The Democratic primary for Colorado secretary of state features two Jefferson County women who have spent their careers strengthening voting rights and who vow to protect the state’s mail-in ballot system from attacks by President Donald Trump and his allies.
The race pits state Sen. Jessie Danielson, 48, of Wheat Ridge, against Amanda Gonzalez, 41, the Jefferson County clerk and recorder. They are seeking to replace Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who is term-limited.
The Libertarian Party also has a contested primary race with 33-year-old , an engineer from Holyoke, running against , a 25-year-old entertainer and music DJ from Highlands Ranch.
The Republican primary is uncontested. The Democratic and Libertarian winners in November will face , who calls himself the “Red Flame of Liberty” and is a self-described “Dark MAGA” candidate — a nod to Elon Musk.
While the secretary of state cannot single-handedly change Colorado’s election system, the position is increasingly under scrutiny because of Trump’s attacks on vote-by-mail states, and his insistence on nationalizing elections rather than leaving the states to decide how to administer them. As the top state executive responsible for elections, the person holding the office sits on the frontline of Trump’s actions to challenge mail voting.
On the campaign trail, and have touted their backgrounds in advocating for voters’ rights as both worked for political interest groups before running for office. Both said any claims about a stolen 2020 election are lies, and both said they want to keep Colorado’s vote-by-mail system.
Danielson’s political involvement began at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she volunteered as a student for . She eventually became the abortion-rights group’s state political director.
From there, she moved to , a progressive voter-rights organization, where she served as state director for Colorado and Minnesota. In that role, Danielson helped write Colorado’s mail-in ballot laws, fundamentally changing how people in the state make their voices heard.
As a two-term state senator, Danielson sponsored several voter-rights bills at the state Capitol, including one that ensured people who are blind or physically unable to write can vote in private by filing out electronic ballots. She also worked with other Democrats to create an automatic voter registration system in Colorado.
Danielson said she is the best candidate because she has worked on voting rights as the leader of a nonprofit and as a state senator. In those roles, she has earned the trust of county elections officials of all parties.
Trump has threatened Colorado’s vote-by-mail elections, and the next secretary of state must defend the state’s system, she said.
“I have worked to Trump-proof these elections for years, and I’m going to keep doing it when I’m the next secretary of state,” Danielson said. “We need someone with experience and knowledge of our voting system to defend against these attacks from Trump.”
Gonzalez was elected in 2022 as the Jefferson County — a role that puts her in charge of running elections in a county with 430,000 active voters. As county clerk, she also supervises the county’s motor vehicle offices, issues marriage and liquor licenses and records real estate transactions.
“You have to know the system in order to protect it,” Gonzalez said. “I’m the only person in this race from any party who has experience running secure elections and fending off interference from outsiders. This job is not legislative. It’s operational. It’s an executive position.”
Gonzalez, who has a law degree from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, became involved in election law as executive director for , another voting rights group. Gonzalez said she pushed Colorado’s elections administrators to translate ballots into other languages so people who do not speak English as a first language could better understand their Blue Books and ballots.
While the secretary of state’s role as an elections supervisor takes center stage, the job also comes with the responsibility of managing business filings for companies and tracking charitable nonprofits. The office also licenses notaries.
Gonzalez said her experience running the Jefferson County clerk’s office puts her in the best position to manage all the roles the secretary of state plays.
The secretary of state’s election is the first contested statewide race for the Libertarian Party since 2020, when two men competed for Sen. John Hickenlooper’s seat.
Neither Libertarian candidate running for secretary of state has elected experience.
Vadney said he chose to run because of a lifelong interest in politics and that voting is an important issue for him. He does not believe the 2020 election was stolen, but would urge Colorado lawmakers to return the state to in-person voting.
Vadney has a criminal record that he says was connected to a mental health breakdown and alcohol abuse. He pleaded guilty to third-degree assault of a police officer and criminal mischief in connection with a December 2021 incident. He served three years on probation, and the criminal mischief charge was expunged after he finished his sentence. Vadney told The Denver Post he no longer drinks alcohol and has received counseling.
Astley said he would neither affirm nor deny the inaccurate claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Instead, he said that, as an engineer, he needs to see proof before he decides.
“I’m not able to speak to that because I haven’t seen any documents about it,” he said.
Astley said he would push for a hybrid mail-in voting system. Voters would receive ballots by mail but would need to return them in person and show a government-issued ID, he said.
