Colorado’s Democratic primary voters pushed hard against Washington, D.C., on Tuesday — rejecting one U.S. senator’s campaign for governor, revealing cracks in another’s reelection bid and giving a 29-year member of Congress the firm boot.
The most nationally resonating story of the night was the final one, where attorney Melat Kiros, a self-described democratic socialist, beat out 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette after mounting an insurgent campaign for the Denver seat.
But it also subverted many Democrats’ expectations when Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser handily beat Sen. Michael Bennet in the nomination race for governor. The better-known Bennet, who had won three statewide Senate races, entered the primary last year with an avalanche of support from the Democratic establishment.
And Sen. John Hickenlooper, who secured the party’s nomination for a second term, was winning by less than 11 percentage points late Tuesday — despite outraising challenger Julie Gonzales, a state senator, almost 10-to-1. In Denver, both candidates’ home turf, Hickenlooper was trailing Gonzales, revealing some voter dissatisfaction.
Here are major takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries.
Voters seek fighters
In the Democrats’ race for governor, Weiser credited his win to an electorate that wanted politicians who are authentic — and willing to fight for them. Central to his campaign was also the dozens of lawsuits he’d filed or joined against the Trump administration.
“For over a year, the establishment, pundits and so many others said this wouldn’t be a race at all — it would be a coronation,” Weiser said, referring to the underdog status he had through much of the race. “They counted us out, and they underestimated all of you.”
Meanwhile, Bennet and DeGette —b neither of whom had faced real primary threats in recent reelections, despite occasional challengers to DeGette — will likely look back at their losses and kick themselves for not taking these challengers more seriously before it was too late.
Bennet all but cleared what was expected to be a crowded primary field just by announcing he wanted the governor’s office just over a year ago. But then Weiser seemed to out-hustle Bennet.
Kiros, meanwhile, out-organized DeGette. She wasn’t even alive when DeGette first entered office, but she nearly kept the longtime fixture of Denver political life off the primary ballot entirely. That prompted a campaign reshuffle, but there wasn’t enough of a shift for DeGette to beat an opponent backed by extensive — and dedicated — grassroots organizing.
“Tonight, Denver voters of all ages, all races, all religions sent a clear message: We will not wait,” Kiros said during her victory speech to supporters. “We will not wait to bring the fight to (President) Donald Trump and the oligarchy. We will not wait to demand that Congress abolish ICE and pass Medicare for All. We will not wait to end the politics of the past. To get big money out of our elections. To reject corporate PACs and AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee). And no, we will not wait to end the genocide in Gaza.”
Progressives win up and down the ballot
A slew of other progressive — or at least anti-incumbent — Democratic wins were playing out further down the ballot.
As of 11:30 p.m., several farther-left statehouse candidates in Denver and the surrounding suburbs were beating or leading their more moderate opponents. Rep. Sean Camacho, who represents east Denver and is the co-chair of the moderate Opportunity Caucus, was trailing progressive challenger Iris Halpern. Chela Garcia Irlando was whalloping Andres Carrera for a soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat representing downtown and northwest Denver.
A network of outside groups tied to the dark-money group One Main Street spent more than $3 million on several primary races this year. But they were losing in several that were opposed by progressive and labor groups, including in One Main Streetap efforts to oust incumbent Democratic Reps. Kenny Nguyen and Jamie Jackson.
Even Gabriel Cervantes, who had received little financial help after controversial social media posts came to light, was leading in his primary challenge against another Opportunity Caucus member, Thornton Rep. Jacque Phillips.
In Colorado's battleground congressional district — the 8th that includes north suburbs — the farther-left candidate prevailed in the Democratic primary. Though the dynamics were a little different from the state legislative races, Manny Rutinel, a state representative, defeated former lawmaker Shannon Bird after progressive groups tended to back Rutinel.
Big money has a tough night
It was a bad night for big money.
The dark-money spending in statehouse primaries — which had propelled moderate candidates to wins two years ago — appeared to bear little fruit across metro Denver. Republican gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx, who raised and spent more than his two GOP opponents combined, was narrowly trailing state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer late Tuesday, though that race had not yet been called.
While Weiser raised more direct cash in the Democratic race, Bennet was backed by a deep-pocketed outside group that raised an eye-watering $11.4 million, almost half of which came from New York City billionaire Michael Bloomberg. As DeGette’s situation grew more perilous in recent weeks, vast sums of outside money poured in to prop her up, too.
And ultimately, little of it seemed to matter.
To be clear, the winners — or, in some cases, apparent winners — spent vast fortunes, too. But the money backing Weiser, Kiros and progressive statehouse candidates was often more transparent in its origins, mostly given directly to the candidates and less extensive in its spending.
Unaffiliated voters break blue — hard
Colorado’s unaffiliated voters, who make up more than half of the total electorate, returned more than twice as many Democratic primary ballots as they did GOP ballots. (In Colorado's system, they receive both in the mail but can vote only one of them.)
Whether that means these independents all lean left or were simply more enticed by a ballot with more competitive races than the Republican contests offered is yet to be seen — but it proves the bloc is a potent one.
Map: Who’s leading in the Colorado primary race for governor?
Colorado’s automatic voter registration system defaults to an unaffiliated registration, meaning voters need to take an extra step to declare as a Democrat, Republican or member of another party. The open primary system also disincentivizes them to register with a party. In short, the lack of party affiliation doesn’t mean those voters lack a political preference or are middle of the road — but it does mean campaigns have to work harder to identify those who will pull primary ballots.
Battle for direction of GOP still too close to call
While Colorado’s Democratic voters bucked some of their party’s standard-bearers Tuesday night, Republicans were still locked in a fight over the immediate future of their party.
As of midnight, Kirkmeyer, perhaps the most high-profile and well-respected Republican in deep-blue Colorado, was narrowly holding off an outsider challenge by Marx, a nonprofit leader who outraised and outspent Kirkmeyer. It was still possible Marx might pull ahead (), and state Rep. Scott Bottoms, a pastor, in some ways competed with Marx for far-right voters' support. (He'd won about half as many votes as either of the other two candidates.)
But Kirkmeyer's competitiveness bucked expectations, both from Marx and some in the more traditional GOP operative space, that Marx would easily win. And it also showed that the battle over the battered, broke and beleaguered Colorado GOP — one waged between the more establishment, moderate faction and the right-wing and grassroots elements — was far from settled.
Conservative political observers saw the GOP primary as more than just a fight between candidates. It represented an existential contest for the future of the party. Kirkmeyer brought decades of experience, along with a deep knowledge of the state budget and the inner workings of the state Capitol.
Dick Wadhams, who ran the campaign for the only Republican to win the governor’s office over the past 50 years, warned earlier in the race that Kirkmeyer was the only GOP candidate who could keep a general election debate with the Democratic nominee grounded in policy, rather than conspiracy theories or questions about a larger-than-life biography.
A win for her in the primary wouldn't necessarily portend a win in November, especially with Colorado trending steadily blue over the past decade. But it would mean the best chance for Republicans up and down the ballot to avert getting wiped out by voters who want serious leadership in the state, according to Wadhams, a Kirkmeyer supporter.
“This governor’s race is going to help answer the question, ‘Is this party serious or not?’ ” Wadhams said ahead of the primary.
Staff writers Elliott Wenzler and John Aguilar contributed to this story.
