Colorado election 2024

Coloradans await judge’s ruling in passwords leak case

Coloradans await a judge’s ruling in an eleventh-hour case over election equipment passwords that were inadvertently exposed on the secretary of state’s website.

Here’s more about the case.

Here’s how to vote on Election Day in Colorado

More than 2 million Coloradans have already cast their ballots in the 2024 election. If you’re eligible to vote, it’s not too late to join them. Read more.

Camacho leads Epps in closely watched Colorado statehouse race

Challenger Sean Camacho is on track to defeat Rep. Elisabeth Epps in the Democratic primary for state House District 6, according to early results from the Colorado secretary of state.

Camacho was ahead with 65% of the vote, according to the results as of 10 p.m. Tuesday.

That puts an establishment-backed candidate in line for the strong Democratic seat over the more progressive, yet controversial, first-term lawmaker. The race was seen as a bellwether among many state Capitol observers.

Read more.

Trisha Calvarese leads Democrats vying for chance to take on Lauren Boebert

Preliminary primary election results on Tuesday showed first-time candidate Trisha Calvarese leading a three-way race to become the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.

With over 44,000 ballots counted of 9:30 p.m., Calvarese led with 45.5% of the primary vote, ahead of Marine veteran Ike McCorkle with 41% and John Padora with 13%.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who won the 4th District Republican primary on Tuesday, in the November general election. Boebert announced in December that she would move across the state to seek the 4th District seat after two terms representing the 3rd District on the Western Slope, where she nearly lost reelection in 2022.

Read more.

Former U.S. Attorney John Walsh leads in Democratic primary for Denver DA

Democrat John Walsh, who formerly served as the top federal prosecutor in Colorado, is in line to be Denver’s next district attorney after jumping out to a wide lead over his lone opponent in Tuesday’s primary election, according to early results.

Read more.

Jeff Hurd wins GOP primary for 3rd District seat being vacated by Rep. Lauren Boebert

Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd won the Republican nomination in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, according to The Associated Press.

Hurd led the race with just over 42% of the vote with 73,435 ballots counted as of Tuesday at 8:20 p.m.

Hurd will face Democrat Adam Frisch, who far-right Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert beat by just 546 votes in 2022, in the November election. Hurd defeated his five primary opponents running to succeed Boebert, who announced late last year that she would switch to the more conservative 4th District.

Read more.

Jeff Crank defeats Dave Williams, the Colorado GOP chair, in congressional primary

Jeff Crank beat former state Rep. Dave Williams in the Colorado Republican primary election in the congressional district that covers Colorado Springs, according to The Associated Press.

Williams is the chair of the Colorado Republican Party.

The 5th District seat is being vacated by U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, who announced in January he would not seek reelection after representing the district since 2007. The AP called the race at 8:01.

Read more.

Greg Lopez wins special election to fill out remainder of former Rep. Ken Buck’s term

Two-time former Colorado governor candidate Greg Lopez won the special election in the state’s 4th Congressional District and will serve the remainder of former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck’s term in the 118th Congress.

Lopez defeated Democrat Trisha Calvarese and two other minor-party candidates in Tuesday’s contest, which coincided with Colorado’s primary elections, according to The Associated Press. With 127,894 ballots counted as of 7:30 p.m., Lopez led with 57% of the vote to Calvarese’s 36%.

The 4th District includes Douglas County and much of Colorado’s Eastern Plains. After taking office, Lopez will represent the district until a new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2025.

Read more.

State Rep. Gabe Evans wins Republican primary in Colorado’s 8th District

State Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton will be the 2024 Republican nominee in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District as the GOP seeks to flip the state’s most competitive seat from red to blue.

Evans defeated former state Rep. Janak Joshi in Tuesday’s primary election, according to The Associated Press. With 18,729 ballots counted as of 7:30 p.m., Evans had a lead of 76% to 23%.

Evans will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the November general election. The toss-up 8th District encompasses Denver’s northern suburbs as well as southern Weld County.

Read more.

Boebert wins primary election after switching Colorado districts

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is the Republican nominee in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, beating out a handful of conservative hopefuls in the Colorado primary election looking for political opportunity in the open seat once held by long-term Congressman Ken Buck.

The Associated Press called the race at 7:22 p.m. Tuesday.

Boebert defeated state Republican Reps. Mike Lynch of Wellington and Richard Holtorf of Akron, former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, radio host Deborah Flora and businessman Peter Yu.

Read more.

Sean Camacho watch party in high spirits as first vote tallies come in

Party goers at Sean Camacho’s watch party are celebrating as the first vote totals come through in his race against incumbent Rep. Elisabeth Epps in House District 6.

Early results from the secretary of state’s office show Camacho leading with about 65% of the vote at about 7:30 p.m. A little over 10,600 votes have been counted so far.

Supporters at the College Inn on 8th Avenue are cheering as the district’s results scroll across the television screens. Attorney General Phil Weiser and Democratic state Rep. William Lindstedt are in attendance.

“Votes are still coming in, but it’s incredibly humbling that the people of HD6 have voted in such overwhelming numbers so far for change,” he said.

Rep. Boebert appears at watch party in Windsor

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is spending her primary election evening at a watch party in Windsor.

Newsline photographer Andrew Fraieli snapped the image below of the congresswoman at The Grainhouse, where her supporters are gathering as election results come in Tuesday night.

Boebert is currently the representative of the 3rd Congressional District, but she’s running to represent the 4th Congressional District.

Republican Party office hit with bullet in Pueblo

The window of Republican Party headquarters in Pueblo was hit with a bullet, according to party officials. No one was hurt, and police have identified no suspects.

“It is believed that the intent was to send a message, but the way that it was fired on the window, they didn’t want to hurt anybody while they did it,” Michelle Gray, chair of the Pueblo County Republican Party, told Newsline in an interview.

Pueblo police in a post on X referred to the report of damage as having been caused by “some type of projectile,” though no projectile was found at the scene. The post said the damage occurred between 7 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday, but police didn’t receive a report of damage until Monday. The office is located on the 600 block of North Main Street.

Gray said it appeared someone shot low at the window at an angle toward an interior wall. She said she did not know if the intended message was political.

“I just know the way that they shot the window indicates that, yes, they intended to shoot it but they didn’t intend to get anybody hurt,” she said.

Gray added, “My message is, we’ve got work to do, so it didn’t slow us down at all today. This is primary Tuesday,” she said.

About eight or nine volunteers, who knew about the damage, had come to the office to work Tuesday, Gray said.

The party is now looking to install security cameras and an alarm system at the office, she said.

County clerks leader reports smooth election process

Asked if Colorado’s primary election process had experienced any surprises by mid-afternoon Tuesday, Matt Crane said all “seems pretty quiet, which is great news.”

Crane is executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, which supports county clerks throughout the state on elections and other responsibilities.

Coloradans are voting on congressional, statehouse and other races Tuesday.

Crane added that clerks are “bracing for reaction to results.”

Preliminary results will be announced starting after polls close at 7 p.m., and the winner in a close race might not be clear for several days.

Colorado election officials praise multi-county voting center on Election Day

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold touted the “ease” of voting in the state’s elections by highlighting the Tri-County Voting Center on east Colfax Avenue in Denver.

“We’re standing at a voting center where voters from three separate counties can cast their ballot directly into the hands of county election workers,” she told reporters outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Library branch of the Aurora Public Library, standing alongside.

Inside, workers from Arapahoe, Adams and Denver counties collected ballots and helped residents vote. It was the first collaborative multi-county voting center to open in 2023.

It’s in “a walkable area and on an RTD bus route to make it easy for residents of all three counties to vote,” Griswold, a Democrat, said. “That’s what it means to put our voters first.”

She encouraged Colorado voters to go in person to vote or get their primary election ballots into a drop box by 7 p.m. today.

She noted that turnout is a few percentage points lower than it was in 2022. As of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, turnout was about 20%.

“We’re focused on making sure that Coloradans have good information, good access, and then the rest is a variable of what campaigns are up, what seats are up,” she said.

Griswold also addressed the closure of a drop box at the Buelah General Store in Pueblo County due to an ongoing wildfire in the area. She said election officials were on their way to pick up the ballots from the drop box and that the county is still in compliance with the mandated number of drop boxes open on Election Day.

Adams County voting center sees little foot traffic for primary

Election workers at the voting center in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library branch of the Aurora Public Library said in-person voting had been slow as of mid-afternoon Tuesday.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold visited with volunteers after speaking to the press outside, and as she shook hands and met with them, no voter came in to cast a ballot.

Volunteer Alice Robinson was working on a puzzle depicting colorful wooden clogs while waiting for voters to come by. She and other election workers had already finished multiple other puzzles, and two more were stacked at the end of the table.

She said it is her eighth year working elections.

“I wish I had gotten involved earlier,” she said. She wore a lanyard filled with commemorative Election Day pins from the county, including one for Tuesday’s primary that features a silhouette of Bigfoot flashing a peace sign.

“I am a people person,” she said of her motivation to facilitate voting. “But you do have people who come in and are very rude — but I have a way of bringing them out of that.”

Colorado voter turnout remains under 20% for state primary election

Voter turnout in Colorado continues to trend low compared to recent state primary elections.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, 748,344 ballots had been counted for the 2024 state primary election, according to the latest data from the secretary of state’s office. That’s still less than 20% of the active eligible voters registered in the state.

Just over 35% of ballots returned so far have come from unaffiliated voters in Colorado.

The 2024 primary in Colorado only has one contested statewide race — the Democratic primary for an at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents.

In the 4th Congressional District, where voters are also selecting someone to finish former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck’s term, 136,445 voters have turned in their ballots, good for just over 25% of the registered voters in the district.

The secretary of state’s office will provide updates on ballots returned throughout Election Day and on weekdays through July 3.

Voters have until 7 p.m. today to return their mail ballots to a drop box or vote in person.

Ballot drop box in Beulah closed after fire poses threat

A fire 3 miles northwest of Beulah has prompted local officials to close a ballot drop box in the Pueblo County community.

The Oak Ridge Fire had grown to 275 acres and was 0% contained as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to the interagency information source InciWeb.

About 780 people live in Beulah.

Pueblo County officials advised local voters to use an alternative drop box at the Lamb Branch Library, 2525 S. Pueblo Blvd., in Pueblo.

Colorado on track for lowest primary election turnout since 2016

Fewer than 1 in 5 Colorado voters had returned their 2024 primary ballot as of 9:30 a.m. on Election Day, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office said in its latest turnout update.

Statewide returns are still on track to fall short of voter turnout levels for the primary elections in the 2022 midterms, and far short of the turnout for Colorado’s last primary held in a presidential election year in 2020.

The 2024 primary campaign marks the first time since 2012 that an even-year election in Colorado hasn’t featured a statewide contest for governor, U.S. Senate or both. The only statewide office up for grabs this year is an at-large seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents, and only the Democratic primary in that race is being contested.

Barring a dramatic late surge in returns, turnout in Colorado’s 2024 primary will be the state’s lowest since the 2016 election cycle. Only slightly more than 21% of registered Colorado voters participated in the 2016 primary — in large part because unaffiliated voters weren’t allowed to vote in either party’s primary until a ballot measure passed later that year switched the state to an open-primary system.

Unaffiliated voters, who can only return one party’s primary ballot, account for more than a third of the 714,931 ballots returned as of Tuesday morning, according to statistics released by the secretary of state.

That ballot total is roughly evenly split between Democratic and Republican ballots so far. Older voters are dominating the early turnout figures, with over half of all ballots returned by voters aged 65 or older, and nearly three-quarters returned by voters aged 55 or older.

All active registered Colorado voters received their mail ballots beginning the week of June 3. Voters can still return their ballots through a drop box or vote by visiting an in-person polling place by 7:00 p.m. tonight.

Election protection hotline helps Coloradans vote

An election hotline in Colorado helps voters cast ballots by connecting them to a bilingual, nonpartisan call center.

The hotline is provided by Denver-based Just Vote! Colorado Election Protection, which says it’s the largest nonpartisan voter protection program in the state.

Volunteers with the call center work on Election Day — Colorado primary election occur on June 25 — to answer questions, troubleshoot problems and counter misinformation, according to a press release.

The hotline accepts calls and texts at 866-OUR-VOTE, the English number, and 888-VE-Y-VOTA the Spanish number. Other languages, including ASL, are available online.

Just Vote!

Denver election workers report higher ballot drop-offs Tuesday

Elections staff at a drive-thru station on Bannock Street in Denver told a Newsline reporter Tuesday morning that it was their busiest morning of ballot drop-offs in the primary election so far.

The previous busiest day was Monday, they said.

The station is just outside the Denver Elections Division offices on 14th Street.

State election officials had reported low turnout in the days leading up to the Tuesday election. As of  Friday morning, a bit over 530,000 people had returned their ballots, amounting to about 13.8% of active registered voters in the state. Four days before the primary election in 2022, about 15.5% of voters had returned their ballots. In 2020, the most recent primary in a presidential election year, about 26.5% of voters had returned their ballots at that point ahead of Election Day.

Polis encourages Coloradans to vote in state primary election

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis encouraged Coloradans to cast their ballots in the 2024 state primary election Tuesday.

“Voting is the bedrock of democracy. No matter who you are voting for it is important to make your voice heard, and I encourage all Coloradans, no matter their party affiliation, to return their ballot at an official Dropbox or vote at their polling place,” Polis, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Colorado has the best election system in the country and Coloradans can be confident knowing our vote counts.”

Voters have until 7 p.m. today to return their mail ballots to a drop box or vote in person.

What to know about primary Election Day

It’s primary Election Day.

Coloradans select candidates today to represent their party on the general election ballot in November. Congressional, statehouse and other races will be decided, and in districts that lean strongly Democratic or Republican, the winner Tuesday will likely be the ultimate winner in November.

If you haven’t voted yet, you can do so up to 7 p.m.

• Find a list here of candidates throughout the state who appear on primary ballots this year.
• Here is a search tool to determine what state Senate district and state House district you live in.
• Here is a search tool to determine what congressional district you live in.
• Find general voting and election information here.

Follow Colorado Newsline’s website and on X and Facebook for updates and preliminary results, which will be announced starting after 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Democrats pitch their strengths in a Boebert matchup during 4th District forum

With one month until the primary election, Democratic candidates in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District are making a case for their strengths against U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in the general election.

All three candidates invoked the controversial congresswoman, and political extremism in general, in their remarks Wednesday during a virtual candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Colorado.

The candidates, Trisha Calvarese, Ike McCorkle and John Padora, are seeking the Democratic nomination in a district that strongly leans Republican. Though Boebert has not secured the Republican nomination, Democrats are anticipating her primary victory.

Read more.

Ability to afford housing a top concern for young Colorado voters

Young voters in Colorado are worried about their ability to afford rent across the state, but they haven’t heard enough candidates talk about helping them do so.

Colorado has a primary election on June 25. In the November general election, Coloradans will vote on every U.S. and state representative, some state senators, and a variety of ballot initiatives, on top of the presidential election. As many young people are preparing to vote in some of their first elections, they want to vote for candidates who will prioritize their needs, which they discussed in responses to a survey and interviews conducted by Newsline.

Read more.