Does that strike you as creating a level playing field?�� We don’t think so.�� We believe that simply allows very wealthy individuals to “buy” their election.

The introductory paragraph of Article XXVIII of our Colorado Constitution states the purpose for our campaign finance laws are to prevent large contributions from corrupting outcomes.�� It says:

“The people of the state of Colorado hereby find and declare that large campaign contributions to political candidates create the potential for corruption and the appearance of corruption; that large campaign contributions made to influence election outcomes allow wealthy individuals, corporations, and special interest groups to exercise a disproportionate level of influence over the political process; that the rising costs of campaigning for political office prevent qualified citizens from running for political office…”

Perhaps the authors didn’t imagine a time when Colorado millionaires would use a loophole in the law that allows them to spend $15 million or $5 million of their own money in a primary for statewide office, as was the case with Jared Polis and Victor Mitchell this year.�� Polis has done this repeatedly in running for a state school board seat and for Congress.

The advantage millionaires have over their non-wealthy opponents is staggering. Candidates who don’t have millions to self-fund are limited to raising money from friends and others at $1,150 per person.

Far from having a level playing field, which was the original intent of campaign finance laws, instead we have a very large disparity.�� That����ap not good for Colorado because the “loophole” allows millionaire candidates to become the “special interest” that campaign finance laws were created to stop.

Amendment 75 — or as we like to call it, Stop Buying Our Elections, is very simple:�� It will amend current campaign finance law to say that “if a candidate contributes $1 million or more of their own money to their campaign, then other candidates in that race may accept aggregate campaign contributions five times greater than the limits specified in current law.”

That����ap fair. Wealthy candidates are clearly taking advantage of this loophole and the equitable thing to do is level the playing field for non-wealthy candidates who don’t have the��personal��financial resources to give their own campaigns millions of dollars. Increasing the limit is an equitable and effective way of encouraging competitive elections where��wealthy��candidates otherwise attempt to “buy elected office” with their own��personal money.

Let����ap level the playing field in elections and close the millionaire loophole by voting Yes on Amendment 75.�� Let����ap make sure millionaire’s and billionaire’s Stop Buying Our Elections!

By proponents of the measure:

Greg Brophy is a former state senator and B.J. Nikkel is a former state representative.

To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.

The two men left on the ballot for governor traded barbs in their victory speeches Tuesday night. The state’s Democratic and Republican parties launched websites the next day to blast their opponents. And one national political group debuted a television commercial to boost its candidate.

Looking to November, the primary voter turnout shows more Democratic momentum at this point, according to interviews with a dozen political observers. The party will need the energy if it wants to hold the governor’s office, flip the state Senate and claim the competitive 6th Congressional District – all races that Republicans are intent on winning.

“If you’re trying to gauge a blue wave or enthusiasm, I would say those numbers look pretty good for Democrats,” said Paul Teske, the dean of the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. “Midterm elections are always a referendum on the president, and we have a fairly unpopular president, probably more unpopular in Colorado than a lot of other states.”

Here’s a look at the lessons from the primary election and what they mean for Democrats and Republicans ahead of November.

The big shift starts now

The top-of-the-ticket primary races for Colorado governor finished Tuesday as expected, with Democrat Jared Polis and Republican Walker Stapleton securing their respective party nominations.

A modest surprise is the huge margin – 20 percentage points – by which Polis finished ahead of his closest rival in a race some observers expected to be closer.

The next key step is the selection of running mates within a week of the primary election. Once the gubernatorial candidates pick a lieutenant governor, the running mate under state law.

At the same time, the candidates will spend the summer months refocusing their campaigns for a general election audience, a move that typically shifts them to the political middle in order to win the swing voters that decide most Colorado races.

Stapleton spent much of his campaign aligning himself with President Donald Trump and raising concerns about so-called sanctuary cities that don’t assist federal immigration authorities.

David Flaherty, a Republican pollster in Colorado not affiliated with the campaign, said “without question” that Stapleton needs to move to the middle. “He will lose if he doesn’t, and anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional,” Flaherty said.

Flaherty said general election voters want to hear about education and pocket-book issues, such as the cost of housing — two topics that the Democratic candidate has preached for months.

But Polis also will have to rework his image and distance himself from the inevitable label as “a Boulder liberal,” even as he seeks Democratic Party unity.

“His move needs to be as much stylistic as substantive,” said Eric Sondermann, a Denver political analyst. “He needs to show … that (his campaign) gets the whole state, that they are not just deeply stewed in that Boulder milieu.”

Largest primary turnout ever

The voter turnout rate for all registered voters — both active and inactive — through Thursday was 31 percent and is expected to rise slightly. It ranks as the largest primary turnout among registered voters at least in the past decade.

More ballots were cast in Tuesday’s election than in any other primary in Colorado, a result of the state’s booming population and the inclusion this year of unaffiliated voters. Also drawing people to the polls was the long list of competitive races, especially at the congressional and gubernatorial levels.

Through Thursday, 1,176,526 ballots were processed. Of those, 469,771 came from registered Democrats and 415,379 from registered Republicans.

Unaffiliated voters turned in 291,376 ballots in the first-ever Colorado primary elections��in which they could cast a ballot. That comes out to an unaffiliated turnout rate of about 20 percent for the state’s largest voting bloc — which has more than 1.4 million voters.

More of those voters took part in the Democratic primary than in the Republican primary by a margin of about 60,000, according to the latest data.

“They still have tens of thousands of ballots to process,” Judd Choate, elections director at the Colorado secretary of state’s office, said midweek.

For comparison, the most similar primary election in Colorado in the past decade — in terms of competitiveness and turnout rate– took place in 2010, when Democrats and Republicans competed for a U.S. Senate seat.

In that primary contest, 774,071 ballots were cast from among the state’s 2,391,825 active voters, for a 32 percent active-voter turnout rate. The turnout slides to 24 percent when adding in the state’s 850,000-plus inactive voters to the total.

Thousands of votes nullified

Ballots cast by at least 6,000 unaffiliated voters were nullified because they tried to vote in both the Republican and Democratic primary contests.

A voter-approved initiative from 2016 allowed unaffiliated voters to participate in a Colorado primary election for the first time this year, but members of the bloc were only allowed to cast a ballot in one race or the other. The canceled double-votes came despite a more than $1 million educational effort from the state and outside organizations to inform voters about the rules.

The numbers equaled about 2 percent of the total unaffiliated votes cast. That����ap far lower than state elections officials feared.

“This number of about 2 to 2.5 is a really pretty solid number, considering that our population has never done an election like this and other comparable states have seen slightly higher numbers,” said Choate.

El Paso County led the state’s largest counties, with 5 percent of unaffiliated ballots spoiled, while Adams County had just 0.5 percent of their unaffiliated votes nullified.

Officials say they will be taking a close look at what worked and what didn’t in order to minimize the spoil rate for unaffiliated voters in future elections.

“One of the things we will do is an after-action review of this election,” Choate said. “There are all sorts of things I think we can learn from this as we review it.”

For the most part, money talks

With one exception, all the statewide and congressional races were won by the candidate who spent the most money, according to preliminary numbers.

Polis spent $11 million of his own money in the governor’s race and came out the victor. He also received big-money help from two outside groups.

Stapleton appeared to be the lone exception. His rival, former state Rep. Victor Mitchell, loaned his campaign $4.8 million and easily outspent Stapleton and the handful of outside groups that came to his aid, according to preliminary campaign finance data.

In the 6th Congressional District race, Democrat Jason Crow spent $695,000 through June 6, compared with $254,000 for challenger Levi Tillemann.

One of the largest disparities came in the Republican state treasurer’s race, where businessman Brian Watson spent about $700,000 to overcome state Reps Justin Everett and Polly Lawrence, who spent roughly $81,000 and $292,000, respectively.

The gold-plated campaigning won’t stop in June.

The Republican Attorneys General Association plans to spend significantly to elect 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler in Colorado. The organization announced Wednesday its first television ad on Brauchler’s behalf, that will air across most the state.

Revenge of Democratic establishment

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders won the Democratic presidential caucuses in Colorado in 2016, and his progressive wing of the party made national headlines Tuesday after voters snubbed establishment candidates for upstarts aligned with his wing of the party.

But in Colorado, that wasn’t the case.

In the Democratic primary for Colorado attorney general, Phil Weiser, a former University of Colorado Law School dean, defeated Sanders-endorsed state Rep. Joe Salazar, who conceded Saturday after a close vote.��State Rep. Dave Young overcame a challenge in the treasurer’s primary from first-time candidate and Sanders supporter Bernard Douthit.

Four Democratic upstarts — Mark Williams, Tillemann, Saira Rao and Karl Hanlon ��— also lost bids for Congress running on an outsider platform against their respective establishment-backed candidates, Joe Neguse (2nd district), Crow (6th district),��U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (1st district) and former state Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (3rd district).

“The primary electorate remains, not surprisingly, more moderate than the noisiest and most active activists, as evidenced by the impressive wins for Neguse, Crow and Diane Mitsch Bush,” said Jim Carpenter, a Democratic strategist and chief of staff for former Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter. “Definitely more establishment candidates have done well. Weiser fits into this, too — so does Michael Dougherty in the Boulder (district attorney’s) race.”

Dougherty beat out state Rep. Mike Foote to become Boulder’s top prosecutor.

Women candidates finish about 50-50

The Colorado primary races saw a significant number of women candidates make bids for public office, many of them for the first time.

A female candidate won nine of the 17 races in which at least one woman competed, a Denver Post analysis shows. All but one of those women were Democrats.

Laura Chapin, a Democratic strategist, said the 53 percent win-record is just a matter of “sheer volume.”

“We’ve got a whole lot of women running, and some of them are going to win and some of them are going to lose … that still means more women in office,” she said.

But at the top of the ticket, three women – Republican Cynthia Coffman and Democrats Cary Kennedy and Donna Lynne – failed to win their party nominations for governor in a state that has never elected a woman to the post.

The results came despite more interest from women voters. About 100,000 more women voted than men in the primary election, according to figures through Thursday.

Pat Waak, the former state Democratic Party chairwoman, said she always wants to see more women win, but it takes a good candidate to cross the finish line first.

“I think there is a gender power that is growing,” she said, “but I think in the end, people just want somebody who will listen to them, understand what the issues are and make a difference on those issues.”

The two candidates easily won their respective nominations in Tuesday’s primary election, each defeating three rivals with campaigns that appealed to the party’s most ardent supporters.

Polis, a five-term Boulder congressman, would become the nation’s first openly gay man elected governor if he succeeds, and his win Tuesday represents a sharp leftward shift that will test whether Colorado is a true blue state.

Stapleton, the two-term state treasurer and Bush family relative, is competing to become only the second Republican elected governor in 44 years and aligned himself with Republican firebrands to win the race.

The two candidates didn’t waste a moment before taking aim at each other.

“On almost every question before us in this election … Walker Stapleton comes out on the wrong side and the people of Colorado know that,” Polis said in his victory speech at a Broomfield hotel ballroom, mentioning health care, immigration and honesty as his rival’s faults.

From a stage in Greenwood Village, Stapleton blasted Polis for supporting tax hikes and “a government takeover of your health care.”

“The choices could not be clearer,” Stapleton told his victory party. “The difference could not be more stark.”

The Associated Press declared Stapleton the winner 30 minutes after polls closed at 7 p.m. He defeated former state Rep. Victor Mitchell, businessman Doug Robinson and former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez.

The preliminary results at 8 p.m. showed Stapleton at 48 percent and Mitchell at 30 percent. Lopez took 12 percent, and Robinson, a nephew of Mitt Romney’s, received a meager 9 percent, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Polis secured the nomination shortly after at 7:45 p.m., defeating former state Treasurer Cary Kennedy, former state Sen. Mike Johnston and Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne.

He took 44 percent support compared with Kennedy’s 25 percent, according to early results. Johnston stood at 23 percent, and Lynne finished with 7 percent.

“Together we are going to make Colorado even better, even stronger,” Polis told a hotel ballroom in Broomfield.

The early figures show turnout at roughly 27 percent among the 3.8 million eligible Colorado voters.

Trump and the political conversation in Washington dominated much of the race. Democrats bashed the White House and embraced government-run, universal health care and Republicans battled for the superlative of “most loyal to Trump” with all but one candidate refusing to disavow his policy on family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Democrats are vying to hold the governor’s mansion after the departure of term-limited Gov. John Hickenlooper and use it as a bulwark against the Trump administration in Washington.

Polis ran a campaign aimed at diehard Democrats with promises to implement all-day pre-school and kindergarten for every child and a single-payer, Medicare-for-all health care system in Colorado – both of which were ballot initiatives rejected by voters in prior elections.

Republicans are trying to elect their first governor since Bill Owens won a second term in 2002 and see an opportunity in Colorado to push back against a blue wave in other states.

Stapleton embraced former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, a hard-liner on immigration, to secure a place on the ballot at the state party assembly after fraudulent petitions nearly cost him a place on in the race, and he expressed concerns about the state’s marijuana industry, which Polis supports.

The two candidates will compete in a state that remains mostly purple in hue. Hillary Clinton won the state’s electoral votes for president in 2016 by 5 percentage points, despite repeated Trump visits to the state in the final weeks. But Republicans hold three of the four statewide offices.

The November governor’s race is expected to draw big money in a race already flooded with cash. The influx – much of it from super PAC-styled committees that can accept unlimited donations – pushed the cost of the primary election near $40 million. Polis, who is one of the richest members of Congress, spent $11 million of his own fortune.

Entering June, when ballots first began to land in mailboxes, the result appeared clear with Polis and Stapleton holding double-digit leads in their respective races. But a significant portion of voters – 1 in 3 Republicans and 1 in 4 Democrats – remained undecided.

The role of unaffiliated voters only added another wild card to the mix. For the first time, the plurality of Colorado voters are not members of a political party and had the opportunity to cast ballots in either party primary under a voter-approved 2016 initiative.

The initial results show that registered party members far outpaced ballots from unaffiliateds, who posted a 25 percent turnout rate.

Allyson Bower, a 24-year-old unaffiliated voter who lives in Adams County, cast a ballot Tuesday for Polis because of “his view on universal schooling for the kids — and I know he’s more child-focused than most governors,” she said.

Eric Castillo, a 47-year-old from Westminster, is an unaffiliated voter who picked the Republican primary ballot. He picked Stapleton because of his stance on the Second Amendment.

“I want to make sure we don’t lose our right to own guns, Castillo said.

Staff writers Anna Staver, Chaney Skilling and Natalie Weber contributed to this report.

Updated June 27, 2017 at 6 a.m. The following corrected information has been added to this article: Because of a reporter’s error, the story incorrectly stated Walker Stapleton cited concerns about marijuana in his election night speech. This is an issue he raised in prior campaign speeches, compared to Jared Polis, who expresses support for the industry.

The state treasurer was declared the winner by The Associated Press about a half-hour after polls closed. He defeated former state Rep. Victor Mitchell, businessman Doug Robinson and former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez.

“Elections are about choices; they are about the direction we want to see Colorado head in the future,” Stapleton told a crowded ballroom at the Double Tree Hotel in Greenwood Village. “Tonight we celebrate the first step, and we will offer Coloradans a hopeful vision of economic opportunity for all of our children.”

Stapleton’s been the front-runner for weeks. He’s recently held a lead in the polls, outraised his opponents and convinced key Colorado Republicans like Tom Tancredo to endorse him.

Stapleton’s going to face U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat, in the general election this November. The newly minted Republican nominee told the crowd he’s ready for that fight, calling out Polis for his support of a bill to roll back President Donald Trump’s tax cuts.

“And make no mistake, as Governor, Jared Polis will raise every tax and fee he can to take more money from hardworking Coloradans,” Stapleton said.

It was a quick victory on election night, but the road to the nomination wasn’t an easy one for Stapleton.

But the two-term state treasurer and relative of the Bush family still encountered opposition from rival candidates.

Mitchell repeatedly attacked Stapleton’s credibility and accused him of pretending to embrace President Donald Trump for political gain. Stapleton frequently mentioned Trump in his campaign ads, promising to take a hard stance on immigration and “sanctuary cities.”

Those positions helped Stapleton win over Republicans like Tancredo, but they could hinder him in the general election.

Colorado’s a purple state. Voters picked Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 by 5 percentage points. Only one Republican has managed to win the governor’s race in the last four decades.

Stapleton’s the only Republican candidate who has won a statewide office, but the political climate was different in 2010 and 2014.

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman was the only other Republican candidate who held a statewide office, but she didn’t make the primary ballot.

Coffman, Steve Barlock, Barry Farah, Lew Gaiter and Teri Kear all failed to get enough votes to qualify for the ballot at the Republican state assembly in April. Candidates needed 30 percent and Coffman took only 6 percent.

Stapleton won 43 percent of the assembly’s vote.

The road to the assembly wasn’t smooth for Stapleton. His first plan had been to collect enough signatures from voters around the state and bypass the assembly vote. That����ap how Mitchell and Robinson got on the ballot.

But Stapleton ran into a problem with the firm he hired to collect his signatures.

Kennedy Enterprises hired people who became registered Republicans in Colorado, many of them from out of state, in order to collect signatures — a practice that Stapleton himself called fraudulent.

The results Tuesday will offer insights into voters’ moods and what to expect in November, when Republicans want to elect their party’s first governor since 2002 and Democrats want to hold the office and make gains in Congress and at the statehouse.

“This was the first wide-open gubernatorial race in many years in Colorado,” said Seth Masket, the director of the University of Denver’s Center on American Politics. “What kind of a match-up came out of the primary? Were voters prioritizing electability, commitment to party goals, or what?”

Those questions and more are at the center of the primary contests. Here’s a look at five questions that will get answers once the polls close.

Will GOP voters reward loyalty to Trump?

An allegiance to the president and his agenda became the defining theme of the Republican race for governor among the four candidates.

In the final debate, only one candidate, Doug Robinson, voiced clear opposition to the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant parents from their children at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The front-runner, state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, initially kept his distance from Trump but later embraced him in campaign commercials and attacked rival Victor Mitchell for supporting a third-party candidate. Meanwhile, Mitchell said he supports most of the president����ap policies and blasted Stapleton for being a relative of the Bush family that opposed Trump.

Unlike in other governor’s races across the country, Trump did not make an endorsement in Colorado’s primary.

A similar dynamic emerged in the race for the Republican nomination for state treasurer, where vocal Never-Trump supporter and state Rep. Justin Everett faces Polly Lawrence, a fellow state lawmaker who signed a letter endorsing Trump despite expressing concerns about his comments regarding women.

How many voters will turn out in Colorado’s more open primary?

Turnout for this primary could be much lower percentage-wise than in recent statewide election years, in part because more voters are eligible to cast ballots in the low-profile contests with the addition of unaffiliated voters.

As of Sunday night, 690,866 ballots had been cast by 267,620 registered Democrats and 261,686 registered Republicans. As for unaffiliated voters, 161,560 had cast ballots. (Turnout is expected to rise significantly.)

That����ap a turnout so far of just 18 percent of the state’s 3.8 million voters.

The first statewide vote-by-mail contest came in 2014, but only Republicans had a contested primary for governor. In 2010, the last election where s had , the turnout among the state’s roughly 2.4 million active voters was 32 percent, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

That����ap because of the addition of 1.4 million unaffiliated voters who can cast ballots in a Colorado primary for the first time this year, raising the number of eligible participants. Turnout for that voting bloc, the state’s largest, is expected to be lower than for registered Democrats and Republicans because they are generally less interested in the partisan races.

Through Sunday night, women were outvoting men by more than 50,000 ballots, with Democratic women as the largest gender-based voting bloc. Unaffiliated voters, who can only cast a ballot in one party’s primary, have been choosing to participate in the Democratic primary over the GOP one.

Will Democrats go too far in embracing Bernie Sanders?

Opposite the Republican races, the Democratic candidates are veering to the left to embrace policies often identified with former presidential contender Bernie Sanders and the party’s left-wing.

The candidates for governor all want to expand health care access to make it universal, with front-runner��Jared Polis endorsing a single-payer, Medicare-for-all system despite the fact Colorado rejected a similar proposal on the 2016 ballot. Polis, a five-term Boulder congressman, would be the nation’s first openly gay man elected governor if he wins the primary and general elections.

Two of the gubernatorial candidates — Polis and former state Sen. Mike Johnston — pledged to move the state to 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, while former state Treasurer Cary Kennedy wants to double the state’s renewable-energy mandate for utility companies. The fourth candidate, Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, is taking a more moderate approach to major issues, but so far found little traction for her campaign.

In two other high-profile Democratic races, Sanders is playing a direct role.

The independent senator from Vermont has endorsed state Rep. Joe Salazar, who is vying to become Colorado’s next attorney general, and a political group affiliated with Sanders is backing Levi Tillemann in the 6th Congressional District. Both candidates are running insurgent campaigns to beat establishment Democrats backed by the party’s leaders.

Tillemann faces Denver attorney Jason Crow, another establishment favorite who has won backing from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whose decision to pick sides in an intramural fight drew national attention.

A real battle for Diana DeGette?

There’s another establishment-vs.-outsider battle in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, is facing one of her most serious challenges in her 20-plus years in Congress.

Saira Rao, a first-generation Indian-American and former Wall Street lawyer who now runs a business publishing children’s books written by authors from underrepresented backgrounds, got into the race in January calling for a new voice in the U.S House.

She’s relatively new to Colorado, only having lived here for 5 years, and has even aided DeGette’s campaigns in the past.

But, Rao says, DeGette wasn’t doing enough to push back after Trump’s election.

“To say I was very disappointed by the response by the establishment Democrats is an understatement,” she said. “… She hasn’t fought for disenfranchised communities.”

Rao has spent a formidable $415,000-plus on getting her message and name out (also loaning her campaign $100,000), a sum that DeGette has countered with more than $720,000 of spending of her own this cycle.

DeGette, her party’s chief deputy whip, is waving off Rao’s attacks and said she is best positioned to represent Colorado in the U.S. House, given her long track record, adding that if Democrats retake the chamber in November she will be poised for larger leadership roles.

With the Denver district being a Democratic stronghold, whoever wins Tuesday’s primary contest will almost definitely be the winner in November.

Will big-spending super PACs and wealthy candidates claim victories?

A week before the election, candidates in the Colorado governor’s race spent nearly $25 million and outside organizations that can accept unlimited donations spent at least $12 million more to boost their favorite contenders, according to state campaign finance records.

Put another way, that’s about $86 spent for every ballot cast through June 18. The number of ballots and the amount spent on the race are only expected to increase in a contest that is setting early spending records.

Polis spent $11 million of his own money on the race and received an additional $1.6 million in help from two outside groups, a super PAC called Bold Colorado and the environmental organization Sierra Club. Johnston spent $2 million from his campaign, and an outside super PAC spent more than $5 million more to support his bid.

On the Republican side, Mitchell’s campaign spent $4.7 million — most of it from the candidate’s wallet, while Stapleton spent $2 million. To close the gap, five organizations worked on Stapleton’s behalf spent another $2 million, most of which went toward attacks on his rivals.

Welcome back to The Spot, where The Denver Post’s politics team captures what’s happening this week — from the Colorado legislature to Denver city hall, with a stop through the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.

We are just days away from this year’s primary elections,��and it feels a bit like the world is about to implode.

Maybe that’s just because I’m bleary-eyed from our two nights of governor’s race debates earlier this week, or maybe it’s the mountain of campaign news��that keeps growing by the minute. That towering peak comes despite what’s looking to be a low turnout for the June 26 contests (there’s still time to vote!).

Beyond the campaign craziness, Denver and Aurora could soon be a lot quieter as the airport train’s horns��days are now numbered, Denverites will likely have an easier time getting tipsy at the city’s parks in the not-so-distant future and those Lime scooters are going bye-bye (for now).

The Trump administration’s () policy of separating immigrants crossing into the U.S. illegally from their children created a uproar in Colorado across the political spectrum — from our congressional delegation to the��GOP candidates for governor.

A lot more has happened, but you’re just going to have to read the awesome newsletter below to find out about it.

Fresh news:��President Donald Trump has chosen Colorado’s next U.S. attorney, and it’s Republican Denver attorney Jason Dunn. What will that mean for marijuana and immigration enforcement?

ROLL CALL

COLORADO: THE STATEHOUSE & BEYOND

• Money, money, money��— money. Money? Money. That’s what the state revenue forecast sees in Colorado’s future
• GOP gubernatorial candidate Victor Mitchell believes in the “deep state,” in part based on his own experiences with the criminal justice system.
• Hundreds of Colorado’s unaffiliated voters are nullifying their votes by turning in primary ballots for both parties.
• Voter turnout thus far has been really low,��with less than a week before primary Election Day.
• Big changes have been made to Colorado’s campaign finance complaint process.
• In an extraordinary move, Gov. John Hickenlooper endorsed Phil Weiser in the Democratic primary race for Colorado attorney general.
• Here’s who is running for Colorado attorney general.
• Gov. Hickenlooper signed an executive order barring state resources from being used to separate immigrants coming to U.S. illegally from their kids. It’s an action that has more bark than bite.
• Under another Hickenlooper order,��Colorado will adopt California-style low-emission vehicle standards.
• The University of Colorado may drop the word “liberal” from the university’s pledge of a “liberal education.”
• Colorado’s unemployment decreased as tourism-related hiring drove job gains in May.
• Colorado governor’s race fundraising remains on course to shatter records.
• U.S. Rep.��Jared Polis traded commodities in Moscow at age 17. Here’s��what that and other ventures say about his millions in the Colorado governor’s race.

Denver Post/Denver 7 governor’s race debates

The Denver Post’s politics team joined forced with Denver7 to host gubernatorial debates earlier this week in what represented the candidates’ final face-off ahead of next week’s primary election. You can watch the debates/read our recaps below. (Here’s who is running for governor.)

• The Democratic candidates for governor continued their bickering over who is running the cleanest campaign and went in-depth on oil and gas drilling.

• The Republicans running for governor made it clear they are big fans of Donald Trump — but not necessarily all of his policies and actions.

DENVER & THE SUBURBS

• Lime’s scooters will be removed from Denver’s streets for the next two weeks.
• Glug, glug. It looks like the days of enjoying full-strength beer and wine in Denver’s parks is coming soon.��
• “An impromptu protest from anti-fracking activists on the floor of Lafayette’s City Council meeting Tuesday forced officials to abruptly adjourn.”
• Boulder’s city council made changes to its ban on assault weapons.
• Lafayette’s efforts to condemn land in neighboring Erie were stymied once again last week, when the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the Boulder County city tried to use its eminent domain powers to stop commercial development in Erie.
• The day thousands of Denver and Aurora residents have been waiting for is now in full view — the end of incessant train horn noise along the University of Colorado A-Line.

D.C. POLITICS FROM A COLORADO PERSPECTIVE

• Denver was a finalist for the 2020 Democratic National Convention, but withdrew its bid because of “major commitments that cannot be moved.”
• U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s nephew was struck and killed by a train.

This is a very sad situation. My family and I are deeply grateful for all your thoughts and prayers. As a family, we have decided to handle this as a private matter and appreciate your support.

— Ed Perlmutter (@RepPerlmutter)

• America needs to modernize and beef up its defensive presence in outer space but probably not in the way President Donald Trump envisions, according to one CU professor.
• U.S. Rep. Diana Degette is heading to the U.S.-Mexico border.
• U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner was among the Senate Republicans who called out Trump��over his immigrant separation policy (, maybe).
• It can dispense nearly 20,000 gallons of water or retardant on a single pass, but the Global Supertanker has been sitting on the ground this entire year not fighting fires. The big reason: It doesn’t have a contract with the U.S. Forest Service.

THE WIRE

• “Perplexing,” is how this article puts it. Did U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, by supporting a conservative immigration bill? — CNN
• Your in Denver could be going up to prevent a 911 backlog. — Denverite
• Michael Bloomberg isn’t just spending big on the Colorado governor’s race. He’s ��in a big way for the congressional midterms, too. — The New York Times
• The city of Denver says local cannabis bus tours . — 9News
• Who did Gov. John Hickenlooper ? (Don’t expect a satisfactory answer. We’ve never gotten one.) — 9News
• A Weld County commissioner is , and both sides are gearing up for a fight. — The Greeley Tribune
• Denver’s City Council members and mayor’s office employees could pricey airline tickets they receive from city personnel or agencies. — The Colorado Independent
• Bush has become a in the GOP race for Colorado governor.��— NBC News
• “Airlines ask the government separated children on their planes.” — CNN
• How water is in Greeley, Fort Collins and all of northern Colorado. — KUNC
• A look at to U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s reign in the 5th Congressional District.�� — Colorado Public Radio

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How I'm feeling after two nights of debate coverage and a week on the copy editing shift:

— Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul)

What I'm anticipating over the next week:

— Jesse Aaron Paul (@JesseAPaul)

Staff writers John Frank, Mark K. Matthews and John Aguilar contributed to this newsletter.

Each candidate at the showdown hosted by The Denver Post, Denver7 and the University of Denver voiced support for Trump, but they hedged on his policy of separating immigrant parents crossing into the U.S. illegally from their children.

Only one offered a full-throated rejection, despite mounting pressure from Republican leaders nationwide.

Colorado Treasurer Walker Stapleton did not denounce the president����ap action. “The last thing anyone wants to see is families broken up,” he said while blaming federal lawmakers for the problem.

“I think Congress needs to fix this policy,” he said. “I call on Congress to fix this policy.”

Businessman and former state lawmaker Victor Mitchell took a similar tact, saying “from a humanitarian standpoint, of course, no one wants their kids separated.”

But, Mitchell said, “I think the president is on the right track when it comes to comprehensive immigration reform.”

Former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez said parents are putting their children in harm’s way, but he is upset by what he’s seeing. “I truly believe that separating kids from their parents is not something we ever want to see,” he said.

Businessman and first-time candidate Doug Robinson was the only one of the four to fully push back on the president����ap highly controversial action.

“I do not support the president����ap policy,” he said. “These scenes from the border are heart-wrenching. This is not who we are as Americans. It����ap not who we are as Republicans.”

After the candidates differentiated themselves over immigration, the debate became a contest of who could align themselves most closely with the president. Polls show Republican voters in Colorado remain loyal to Trump.

Mitchell is the only gubernatorial candidate who didn’t vote for Trump for president, opting instead for independent candidate .

He nonetheless had high praise for the job Trump’s done so far — and even said he was most like the president among the GOP gubernatorial candidates, citing their business backgrounds and relative lack of political experience.

“I think the president has done by and large what he promised to do, and I support what the president is doing in many respects,” he said. “I mean, just take a step back and step away from his demeanor at times and look at what’s actually happening.”

But he expressed concern about Trump’s trade policies and damaged relationships with U.S. allies. “I worry a great deal about him getting into a trade war with our friendly neighbors,” Mitchell said.

Stapleton, who has been tying himself to Trump in television ads, continued his embrace of the White House. “I think it����ap actually helpful for the governor to work with the president,” he said, vowing to still push back against Washington when Colorado’s values are at stake.

Lopez called Trump a true leader. “I think he is a good role model” for children, he added. But he criticized his decision to bill raising the national debt.

Robinson said he was a big fan of Trump’s tax cuts, but raised concerns about the president����ap trade decisions, however, saying on that issue he’d “stand up and be bold about that.”

“I think he’s done some really great things for Coloradans,” Robinson said.

The group had different opinions on Trump’s repeated

“I think that����ap a little bit strong,” Stapleton said of the president����ap take, while still accusing Colorado’s largest news outlets of having a liberal bias.

Lopez said the media is “not necessarily the enemy of the people,” but advised them to strive to be more fair.

“I don’t think the media is the enemy at all,” Mitchell said, and Robinson agreed.

The four candidates all said they didn’t support the “red flag” bill that was rejected by Republicans in the Colorado General Assembly this year, which would have allowed judges to temporarily take away firearms from people deemed a threat to themselves or others.

However, they all voiced some support for the idea generally.

“I was very disappointed that the Senate in the General Assembly killed the bill instead of trying to amend it,” Mitchell said.

Robinson thought the measure should have been narrowed.

“I think we’ve seen the Democrats’ plan,” Robinson said. “The Democrats’ plan is to take away our guns.”

On climate change, Lopez was the only one on stage who said he didn’t believe the global phenomenon stemming from greenhouse gases is caused by humans.

The candidates did all agree, however, on their dislike for Gov. John Hickenlooper’s executive order Tuesday requiring Colorado to adopt California-style low-emission vehicle standards by 2025.

“This is a mandate for us to buy vehicles we don’t need at prices we can’t afford,” Stapleton said.

All four candidates said they would reject a proposed ballot initiative to extend oil and gas drilling setbacks from development to 2,500 feet and that they approve of the current setback regulation of at least 500 feet — a point that stirred crosstalk about who on stage has taken campaign money from the industry.

“There’s no free lunch,” Mitchell said, noting Stapleton and Robinson have accepted industry money while saying he hadn’t. “They’re going to be coming calling. It����ap an absolutely critical industry to our state, but I don’t think any of us should be indebted to any of these powerful organizations.”

From the debate stage, Stapleton made a naked plea by calling on the oil and gas industry to spend more money on his campaign — “I hope they’re listening because it����ap going to need to be a lot more” — so he can win the general election should he face Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis in November.

“I think it����ap a little bit disingenuous of Victor to talk about he’s not taking money from these other parties when he’s investing a great deal of money on his own,” Robinson said in a swipe at the millions of dollars Mitchell has given his own campaign.

On education, all four candidates voiced their belief that teachers are undercompensated, with Mitchell calling educator pay abysmal and Lopez calling for their compensation to be decided at the local level.

Robinson and Stapleton agreed that educator pay is too low and called for greater school-spending transparency.

“We need to move money from the administration into the classrooms across the state,” Robinson said.

Stapleton added: “The structure for K-12 education funding is broken. We need more transparency to understand where our money is actually going and why it is not ending up in the classroom.”

Tuesday’s debate followed a Monday showdown involving the four Democrats vying to be the state’s next governor.

Staff writer John Frank contributed to this report.

As of June 13, Democrat Jared Polis had dropped more than $11.2 million of his own money into his campaign while Republicans Victor Mitchell and Walker Stapleton have used their own wealth to add another $4.8 million in loans (Mitchell) and $837,000 in direct contributions (Stapleton), according to newly released state campaign figures.

The new finance figures are further evidence that Colorado is set to have a record-shattering year in the governor’s race, which already is the most expensive gubernatorial contest in state history.

So far, the slate of candidates looking to replace Gov. John Hickenlooper has spent nearly $24.6 million – more than twice the roughly $10.9 million total from just four years ago, according to state records.

The situation has prompted complaints about the governor’s mansion being for sale, but some of the less-wealthy candidates are caught in the money game too.

The latest figures show that a super PAC-type group that supports Democrat Michael Johnston recently received a $1 million contribution from Michael Bloomberg, the gun-control advocate and former New York City mayor.

That $1 million is on top of another $1 million that Bloomberg already has given the group, called Frontier Fairness — which itself has spent more than $5 million this election.

Democrat Cary Kennedy, meanwhile, had less than $104,000 in her campaign warchest as of June 13. She raised the money issue at a debate on Monday night, looking at Polis and noting that “he’s sure spending an awful lot of money.”

Still, Kennedy has gotten outside help too.

A group that supports her, called Teachers for Kennedy, has spent nearly $1.9 million already – an investment that included a mildly negative ad that caused an earlier stir in the mostly-friendly Democratic primary.

Campaign finance has emerged an issue in the Republican primary as well, a topic likely to come up Tuesday night when the GOP candidates get together for their next debate.

Check out The Denver Post’s election coverage below:

• A guide to the 2018 primary for unaffiliated voters
• Election 2018 stories
• Who is running for Colorado governor?
• Colorado governor’s race stories
• Who is running for Colorado treasurer?
• A secret recording, a Bronze Star and “The Royal Tenenbaums” — the Democratic race to unseat Mike Coffman is flush with personality, politics
• Who is running for Colorado attorney general?
• Colorado attorney general’s race stories
• Democrats running for Colorado attorney general are aligned on the issues — but not on how to solve them
• Five things to know about Phil Weiser
• Five things to know about state Rep. Joe Salazar

Live blog

Tonight����ap debate features Republican gubernatorial candidates former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, businessman and former state Rep. Victor Mitchell, businessman Doug Robinson and Colorado Treasurer Walker Stapleton for their last debate before the June 26 primary.

Monday night, the Democratic gubernatorial candidates — former state Sen.��Mike Johnston, former Colorado Treasurer Cary Kennedy, Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne and U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder — faced off. You can��read about and/or watch that debate here.

Tonight’s debate will run 90 minutes. The first hour will be carried live on Denver7.

Tonight’s debate will be moderated by Denver Post politics reporter John Frank��and��Denver7 anchor/reporter Anne Trujillo.

Check out The Denver Post’s election coverage below:

• A guide to the 2018 primary for unaffiliated voters
• Election 2018 stories
• Who is running for Colorado governor?
• Colorado governor’s race stories
• Who is running for Colorado treasurer?
• A secret recording, a Bronze Star and “The Royal Tenenbaums” — the Democratic race to unseat Mike Coffman is flush with personality, politics
• Who is running for Colorado attorney general?
• Colorado attorney general’s race stories
• Democrats running for Colorado attorney general are aligned on the issues — but not on how to solve them
• Five things to know about Phil Weiser
• Five things to know about state Rep. Joe Salazar

But the real fight came on the topic of campaign-trail tactics, where the candidates again picked one another apart over allegations of negative television ads and inappropriate campaign financing.

The bulk of those attacks were leveled at U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, the presumptive front-runner, who has injected more than $11 million of his own money into the race.

“I think this election is for sale,” declared Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, though she declined to name a direct buyer.

“He’s sure spending an awful lot of money,” quipped former Colorado Treasurer Cary Kennedy as she looked at Polis.

And former state Sen. Mike Johnston went after ads from Kennedy and Polis and their commitments to not attacking the other Democrats in the race.

“They caved on those promises,” Johnston said.

The theme of “clean campaigns” and whether candidates’ broke their pledges to run them was the most contentious part of the debate and is an issue that has been swirling around the Democratic race for weeks. It����ap become a sticking point at forums and fodder for candidates’ news releases as they jockey for votes.

Heading into the final stretch before the primary, it was clear during Monday’s debate hosted by The Denver Post, Denver7 and the University of Denver that the theme wasn’t waning.

“When I started this race I wanted to spend the time hearing from actual Coloradans, not millionaires and billionaires,” said Polis in a stab at Johnston, who has won backing from some of the nation’s wealthiest Democrats. “… Candidates shouldn’t be forced to either be wealthy or spend time with 10 millionaires at a Denver steakhouse every night trying to raise the funds they need to compete.”

Johnston accused Polis of talking out of both sides of his mouth by advocating for campaign finance reform and also putting so much of his money into the race.

“Mike, look, if you didn’t have all these out-of-state donors, I wouldn’t have needed to put in my own money to keep up with you,” Polis quipped back. “Money begets money.”

Polis also accused Kennedy of running negative and false ads against him. Kennedy, in turn, said she disavowed an attack piece against Polis from an outside group backing her campaign, and shot right back at Polis that he had attacked her.

“I’m a fighter, but I fight clean,” declared Lynne, who has stayed out of the fray, but is behind in fundraising and name recognition among voters

On policy, the four candidates showed some differentiation on the hot-button issue of immigration.

None of the candidates would commit to making Colorado a “sanctuary state,” but each voiced support for ending interaction between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

Polis called the Trump administration’s new policy of separating immigrants coming to the U.S. illegally from their children “acts of terror” and said “we should be a welcoming state for immigrants.”

He also voiced support — like the other candidates — for Gov. John Hickenlooper’s move Monday to sign an executive order forbidding any state resources from being allocated to that Trump administration immigration policy.

While the order is not expected to have any substantive impact, Hickenlooper says it serves as a rebuke of the president.

Lynne, who is Hickenlooper’s No. 2, also agreed with the governor’s move, saying of the Trump administration’s separation policy: “I think the word ‘reprehensible’ is probably even too mild.”

Kennedy declared that she thinks “local law enforcement shouldn’t have anything to do with enforcing federal immigration policy.” Johnston agreed, declaring “there’s no reason for the state to share that information with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).”

The candidates also were split on oil and gas drilling, though they all oppose a potential ballot initiative to increase the distance between drilling and occupied buildings to 2,500 feet. The current setback is at least 500 feet.

Lynne did not offer a specific proposal. “I do think that a 2,500-foot setback is not something that most people support,” she said. “… I think it����ap arbitrary. Quite frankly, I mean 799 could be my answer. But I think we have to rely on professionals.”

Kennedy agreed that current setbacks are too lenient and wants to give local governments more authority to set the boundaries — a power now mostly reserved to the state. “I support giving our local jurisdictions the authority to make those setbacks longer than they are currently,” she said. “… I don’t think we should have the same setback requirement for every single building in the entire state.”

Johnston said he, too, wanted the setbacks to be expanded beyond the current 500 feet, but contrasted with Kennedy because he believes in statewide setback rules. “But I believe that we need to have one set of statewide rules so you don’t have every local city council and county commissioner having oil and gas companies come and negotiate,” he said.

Polis also said current setbacks weren’t enough�� and noted he would still supported 1,500- or 2,000-foot setbacks as he proposed in the past.

“We need additional setbacks statewide, and we should be guided by science,” he said.

On guns, all four candidates said they supported a ban on military-style or assault-style weapons, as well as a so-called “red flag law” that would allow judges to seize firearms from people deemed a threat.

Polis blamed gun regulation gridlock on special interest groups — “It����ap the gun manufacturing lobby or the NRA” — while Lynne said she would declare gun violence a health crisis if elected governor.

Johnston touted his record in the legislature supporting gun-control legislation, while Kennedy said students needed to be safe in their classrooms.

On Tuesday night, the four Republicans vying for governor — Colorado Treasurer Walker Stapleton, former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, businessman Doug Robinson, and former state lawmaker and businessman Victor Mitchell — face off in a final debate of their own.

Staff writer John Frank contributed to this report.