Considering the controversy and momentum following the presidential election results this past Tuesday, it was easy to overlook the results on the amendments and local government in Colorado. While a Trump presidency will no doubt affect everyone, the changes in Colorado will have a more immediate and, hopefully, more individual repercussions. Some of these changes were expected with little debate; others succeeded or lost by only a slim margin.
Michael Bennet (D) easily won re-election over Darryl Glenn (R) in the U.S. Senate race for Colorado. According to the Denver Post, Bennet received 49 percent of the vote with 1,150,911 votes and Glenn took 46 percent with 1,077,783 votes. With this win, Bennet keeps alive the hope of the Democrats to retake the chamber and Colorado’s overall lean towards blue.
All of Colorado’s U.S. representatives will keep their seats after the votes were tallied Tuesday night. Doug Lamborn (R) won from El Paso county with a whopping 61.9 percent to his Democratic challenger Misty Plowright’s 31.1 percent. It was a tight race for El Paso District 3 County Commissioner, but ultimately Stan VanderWerf won. According to The Gazette, VanderWerf won the vote with 53.25 percent to Electra Johnson’s 46.75 percent.
The majority of State House and State Senate elections went as expected, with all the GOP candidates winning by a large margin, except in the State House District 17 and 18 results. District 17 county election returns found Tony Exum (D) winning with 49.3 percent over Kit Roupe (R) with 41.5 percent. In District 18, Pete Lee (D) won re-election with 53.3 percent of the vote over Cameron Forth’s (R) 39.2 percent. When asked about how he feels about his recent victory Lee said, “Obviously I’m clearly honored and gratified to return to the State House, and particularly gratified by the overwhelming size of the victory.” Lee looks forward to continuing his work on criminal justice reform and the economic development between education and industrial work. Lee calls Colorado College a “terrific citizen of our community” and is “pleased to represent” CC students. In this time of political polarization and uncertainty, Lee wants Coloradans to know that “when Coloradans send us to Denver, we get things done on behalf of the people. The legislator is effective and corporative and we pass plus or minus 400 pieces of legislation with bi-partisanship.”
The majority of amendment results were distinguished by a wide voting margin, including Amendment 70 to increase minimum wage (‘Yes’ won by almost 10 percent) and Amendment 69, the State Healthcare System, where ‘No’ won by over 50 percent of the vote. Proposition 106, Medical Aid in Dying, succeeded more than anticipated, passing with 64.5 percent of the vote. According to NPR, Colorado is now the sixth state to pass a measure allowing terminally ill patients to obtain life-ending medications and had to go through two similar measures that failed to make it through the state legislature.
Amendment 71, Constitutional Initiatives, passed with 56.3 percent of the vote. This initiative has been named “Raise the Bar” and will, according to The Denver Post, “require more rigorous measures to land a citizen initiative on the ballot and then require more than a simple majority to pass it.” Proposition 108, Expand Unaffiliated Voting, passed by a margin of 5 percent. This amendment, along with proposition 107, would give unaffiliated voters a say in partisan primaries.
Amendment T, No Involuntary Servitude, was the closest Amendment on the ballot, with 50.7 percent voting ‘Yes’ and 49.2 percent voting ‘No.’ Although votes are still being sent in, the majority have been counted and see Coloradans leaning towards ‘Yes’ by a thin margin. Amendment T, if passed, would eliminate an 1876 reference in the Colorado Constitution which reads, “There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime.” The amendment concerns removing outdated language from the constitution and wouldn’t have any effect on Prison work programs or community service pensions.
While some may find it difficult to be positive about this past week considering the results of the Presidential election, Coloradans can find comfort in the ground gained at the state level. Coloradans may differ in opinion on each election and amendment passed, but there’s no question that some progressive change is in the works in Colorado.