The new map, proposed by Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, would give Democrats an advantage in seven of Colorado’s eight congressional seats — but not until 2028 at the earliest, unlike in several other states to benefit Republicans or Democrats in this year’s election. Colorado’s eight seats currently are evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, with the GOP winning the only true swing district in 2024.

Curtis Hubbard, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement that the proposal seeks to push back against redistricting proposals in Republican states that have been championed by President Donald Trump.

“No one wanted to have to take this action — independent redistricting is the ideal,” Hubbard said. “But with Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans actively working to rig congressional elections, resulting in the potential gain of up to 27 seats in Congress, Colorado must join other states in countering this unprecedented power grab.”

Colorado voters approved a pair of bipartisan amendments to the state constitution in 2018 that tasked independent redistricting commissions with drawing its congressional and state legislative maps. The congressional map that took effect in 2022 has resulted in one extremely competitive seat, the 8th Congressional District; four with a Democratic advantage; and three that lean Republican.

The state is now represented by a 4-4 split of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, even as the state had trended distinctly blue in recent statewide elections.

The new proposals, which were filed for on Wednesday, would pause the independent redistricting map for the 2028 and 2030 elections. The independent commission would draw a new map following the 2030 census to be used for the 2032 election.

The move was criticized by the campaign of U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, the Republican who won the 8th District race in 2024, unseating a Democratic incumbent.

“For years, Colorado Democrats lectured everyone about the sanctity of the independent redistricting commission and claimed it was the gold standard for fairness,” spokeswoman Alexandria Cullen said. “Now that Coloradans have elected four Republicans to Congress, they want to change the rules. This isn’t about fairness — it����ap a partisan power grab to protect their failing extreme agenda from the will of Colorado voters.”

Coloradans for a Level Playing Field filed several proposed ballot measures, a common tactic by advocacy groups to ensure the title board approves one or more.

The proposed map would have seven of Colorado’s eight congressional districts reach into Denver, Boulder or their suburbs and outlying areas — all places with strong Democratic leans. It would leave Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, covering the state’s Eastern Plains but ceding some of Douglas County.

Hubbard said his group hopes for an initial hearing by the state’s title board in March and for final approval in April. Backers would then have until Aug. 3 to gather to land the measure on the November ballot.

The independent redistricting commission was created via a voter-approved constitutional amendment. Hubbard’s group filed initiatives for both statutory and constitutional changes in case officials allow for the first option, which is easier to petition onto the ballot.

It would need about 125,000 signatures for a statutory change. For a constitutional change it would need that same number of signatures but with a geographic representation requirement, including support from at least 2% of all voters from each of Colorado’s 35 state Senate districts.

A statutory change would need majority support from voters in November to become law, while a constitutional change would require at least 55% support.

Hubbard declined to name the group’s financial supporters ahead of a May filing deadline with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

“We believe we have the support and resources to get this passed in November,” Hubbard said in an interview.

‘We will challenge these,’ conservative group says

Michael Fields, the president of the conservative advocacy group Advance Colorado, promised to fight the measures.

The independent redistricting measures from 2018 had each declared that “political gerrymandering … must end,” and each was approved by more than 70% of voters, he said.

“After reviewing these hyper-partisan ballot measure proposals, we believe that they clearly violate the single-subject provision of our state constitution,” Fields said in a statement. “We will challenge these at Title Board — and up to the Colorado Supreme Court, if necessary.”

Nationally, Republicans kicked off the redistricting war last year in response to the potential of losing seats in the 2026 midterm election, and Democrats responded with their own plans.

Redistricting plans in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio, with another proposal proposed in Florida.��Texas lawmakers have already approved a new map that could net Republicans five additional seats in November. Republican officials in Missouri and North Carolina have also approved new maps to benefit the GOP in upcoming elections.

In Democratic states, voters in California last fall approved a new map that could net Democrats five more seats. Voters in Virginia will decide in April on letting its lawmakers redraw maps to benefit Democrats ahead of the November midterms.

Court rulings or legislative efforts also could affect congressional districts in New York, Maryland and Utah.

In all, those proposals and efforts may largely counteract each other when it comes to the congressional balance of power, according to The New York Times. by the news organization found that, taken together, the new maps could give Democrats a net advantage of two seats or Republicans a three-seat advantage, depending on how specific scenarios play out.

Hubbard also noted from the U.S. Supreme Court that could undo key provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which bans racial discrimination in voting. Such a ruling could open up further .

“We can sit back and do nothing, or we can take action to approve temporary maps that will help keep our elections on a level playing field,” Hubbard said of his group’s proposal.

Separately, Trump has also called for Republicans to “” voting as he continues to push disproven theories of widespread voter fraud.

Reaction to Colorado proposal

The new Colorado proposal has drawn reactions that fall along partisan lines, including from the state’s members of Congress and candidates in various races this year.

“We cannot sit idly by as a target of Trump’s retribution and depravity,” U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat who represents the 7th Congressional District, said in a statement that signaled support for the temporary map. “We must use every chance we have to stand up and fight back and ensure Colorado voters have a choice.”

Zach Kraft, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, called the proposal “gerrymandering at its worst and a blatant power grab by a sketchy, dark-money Democrat organization that refuses to disclose who its donors are.”

Besides Evans, the Republican lawmakers who would be most affected by the new map proposal — U.S. Reps. Jeff Hurd and Jeff Crank — did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday. The Colorado Democratic Party did not provide comment.

Sara Loflin from the left-leaning group ProgressNow Colorado praised the effort. Her group supported Amendment Y, which created the state’s independent congressional redistricting process, because “that was at a time when we all believed that the country was coming out of this Donald Trump, authoritarian” moment.

But she said the redistricting fight nationally, urged on by Trump, called for changes.

“We’re happy about it because Donald Trump forced our hand,” she said. She added that she thought the proposal in Colorado was more democratic than Texas’s redistricting plan, since Colorado voters would get a chance to accept it instead of the change coming through a legislative approach.

Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, avoided taking a position on the redistricting effort through a spokeswoman, who said he’d review any ballot measures closer to the election.

Monserud worked at The Post for 22 years until his retirement in June 2023, including 17 as sports editor. He passed away, his family said, after a nine-year battle with prostate cancer.

“Scott rose to become editor of one of the best sports departments and sports sections in the country. But as I try to absorb this loss, that’s not what I’m remembering,” Post editor Lee Ann Colacioppo said.

“I think of how his appearance at my office door made me smile. I think about how, as sick as he was these last few months, he never failed to check in on me and my family and ask how we were doing.”

Under Monserud, The Post’s sports section was considered among the best in a changing industry, annually recognized for everything from breaking news to award-winning projects and column writing.

The Post received “Triple Crown” honors — Top 10 in Daily sections, Sunday sections and special sections — from the Associated Press Sports Editors annual contests three times during his tenure (2010, 2011 and 2014). From 2001-2023, APSE recognized The Post’s Sunday section as one of the Top 10 among the contest’s largest newspapers 12 different times. The Post was judged to be one of the Top 10 Daily sections five different times and to have produced among the Top 10 special sections another five times.

Greg Moore, The Post’s editor from 2002-16, described Monserud as “a really dedicated, hard worker” who was “about elevating sports coverage to an art and elevating it to a level of respect that the news side got.

“He was really, really into that, (about) demonstrating that it’s not just about covering the game and the scores. He loved and lived for the breaking news.”

A native of Monona, Iowa, and graduate of Iowa State, Monserud’s two decades-plus at The Post capped a career of 44 years in journalism.

Current Post sports editor Matt Schubert, who worked as a deputy under Monserud for four years, said what he’ll remember most about his former boss is how much he cared about the lives and work of those around him.

“Scott’s impact on sports journalism transcended the awards and recognition he received from his peers,” Schubert said. “He was a mentor and confidant for so many journalists who came into his orbit. He listened. He was empathetic. He built careers. For me and so many others who worked with him, he served as a role model for how to do the job well.”

Monserud’s Denver tenure coincided with one of the most fruitful periods in Front Range sports history, as he helped spearhead The Post’s coverage of two Broncos Super Bowls, including a victory at Super Bowl 50 in February 2016; the first-ever NBA championship for the Nuggets (2023); the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup win in 2022; and the first-ever back-to-back playoff berths for the Rockies (2017, ’18).

“He (was) a consummate sports journalist,” said Colorado Public Radio executive editor Kevin Dale, the former Post No. 2 editor who worked with Monserud at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and eventually hired him at The Post. “He might be the best story editor I’ve ever seen. He just had a knack for working with reporters and getting the very best out of them without taking their voice away.”

Monserud was renowned by peers for his writing, editing, leadership, listening and team-building skills, while always keeping a proverbial ear to the ground for the��questions and topics on the minds of Denver fans. As sports editor, he hired and mentored dozens of award-winning journalists.

“Scott was a quiet man, a man of few words, but he saw so much and was so insightful. I can’t tell you how many��stories of mine he molded and tweaked and made better,” longtime Post sports writer Patrick Saunders said. “He was a tough boss, too. He was demanding, but nobody worked harder than Scott. And he was a good friend — very kind and with a terrific sense of humor. Man, I’m going to miss him.”

“Scott provided a steady hand for The Post sports department as we weathered the ups and downs of the newspaper industry,” Post deputy sports editor Lori Punko said. “He always inspired his staff to do more even as we saw our resources diminish. I always appreciated the freedom��he allowed me personally to be creative and do my job well. His leadership, friendship and sense of humor will be missed.”

Monserud’s award-winning sections were marked by stories and heartfelt narratives across the Front Range, from the preps to the pros. Although his own personal triumphs would prove to be just as compelling, especially over the last decade.

In August 2015, Monserud was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic prostate cancer, one that doctors told him had spread to his skeletal system and lymph nodes. He prepared to fight.

“The pity party was over,” Monserud wrote in a series detailing his journey that was published by The Post in 2017. “In sports parlance, it was game on.”

Monserud’s cancer fight galvanized readers and friends alike, recalled former Post editorial page editor Curtis Hubbard, who was diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer in 2019.

“Scott was a real inspiration because he showed (that) the fight is not just our fight — it’s the fight of many thousands of other men,” Hubbard said. “He was always more interested in hearing about how other people were doing as opposed to focusing on his own battle.

“We had lunch probably a year ago and he’d sort of run out of tools in the toolbox. And you would think that, in that moment, there would be anger and disappointment. But with Scott, there was a persistence and still the attitude that he was going to give it everything he had.”

Moore, Dale and Monserud remained good friends for the rest of the latter’s life. The three golfed together regularly (Monserud’s constant adjustments over the ball were a frequent topic of brotherly needling). Monserud and Moore shared an eclectic passion for books and films, while Dale, a Packers fan, relished the moments whenever Green Bay faced off against Monserud’s beloved Vikings.

“He was one of those people blessed with smiling eyes and they helped take the edge off every difficult situation we encountered during our years working together,” Colacioppo said. “He leaves a legacy of an unyielding desire for excellence and a reminder that it needn’t come at the expense of being a compassionate and thoughtful colleague.”

Monserud is survived by his wife, Dorothea Ellerby and daughter, Alison; siblings Gary, Vicki (Welch), Bruce, Clay and Patti (Jackson), and multiple nieces and nephews. A living memorial service was held on Sept. 29.

Bruised for weeks by revelations of unethical behavior, racial gaffes and unforced tactical errors, the former governor and longtime front-runner in the U.S. Senate race has sought help from the same Democratic establishment that coaxed him into the contest last August, despite his own .

“Judging by the actions of the candidates, it����ap actually looking like a somewhat more competitive race than I would have expected,” said Seth Masket, a professor of political science at the University of Denver. “Hickenlooper is spending like crazy and a lot of people are rushing in to defend him, seemingly out of some concern there’s a chance that (Andrew) Romanoff could win this thing.”

Colorado’s top Democrats, including the governor and attorney general, criticized Hickenlooper’s Democratic opponent��Friday. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker Hickenlooper over the weekend.

Meanwhile, his allies here in Colorado and in Washington, D.C., have taken to the airwaves to defend his ethics violations and attack Romanoff, the other Democrat in the race. Millions of dollars have been spent on TV and digital ads.

“We could not sit idly by as the Romanoff campaign continued to attack John Hickenlooper, and Cory Gardner and national Republican groups jumped into the middle of this primary — running millions of dollars in negative ads aimed at taking down Hickenlooper,” said Mannie Rodriguez, treasurer of Let����ap Turn Colorado Blue, a super PAC that surfaced last week and almost immediately revealed it was spending more than $1 million to broadcast .

The group’s spokesman, Curtis Hubbard, is a longtime Hickenlooper supporter. Rodriguez says Let����ap Turn Colorado Blue is “made up of people who know that our best shot at defeating Cory Gardner is with John Hickenlooper.” Who, exactly, those people are is unknown and will not be known until after the primary, when the super PAC must disclose its donors.

Over the weekend, the Romanoff campaign told supporters that attack ads aired by Hickenlooper’s allies are proof Romanoff is “pulling ahead.” No public polling of the two-man race has been conducted but Romanoff’s internal polling, conducted last week, showed Hickenlooper was still in the lead. In an interview Monday, Romanoff said he has strong momentum and believes his opponent is desperate.

“He told us he’d be a terrible senator, I just didn’t realize he’d try so hard to prove it,” he said. “I think when you break the law, when you defy a subpoena, when you get held in contempt, when you compare yourself to slaves, when you tell us George Floyd was shot, when you don’t understand what Black Lives Matter means, and when you demonize progressives in your own party … you make it harder to win.”

Last week, Romanoff was endorsed by Colorado’s largest private-sector union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, and Crisanta Duran, a former speaker of the Colorado House, among others.

Hickenlooper’s luckless June has jeopardized what was once believed to be a cakewalk to the Democratic nomination for a popular former governor. It also calls into question Hickenlooper’s best argument for why Democrats should choose him — that he’s the safe bet to beat Republican Sen. Cory Gardner��of Yuma. Romanoff says Hickenlooper now has baggage that makes him a liability.

Colorado Republicans watched Hickenlooper stumble through the first half of June and nodded in vindication. They acknowledge that polling shows Hickenlooper, if he is the Democratic nominee, would begin the general election contest with a significant lead over Gardner. But they’ve believed for months that the gap will narrow greatly by November as Hickenlooper’s flaws are showcased.

“I don’t think any of the Democrats expected to see Hickenlooper get this deeply in trouble, but Republicans saw it all along,” said Kristi Burton Brown, vice chair of the Colorado Republican Party. “We know he can’t compete with the big boys.”

Republicans have stepped off the sidelines and inserted themselves into the Democratic primary after seeing an opportunity to beat Hickenlooper now. Both the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Gardner campaign have aired anti-Hickenlooper ads while Democrats have considered their candidates.

“Republicans are so anxious to run against Andrew and not John,” said Alan Salazar, a longtime Democratic strategist and current chief of staff to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. He supports Hickenlooper but says he’s friends with both.

For all the gaffes, missteps and flubs that Hickenlooper has committed this month, he still has massive institutional advantages, including a powerhouse fundraising operation, unmatched name recognition and the deep pockets of Democratic groups that are willing to part with millions of dollars to help him.

The Hickenlooper campaign also points to more than a dozen recent endorsements from public officials who previously backed Romanoff. This is proof of Hickenlooper’s own momentum and growing support, his campaign says.

Kyle Saunders, a professor of political science at Colorado State University, agrees that the nomination is still Hickenlooper’s to lose.

“Even with this bad June, it left a mark on Hickenlooper but I’m not sure that it takes him down,” Saunders says. “It’s ethics violations; it’s a few flubs. Those sorts of things can detract from a candidate’s campaign, absolutely, but I don’t think these have risen to the scale needed to take him down.”

“I’ve always said Washington was a lousy place for a guy like me who wants to get things done – but this is no time to walk away from the table,” the former governor of Colorado . “… I’m not done fighting for the people of Colorado.”

In the video, filmed at the Denver brewpub he founded, Hickenlooper echoes his presidential pitch to voters, which focused on ending the conflict in Washington. And he promises to work on fighting climate change, prescription drug prices and economic inequity.

“We ought to be working together to move this country forward and stop the political nonsense,” he says.

His entry is certain to upend the nascent Democratic Senate primary, which already includes 11 candidates. Early polls have shown Hickenlooper outpacing Gardner in a hypothetical matchup. However, he is not expected to clear the Democratic field. Several Senate candidates pledged to stay in last week after Hickenlooper dropped out of the presidential race.

Partisan control of the U.S. Senate hangs on a handful of key races, including Colorado’s. Gardner is considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republicans up for re-election in 2020, and national Democrats, who want to leave nothing to chance, leaned heavily on Hickenlooper to run against him.

By entering the Senate primary, Hickenlooper fulfills their wishes. However, his candidacy could dash the dreams of Colorado progressives who had hoped the seat would be filled by a woman or person of color — adding diversity to Colorado’s Washington delegation.

Hickenlooper’s decision also reverses months of public statements bluntly rejecting the idea of a Senate run. In February, he said, “I’m not cut out to be a senator.” In May, he said he would “be a difficult candidate” for Senate.

Republicans have been preemptively criticizing Hickenlooper since he abandoned his White House bid.

“John Hickenlooper is desperate to redeem himself after flopping on the national stage, but we think he said it best just a few months ago: he is ‘not cut out’ for the Senate,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Joanna Rodriguez said Wednesday. “This crowded Senate field has been in a race to the left, and Hickenlooper’s quixotic presidential bid did not do him any favors in proving he can compete in any race in 2020.”

Curtis Hubbard, a Democratic strategist who publicly lobbied Hickenlooper to enter the race, said the candidate will be able to walk back those comments with ease.

“When you’re running for one office, it����ap tough to answer that you would be interested in another office. And in this instance, it����ap clear from the public outpouring for him to enter the race and from his accomplishments in Colorado that the Senate campaign is the right place for John Hickenlooper,” Hubbard said. “He’s always been one to look at the facts and then make a decision. Having looked at the facts, it would not surprise me that he understands the right decision is to enter the race and make Cory Gardner a one-term senator.”

The former governor’s entry makes an even dozen candidates in the Democratic race for the Senate. He is sure to reorder the top tier, which has been led by former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and former state Sen. Mike Johnston in early polling. Johnston has also led the race in fundraising, bringing in more last quarter than Hickenlooper’s presidential campaign.

Candidates in the race’s lower tier, made up primarily of progressives, are sure to criticize Hickenlooper’s moderate stances. Many have expressed frustration at efforts to recruit the centrist white male rather than support a progressive woman. Colorado has never elected a woman to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Gardner’s campaign on Wednesday aimed to lump Hickenlooper with the rest of the Democratic field.

“To us Governor Hickenlooper is just another liberal in the clown car,” Casey Contres, Gardner’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “Whoever their party nominates will be wildly out of step with Colorado and we look forward to facing them in the general election.”

“You are not doing yourself, or Coloradans, any favors by staying in this race any longer,” Katina Harrison to a photo Hickenlooper posted on Twitter announcing he had landed in New Hampshire, home of the nation’s first Democratic primary. “Please do what you should have done from the jump & run for Senate.”

https://twitter.com/khoyleharrison/status/1151120307853201410

National political observers believe Democrats have one of their best chances to regain partisan control of the Senate in 2020. All eyes are on Colorado — a swing state where unaffiliated voters have aligned in recent elections more with the political left — as one of a handful of states that will determine whether Republicans keep their edge in the upper legislative chamber.

While there is no shortage of Democrats running for the Senate nomination here, party leaders, consultants and rank-and-file voters alike are whispering out loud their concerns that there isn’t yet a candidate who can match Republican incumbent Cory Gardner’s name recognition, fundraising prowess and charisma on the campaign trail.

Hickenlooper could change that if he shifted his attention closer to home, local and national political experts said.

“I want Cory Gardner gone,” Harrison, a Ken Caryl Democrat said Wednesday in an interview with The Denver Post. “And I think Governor Hickenlooper has the name recognition to get that done.”

Rejecting the calls

Right now, Colorado’s popular former two-term governor is one of two dozen Democrats running for the party’s presidential nomination. Since he launched his campaign in March, the former brewpub owner has failed to capture the imagination of his party’s national base.

Earlier this month, several members of Hickenlooper’s top staff left after they suggested a Senate run. News of a dismal fundraising quarter followed. And while the businessman hopes to reboot his campaign and launch a comeback focused on early nominating states, his trajectory to the White House is uncertain more than ever.

Hickenlooper repeatedly has quelled the calls — — for him to run for Senate. His answer to the question has evolved from a waffling “maybe” to a decidedly “no thanks.” More evidence that he’s not interested in a run surfaced this week: His wife, Robin Hickenlooper, donated to a different candidate who’s already in the race.

Hickenlooper is one of several high-profile Democrats who has rejected the idea of running for Senate. Included in that club are fellow presidential primary contenders Beto O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman, and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost her Georgia gubernatorial bid, also has decided not to run for Senate.

However, political observers suggest Hickenlooper could still get in the race if he had a change of heart. The former Denver mayor, who expressed interest in a Senate appointment just a decade ago, wouldn’t be the first politician to jump from one race to another.

“One of the things his campaign has demonstrated is that he’s not going to move into the top tier of presidential candidates,” said Democratic consultant Curtis Hubbard. “But he still has a lot to offer. One of the best things John can do for his party, Colorado, the country is to take on one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country and make sure Cory Gardner is a one-term senator.”

Even as the requests for Hickenlooper to get into the race persist, there would no anointment. Hickenlooper would have to fight for the nomination. Just as his political positions and governing style make him an ideal candidate for a general election, the state’s base in charge of selecting a nominee may look to someone more progressive.

“Anybody who has been watching Colorado elections for the past few years can see Democrats have moved further to the left,” said Michal Rosenoer, executive director of Emerge Colorado, a nonprofit that trains Democratic women to run for office. “Progressive Democrats are the ones who are winning both locally and statewide. Any Democrat who thinks winning a statewide election by running to the middle doesn’t understand the game they’re playing in anymore.”

A crowded field

At the moment, 10 Democrats are running for the Senate nomination. Leading the pack are former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, former state senator and gubernatorial candidate Mike Johnston and former Obama ambassador Dan Baer.

Romanoff has embraced at least two major progressive policies du jour: Medicare for all, which would create government-run health care, and the so-called Green New Deal. While Johnston ran a fairly progressive campaign for governor, he’s yet to strike too far to the left during this campaign. And Baer has yet to take any substantial policy positions.

Each has put up impressive early fundraising numbers and collected a battery of endorsements, but none of the three has won statewide office before. In fact, Romanoff lost his primary challenge to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in 2010. And Johnston came in third in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

It����ap true that Gardner is vulnerable — a recent survey found only 40% of Coloradans have a favorable opinion of the junior senator. But longtime political observers have warned not to dismiss the Yuma Republican. Given the outcome of Colorado’s Senate contest will play a critical role in deciding partisan control of the upper chamber, Gardner is expected to have nearly unlimited financial resources.

That����ap one more reason Democratic loyalists want the most formidable candidate.

“Hickenlooper is their strongest potential candidate for a general election,” said David Flaherty, a Colorado Republican pollster. “He’s run and won before. People know his style. His brand is helping all Coloradans and not running negative.”

If he were to advance out of a primary, there’s one more problem. Hickenlooper repeatedly said he didn’t want the job and at one point even , “I’m not cut out to be a senator.”

“You don’t have to give hostage to history,” Jillson said, adding that Hickenlooper could do more damage to his brand if he hangs on too much longer. “Part of being a political leader is understanding the flow of events. You do have a history and reputation. Don’t ruin that.”

Terry Sullivan, who ran Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, rejected the premise that Hickenlooper’s situation is akin to Rubio’s, pointing out that Rubio dropped out of the race well after most states had voted during the primary.

Sullivan added it was a fool’s errand to convince a politician to run for an office they aren’t interested in.

“Hickenlooper should run for the office he wants to serve, not the office people on Twitter are pushing him to,” he said.

Nearly six months into the Democratic governor’s term, 55% of respondents said Colorado was headed in the right direction, versus 37% who said the state was off track, according to a poll released Wednesday. Polis himself was viewed favorably by 50% and unfavorably by 35% — a net favorability rating of 15 percentage points — in the Colorado Poll, conducted by a Democratic consortium that includes Telluride-based polling firm Keating Research.

But Gardner, a Republican who faces a phalanx of potential Democratic rivals, was viewed favorably by 40% and unfavorably by 39% in the poll. That’s similar to how he has fared in the Colorado Poll since President Donald Trump took office.

Gardner’s razor-thin favorability margin points to the difficult position he’s in, stuck between unaffiliated voters who disdain Trump and a GOP base that wants Gardner to toe the Trump line. In the new poll, Trump’s favorability rating was slightly higher than Gardner’s, at 42%, though 56% said they viewed the president unfavorably.

“The main reason Gardner fares more poorly than Trump is that only (63%) of Republicans hold a favorable view of him, compared to Trump’s 90% favorability among those same Republicans,” says a memo by pollster Chris Keating, Onsight Public Affairs’ Curtis Hubbard and campaign strategist Jake Martin.

A silver lining for Gardner: 22 percent of respondents offered no view or were unfamiliar with him, offering more opportunity to make an impression.

The poll was conducted June 24 to 27 and surveyed 500 Colorado voters who participated in the 2016 or 2018 general elections. Questions were asked by live interviewers over the phone, and the margin of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

The sample — 32% Democrats, 31% Republicans and 37% unaffiliated or registered with another party — largely reflected Colorado voter registration statistics, though unaffiliated voters were slightly undersampled.

While the results offer positive indications for Polis, they underline the deep political rift between the populous metro Denver region and much of the rest of the state. In the Colorado Springs area, just 30% viewed Polis favorably.

And overall, participants with negative views of Polis were more likely to be hardened in their assessments, choosing “very unfavorable” over “somewhat unfavorable” by more than 3 to 1.

That intensity points to why conservative activists who consider Polis to be engaging in liberal overreach have signaled their intention to mount a recall effort.��But the poll appears to back up the potential recall, at least this early, would be out of step with the views of a majority of voters.

Document: Keating-Onsight-Martin Colorado Poll

But he faces big challenges in his bid for a third term, political analysts and even supporters say, as he takes on first-time candidate Jamie Giellis in the June 4 runoff. Giellis, a community development consultant, finished second in the six-person field, garnering 25 percent to Hancock’s nearly 39 percent.

“Obviously, you want to close it out and be on the beach next week,” Hancock said after his speech. “But the reality is, we’re ready for 28 days of making the clear case for keeping Denver’s progress moving forward.”

He has just over three weeks left.

His campaign is retooling and staffing up for a two-way fight that his advisers hope will paint clearer contrasts, and they hope to take advantage of the increased voter attention the runoff is likely to bring.

“We look forward to having a sharper, much more focused conversation around policy, the future and what sets Mayor Hancock apart,” spokeswoman April Valdez Villa said.

What the map says

As the incumbent, Hancock has a natural base of support in the business community. He also led in parts of the city with high proportions of African American and Latino voters, including west and northwest neighborhoods. He performed strongest, clearing 50 percent, in the northeast neighborhoods that are his home base.

Giellis’ support was most evident in swaths of central, south and east Denver, eroding Hancock’s votes in middle class and affluent areas. He finished second in most of those areas, as well as the relative handful of precincts led by activist Lisa Calderón and former state Sen. Penfield Tate.

Hancock may have a tough time winning over his other opponents’ supporters, given that all three major opponents made issues of growth and overdevelopment an issue.

“You had about 62 percent of voters indicate a desire for somebody else — or at least a distinct openness to someone else,” political analyst Eric Sondermann said. That “may be the tougher challenge” compared to the one Giellis faces winning over more voters, he said.

Hancock acknowledged this Tuesday, telling reporters he hopes to draw in voters who sat out the first round. He sees particular opportunity in appealing to newcomers who may be politically unplugged but are enjoying Denver’s economic success.

“We’ve got to make sure that over the next 28 days, we get them to tune in,” Hancock said.

Honing his runoff message

Hancock still needs to defend his record, but Sondermann predicts he’ll also target the less-well-known Giellis fiercely, now that voters face a binary choice.

“In many respects, I assume they will make the effort to define Jamie Giellis before she has the opportunity, or the money, to define herself,” Sondermann said.

That effort has already begun, with Hancock previewing a message Tuesday that portrays voters’ choice as between continuing the city’s progress and rolling it back by placing control of city government in less experienced hands.

What’s likely is that Hancock will have plenty of resources to reach voters. This is his strength, with a political fundraising network of developers, lobbyists, city contractors and other supporters that goes back 16 years, to his first City Council election.

Expect his campaign, which had $139,000 on hand on May 1, to raise money quickly. He offers the business community, in particular, predictability in exchange for their support. But donors who have maxed out at the $3,000 limit already can’t give more.

The final stretch

Hancock’s failure to clear 40 percent in the first round surprised many observers, along with some supporters who expected him to perform better — even if he faced a runoff.

C.L. Harmer, a retired campaign and communications consultant who had backed Tate, now is supporting Hancock. She said a big hurdle Hancock must clear is the need to flesh out his vision for Denver’s future and detail how he’ll deliver it. In that way, she has found his campaign message lacking.

“He’s underscored (the city’s) challenges, he’s underscored his accomplishments — now he has to articulate a vision that people can be confident in,” Harmer said.

Curtis Hubbard, a Denver political consultant who has donated to Hancock, echoed Hancock’s comment about reaching beyond those who voted Tuesday. “For him, it����ap important that they try to identify the roughly 200,000-plus voters who didn’t participate and see what kind of turnout they can muster there,” Hubbard said.

That could prove his biggest challenge, Sondermann said:��“Hancock’s imperative is to somehow indicate that he heard the message, and to somehow — not easily — make the case for continuity in what looks to be a change year.”

In Denver’s recent history, former Mayors Wellington Webb, in 1995, and Federico Peña, in 1987, won second terms after being forced into runoffs by fierce challenges. In fact, both finished second in the first round.

But both prevailed in runoffs that enlarged the electorate from the respective general elections — growing participation by 12 percent in Peña’s runoff and by 19 percent in Webb’s.

Sondermann said voters’ evident frustrations may be tough for Hancock to overcome.

But Hubbard and Harmer are more optimistic. Harmer sees the one-on-one race as having the potential to crystallize, in a way the first round didn’t, what she sees as a compelling reason for keeping Hancock.

“I think there’s a risk with a new administration,” she said. “There’s such a learning curve in putting together the right cabinet and appointees. There’s so much more to running the city than community development and planning,” where Giellis has focused much of her criticism. “There’s safety and there’s human services. It����ap very complicated, and it����ap very immediate, and you’re drinking water from a firehose.”

So far, just one Democratic lawmaker, first-term state Rep. Rochelle Galindo of Greeley, faces a serious recall effort. More than $102,000 has been raised — most from a single donor — to end Galindo’s legislative career. However, conservatives have suggested there could be several more — including a campaign to boot Gov. Jared Polis out of office.

Organizers this week established Democracy First Colorado with the Secretary of State’s Office. It’s a new committee that will work to protect targeted state lawmakers by raising money, developing messaging and engaging with voters.

Two important hires have already been made: John Salsbury of Mountaintop Strategies has been tapped as campaign manager, while Curtis Hubbard of OnSight will be running communications.

“Democracy First Colorado is prepared to defend our elections and Democrats in the General Assembly who face sham recalls like the one special interests are trying to foist on voters in” Greeley, Hubbard told The Denver Post.

Salsbury and Mountaintop were part of Democrats’ successful effort to retake the state Senate last year by working for the Coloradans for Fairness independent committee.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Democratic Party is building up its own apparatus. The branches of the party responsible for getting Democrats elected to the statehouse — The House Majority Project and the Democratic Senate Campaign Fund — have created a joint committee, Our Colorado Way of Life.

The project’s Matt McGovern and the fund’s Michael Whitehorn, along with a new field director will run the committee.

The state Democratic Party said it will work to direct voters and supporters to the committees.

“I find (the recalls) a very cynical move that is just a power grab to redo the election we just had,” said Morgan Carroll, the party’s chairwoman. “It����ap offensive and ridiculous.”

What����ap more, the political nonprofits that played a large role in voter turnout during the 2018 election are discussing how they can be helpful.

Nicole Melaku, the executive director of CIRC Action Fund, which fights for immigrant rights, said her organization and others will be there for the targeted lawmakers.

“We have to put our boots on the ground to back up and support legislators who have been there for us,” she said. “I think everyone in their capacity is trying to understand what resources they have on hand that will be helpful.”

Welcome to The Spot, The Denver Post����ap weekly political newsletter. I’m Nic Garcia, a Post political reporter. Keep the conversation going by joining our ! Forward this newsletter to your colleagues and encourage them to . And please support the journalism that matters to you and become a Denver Post subscriber . Send tips, comments and questions to ngarcia@denverpost.com.

Countdown

15 days until the legislature adjourns; 19 days until Denver votes; 291 days until the Iowa caucuses

Your political digest

• Online Denver election guide includes candidate Q&As and much more voter information. Denver Post
• New Colorado bill would end higher summer electricity rates. Denver Post
• Colorado bill making vaccination exemptions harder gets OK in committee. Denver Post
• Colorado legislature moves closer to creating a public health insurance option. Denver Post
• Sol Pais manhunt prompts politicians to trade accusations over guns and schools. Denver Post
• The clock is ticking for lawmakers to act on harassment policy.
• Colorado could be the next state to let its employees collectively bargain.
• U.S. Senate race in Colorado off to an expensive and out-of-state start. Denver Post
• Republicans are rejecting Democratic attempts to tighten vaccine laws across the country.
• U.S. measles outbreaks are the “new normal.”
• Abraham Lincoln, Joe Biden and the politics of touch.

Capitol diary

Bills on the move: Mental health edition

The Colorado House approved two pieces of legislation this week that supporters say will increase access to mental health services for high-risk families and other Coloradans.

, sponsored by state Reps. Lisa Cutter and Tom Sullivan, updates behavioral health insurance coverage laws to align with federal law and close loopholes to increase access to mental health services for Coloradans, according to a release by House Democrats. The bill strengthens prevention and aims to shifts the current system from late-stage treatment to early prevention, among other changes.

which unanimously passed, would provide behavioral health support for high-risk families by expanding existing programs that provide pregnant and parenting women access to substance use disorder treatment. This bill creates a child care pilot program for parenting women engaged in substance use disorder treatment.

“We need to stop criminalizing people who are just trying to get help,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Leslie Herod. “This bill will give families the support they need to break their addictions, get healthy and get back on the right track.”

The rules at the statehouse are about to change

As we approach the final two weeks of the General Assembly’s regular session, things are going to move really quickly. In an effort to help speed up the process, Democrats are expected to suspend the rules around committee hearings.

It����ap not clear what that means this year, but when Republicans controlled the Senate they funneled all remaining bills through just three committees, including State Affairs and Appropriations.

What����ap more, committee meetings could happen on a chamber’s floor with little notice and without any public testimony.

Both chambers acknowledged this week that they expect to change the rules, but discussions about the specifics are ongoing.

Tweet of the week

There’s no doubt that one of the most fun trends of the season has been the proliferation of dogs at the Capitol. But it appears there’s a new head dog in charge, per .

Mile High Politics

Here’s who is spending what in the mayor’s race

If you got all your news from television ads, you might think there’s one candidate in Denver.

Mayor Michael Hancock is the only one of 52 local candidates to buy television ads in the runup to the May 7 election, according to FCC filings. One of his competitors, Penfield Tate, started the campaign with a TV ad last fall but hasn’t been on the airwaves since.

It highlights the stark fundraising differences in the race. Hancock has raised $1.75 million since his re-election in 2015. That����ap twice as much as all of his competitors combined. Jamie Giellis reported $440,000 in fundraising at the end of March, followed by Penfield Tate with $241,000 and Lisa Calderón with $87,000.

The challengers have focused their advertising on mailers and print and, for at least Giellis, robocalls.

“So sorry I missed speaking to you, but I hope you’ve seen my yard signs, my bus-tour postcards, my videos, and my brochures and letters which we’ve been mailing out,” she said, promising to end “runaway development.” Calderón also has a robocall in the field.

On the initiatives side, there’s only one issues group with an ad: Together Denver, which is trying to keep the city’s urban camping ban in place. — Andy Kenney

Denveright plans set for a Monday vote

Urban planning is less than exciting for most people. (Not for me, but let����ap be honest.)

However, with the Denver election looming in May, the city’s sprawling 20-year-plans have become one of the hottest political issues. The Denver City Council is set to hold a public hearing and vote on two major elements of the Denveright plan — the long-term guiding policies that the administration has proposed for the city — on Monday.

Predictably, it has become a whole thing. Multiple mayoral and council challengers are calling for a delay, saying that the decisions should wait for the city’s next leaders. There’s no sign of that happening.

The plans don’t set anything in stone, but their hundreds of pages set some broad visions for the city. Top priorities include transit construction along major boulevards and stimulating the construction of “missing middle” housing. — Andy Kenney

The Stump

The #COSen week that was

It has been a wild seven or eight days in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race. Dan Baer,��John Walsh and Ellen Burnes joined, first-quarter fundraising numbers were released, Sen. Cory Gardner hosted a controversial fundraiser. What does it all mean? Let����ap break it down:

Baer and Walsh remind Democrats of the Obama days. They were both Obama appointees — for a diplomatic post and U.S. attorney, respectively — and are already touting the support of former Obama folks. Their party has moved to the left of President Obama in some ways, but you can still expect those institutional ties to the former president will help.

Among those who were in the race before this week, Mike Johnston made clear he’s a top contender. His $1.8 million fundraising haul nearly matched Gardner’s $2 million. There will always be criticisms of Johnston’s out-of-state money, but money from anywhere is helpful.

There’s still plenty of speculation in Democratic circles about Rep. Joe Neguse’s interest in the Senate race. He’s seen by many as a rising star who would mount a strong challenge to Gardner and become the youngest senator. But it would be a gamble, of course, to give up a safe congressional seat so soon.

For what it����ap worth, I asked Neguse late last week whether he’s considering a Senate run. His answer: “You know, uh – I decline to comment. [Laughs] I will say, I’m focused on my work and doing the three town halls we have coming up here in the next two weeks and, yeah, continuing to do what we can at the federal level to solve some of these really big challenges. So, yeah.” — Justin Wingerter

Colorado Dems staff up to take on Gardner

Colorado’s Democratic Party isn’t waiting for the selection of its own U.S. Senate nominee to begin challenging the incumbent. The party announced Wednesday it has brought on a new team member “to hold Senator Cory Gardner accountable going into 2020.”

Alyssa Roberts, a Colorado native and former aide to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, has been hired as a communication adviser and will lead the party’s rapid response team.

“Sen. Gardner said he would shake things up in Washington, but he’s proven to be nothing more than another partisan lackey for Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell,” Roberts said in a statement. “From voting to take away our access to health care to refusing to fight for our public lands, Coloradans can’t trust Cory Gardner to stand up for our communities. Control of the U.S. Senate runs through Colorado, and I’m eager to get to work.”

Reading between the lines: Democrats plan to tie Gardner to President Trump every chance they get.

The bike race and music festival is centered around the four-day , which splits its time between Vail and Denver. The festival itself takes place in the east parking lot outside Denver’s Coors Field, Aug. 17-19.

“We learned a lot last year and are really excited about the energy we’re going to be bringing to RiNo,”��said Curtis Hubbard, spokesman for Velorama.

Velorama was criticized in 2017 for issues , including slow-moving lines, beer shortages, non-working WiFi and an overall confusing layout.

Hubbard said the problems were mostly relegated to night one and that Velorama organizers moved quickly to address them for the rest of the event, which drew about 30,000 people over three days.

Last year’s 1 million square-foot footprint was one of the largest, non-parade street closures in Denver history, taking over Blake Street between 27th and 35th streets, with additional closures on Larimer, Walnut and Lawrence streets.

For 2018, that����ap shrinking to a more manageable and less disruptive size, said Rob Smith, senior vice president of marketing for Denver-based RPM Events Group.

“It����ap all going to be contained within the Rockies parking lot B, which is now mostly vacant,” he said. “But within that, it����ap going to be a more improved experience with multiple beer stations, a bigger main entrance and lines moving much more quickly.”

This year will offer a “Kentucky Derby-type infield” experience, Hubbard added, with day-long events that create their own cultural draw outside the race, but also a more compact and clear connection to the viewing of the bike race.

The “experiential” offerings on-site include an e-bike test track, the ability to “race the train” (RTD’s A-line Light Rail) as it speeds to and from Union Station, BMX racing and demos, a kids’ zone, more than two-dozen food trucks, and other merchants, in addition to the main-stage entertainment.

This year’s music lineup is also more , featuring Glass Animals, Cold War Kids, Vince Staples, Matt and Kim, Rainbow Kitten Surprise and The Kills — all of which were announced in mid-March. : National acts Cults, Hop Along and Lo Moon, with Colorado’s Slow Caves (Aug 17), Brent Cowles (Aug. 18) and Wildermiss (Aug. 19) as daily openers.

“Bands with broader fan appeal — and that can sell out Red Rocks, like Glass Animals has — is part of the business plan this year,” Hubbard said.

By contrast, Velorama’s 2017 entertainment was centered around critical darlings and indie rockers such as Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie and The New Pornographers.

The marriage of music and cycling was meant to create a symbiotic financial relationship, since traveling cycling events are expensive to produce and ticketed festivals with food and alcohol sales offer a promising financial base.

“We’re serving two distinct audiences, but we think there’s good crossover potential,” Hubbard said. “That����ap the goal this year: really figuring that out in a way that works for everyone. We’ve seen a huge demand for it, whether it was the Coors Classic or the Pro Challenge. But how do you put on a pro bike race, where there aren’t usually tickets but there’s a passionate fan base, and pay for it? That����ap the secret sauce of Velorama.”

Hubbard noted Velorama’s relationship with . Instead of partnering with a single beer vendor, Velorama offers more than a dozen breweries, cideries, and a craft winery, he said, given that RiNo is “ground zero for the craft movement. … That����ap sort of the vibe we’re going for.”

A limited amount of early-bird, three-day tickets went on sale last month for $90. Starting on Friday, May 4, Friday and Saturday single-day general admission tickets go on sale for $50 each, and Sunday tickets are $10. Three-day festival passes are $100 for GA.

A new premium ticket will be priced between GA and VIP ($90 for Friday or Saturday, and $30 for Sunday) in a limited amount of about 500, offering a private bar, restroom and dedicated festival entrance for music fans. Three-day premium tickets are $180.

Kids 10 and under are free.

Tickets can be found at . The Denver office of AEG Presents is Velorama’s booking and production partner on the music side, organizers said.

FRIDAY, AUG. 17
Glass Animals
The Kills
* Hop Along
* Slow Caves (local Colorado band)

SATURDAY, AUG. 18
Cold War Kids
Vince Staples
Rainbow Kitten Surprise
* Lo Moon
* Brent Cowles (Colorado band)

SUNDAY, AUG. 19
Matt And Kim
* Cults
* Wildermiss (Colorado band)

will come back to RiNo Aug. 17-19 with new headlining acts, a refined fan experience and, of course, its signature pro cycling race.

Velorama’s inaugural event was . Patrons struggled to enter the festival, and those who signed up to sell wares through its adjoining Denver Flea market found themselves far away from festival’s main attractions.

This year’s festival has been tweaked accordingly,��Velorama representative Curtis Hubbard said. The footprint of the festival will be smaller by “more than half” of last year’s event which covered an area that was about seven-by-two-blocks.

“(The changes) are in response to the lessons we learned and our continuing desire to dial in and produce a great event for music fans and cycling fans,” Hubbard said in a phone interview on Monday. “By scaling back the space, it will really be an energetic festival experience. We don’t need to do street closures that we went through last year.”

This year’s event will once again feature a day of Colorado-centric performances, though the festival declined to share lineup information.

Hubbard said headliners and ticket information will be announced “later this month or in early March.” Last year’s Velorama was headlined by Wilco, The New Pornographers and Death Cab for Cutie.