationist beliefs.
So, political beliefs have generally remained stable here over most of the past generation. Coloradans remain tough to please, skeptical about government and lean conservative, and the role of religion is important.
Colorado remains more of a red state than a blue one, yet statewide a religion-sensitive, moderate burgundy Democrat has at least as decent a chance of success as does a moderate, pro-business, pro-environment, burgundy Republican.
Not much has changed.
Tom Cronin is McHugh Professor of American Institutions and Leadership at Colorado College. The data cited in this article came from a mid-June statewide survey of adult Coloradans conducted by Talmey Drake Research & Strategy Inc. This random sample of 613 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
