Politics of Colorado

Colorado has traditionally voted Republican in every U.S. Presidential Election since 1964 with the exception of 1992 when a plurality voted for Bill Clinton, likely due to the effects of Ross Perot's candidacy. Conversely, the state has held a Democrat as governor for 22 out of the past 30 years. It has a history of passing radical voter initiatives that heavily restrict the power of state government such as Term Limits on Legislators in 1990, TABOR (Tax Payer's Bill of Rights) in 1992, Amendment 23 in 2000 which locks in a percentage of the budget for K-12 education. Voters then passed a referendum in 2005, Referendum C, which amends some of the restrictions of both TABOR and Amendment 23. [cite web
url= http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=8&year=2005&f=0&off=50&elect=7
title = 2005 Referendum Special Election Results
work = U.S. Election Atlas
date = 2007-05-11
accessdate = 2008-06-05 ]

Colorado supported George W. Bush in both 2000 and again in 2004, albeit with a margin of less than 5%. Republicans have mostly held control of state-wide offices and the State Legislature since the 1960s. Recently, however, there is a growing population of Hispanics/Latinos that tend to vote Democrat and an influx of in-migrants from other states such as California that are causing the state's political ideology to shift. [Schaller, Thomas. "Whistling Past Dixie". Simon & Schuster, 2006.] In 2004, while Bush won the state's electors, Democrat, Ken Salazar won an open U.S. Senate seat, his brother John Salazar captured an open U.S. House seat and the Democrats captured both chambers of the State Legislature. Most recently, in 2006, Democrat Bill Ritter won the Governorship by more than a 16-point margin while the Democrats expanded their majorities in both chambers of the State Legislature and captured another U.S. House seat (Ed Perlmutter). While Republicans continue to enjoy an advantage in voter registration state-wide, the Democrats have been closing the gap and there is also an increasing number of "Unafiliated" voters who tend to be more moderate and independent-minded. [cite web
url= http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/07/obama-mccain-look-west/
title = Obama, McCain look west
work = Rocky Mountain News
date = 2008-06-07
accessdate = 2008-06-07 ]

In light of these events, Colorado is likely to be a major battleground state in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Also, the retirement of Republican Senator Wayne Allard has opened the way for a senate race between Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Bob Schaffer which could be one of the most competitive in the nation.

Congressional representation

Ken Salazar, a Democrat, and Wayne Allard, a Republican, are Colorado's two Senators, though Allard has announced his intention not to seek reelection in 2008. Colorado has 7 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, four held by Democrats and three by Republicans. Colorado's 3rd District, a mostly rural district that covers most of the western and southern portions of the state encompasses Grand Junction, Pueblo and many of the ski-resort towns such as Telluride, is represented by Democrat John Salazar. The other large rural district, Colorado's 4th District, is represented by Republican Marilyn Musgrave. The other 5 districts encompass the state's population centers: 1st District: Diana Degette (Democrat-Denver), 2nd District: Mark Udall (Democrat-Boulder), 5th District: Doug Lamborn (Republican-Colorado Springs), 6th District: Tom Tancredo (Republican-Littleton) and Colorado's 7th District: Ed Perlmutter (Democrat-Aurora).

Regional differences

The state is very pluralistic politically, the Democrats are strong in the college towns of Fort Collins and Boulder, the cities of Denver and Pueblo and also in the wealthy ski-resort towns in the mountainous center of the state; places like Aspen and Telluride. The Republicans are strong in most of the rural parts of the state and are also strong in the cities of Greeley, Grand Junction, Colorado Springs and the suburbs southwest of Denver. The fastest growing parts of the state in Douglas, Jefferson and El Paso counties are traditionally Republican, although the effects of new growth on the politics of these regions is unknown.

External links

* [http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=8&f=0&off=99 Elections in Colorado on U.S. Election Atlas website]
*dmoz|Regional/North_America/United_States/Colorado/Society_and_Culture/Politics

References