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Castle Pines Growth Spurs Redistricting and Campaign Finance Changes
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Castle Pines Growth Spurs Redistricting and Campaign Finance Changes

By Nicholas Fogleman | Colorado Politics Castle Pines officials are moving forward with proposed changes to the city’s election system that would make it easier for candidates to raise money and reshape district boundaries to accommodate rapid growth.  During a City Council meeting Tuesday, the council discussed redistricting municipal voter districts and approved the first reading of an ordinance that would increase campaign contribution limits for local races. As a home-rule municipality, has the authority to establish its own campaign finance rules. The council approved a proposal on first reading to raise the limit on contributions to candidate committees to $2,000, matching limits in Greenwood Village and Lone Tree. Under curre...
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Denver Voters Face Xcel Decision but 3% Utility Fee May Remain Either Way
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Local

Denver Voters Face Xcel Decision but 3% Utility Fee May Remain Either Way

By Nico Brambila | Colorado Politics Xcel Energy’s slogan makes this promise: “Our energy. Your power.” Denver voters will have the power in November when they decide whether to approve a new 20-year franchise agreement with the utility. But even if they say no, they will continue paying the 3% franchise fee on their electric and natural gas bills. The reason? A provision on page 22 of Denver’s existing 20-year agreement with Xcel says that, if the franchise is not renewed, the utility must continue paying the city an amount equal to the franchise fee as long as Xcel continues using Denver’s public rights-of-way to provide service. The agreement expires Dec. 31. Colorado law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to order utilities to recover muni...
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Colorado Lawmaker Alleges Secret Proceedings Denied Her Due Process Rights
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Colorado Lawmaker Alleges Secret Proceedings Denied Her Due Process Rights

By Deborah Grigsby | Colorado Politics State Rep. Brandi Bradley has sued a workplace harassment panel, alleging its proceedings against her were retaliatory and that the panel exceeded its authority in finding violations and recommending sanctions against her. The lawsuit, filed Sept. 17 in Denver District Court, names the House Workplace Harassment Committee as a governmental body as the sole defendant. The panel is comprised of Reps. Jennifer Bacon, Matt Soper, Mary Bradfield, Matthew Martinez, Chris Richardson and Rebekah Stewart. Bradley is seeking an injunction and judicial review of the committee’s actions, alleging she may have been punished for protected legislative speech and that the committee violated the Open Meetings Law because its deliberation...
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What Amendment 87 Could Mean for Broncos Players and Colorado Employers
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Commentary, State

What Amendment 87 Could Mean for Broncos Players and Colorado Employers

By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Colorado Politics Do you want the Broncos to win the Super Bowl? Then you’d better hope Amendment 87 — which brings back Colorado’s economy-strangling “graduated” income tax — loses at the ballot box this fall. Seriously. Forget Republicans and Democrats. Forget tax policy. This is about Xs and Os — and whether Denver can afford the players who execute them and win a Super Bowl. Every successful business has star employees: rare talents without whom the enterprise simply doesn’t work. Same goes for an NFL franchise. Every business has star employees the whole operation is built around. Sometimes that star is the chief executive. No Henry Ford, no assembly line, no affordable car. No Steve Jobs, no iPhone — foldable or otherwis...
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Weiser Files 82nd Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over Immigration Rule
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Weiser Files 82nd Lawsuit Against Trump Administration Over Immigration Rule

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Colorado has filed another lawsuit against the Trump administration, this time targeting a rule that allows immigration agents to consider more factors in deciding green card applications. Joining 21 other states and the District of Columbia, Colorado’s state attorney general said the lawsuit aims to halt the Trump administration’s new public charge rule, which, he insisted, would allow immigration officials to “punish” immigrants for lawful use of public benefits.   The proposed rule change centers on “public charge,” a term dating to the Immigration Act of 1882 that allows the government to deny a green card to a person likely to become primarily dependent on the government for assistance. Immigration officers have weighed on...
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Frizell Makes the Case for Education Reform Without Shortchanging Taxpayers
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Colorado Politics, Approved, Commentary, State

Frizell Makes the Case for Education Reform Without Shortchanging Taxpayers

By Lisa Frizell | Commentary, Colorado Politics If we truly want to fix Colorado, we must respect taxpayers, demand accountability and prioritize classroom results.  Proposition NN fails the test.  The far left put forth this measure, presenting it as the only way to fund public schools. Colorado voters should look past the title and see what Prop NN really does.  The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights says money collected above the state’s spending cap goes back to the taxpayers. Proposition NN asks voters to increase the spending limitation and lets the state keep all the money above the spending cap, money that would otherwise go back to Colorado families.  The legislature’s nonpartisan staff estimated Proposition NN...
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Crank Asks DOJ to Investigate Outside Groups After Violence at Denver Anti-ICE Walkout
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Crank Asks DOJ to Investigate Outside Groups After Violence at Denver Anti-ICE Walkout

By Nico Brambila | Colorado Politics U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank is asking the Justice Department to investigate violence at last week’s anti-ICE student walkout in Denver, including whether outside organizations helped organize, fund, or influence the demonstration. Crank sent a letter Tuesday requesting the investigation to Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. “Videos and on-the-ground reporting show that the Denver walkout turned violent, with assaults on journalists and counterprotesters, raising serious questions about whether participants were unlawfully prevented from exercising their own constitutional rights,” Crank wrote. “The growing mobilization of leftist and socialist groups like the Democratic...
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Despite Missed Deadline, Judge Orders Libertarian Sean Vadney Onto Colorado Secretary of State Ballot
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Despite Missed Deadline, Judge Orders Libertarian Sean Vadney Onto Colorado Secretary of State Ballot

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics A Denver judge ruled Friday that the Colorado Libertarian Party’s pick for secretary of state will appear on the November ballot after the party’s original nominee withdrew one day after the deadline to replace minor party candidates. Following a hearing on Thursday, Denver District Court Judge Adam J. Espinosa approved a motion filed by Sean Vadney asking that state election officials list the 26-year-old Highlands Ranch resident as the Libertarian nominee, concluding that the party met the appropriate “substantial compliance” standard with legal requirements for parties to fill ballot vacancies. Vadney will face Democrat Amanda Gonzalez, the Jefferson County clerk, and Republican James Wiley, a former Libertarian, for the office h...
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Federal Judge Pauses Boulder County Gun Ban Case Pending Supreme Court Ruling
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Federal Judge Pauses Boulder County Gun Ban Case Pending Supreme Court Ruling

By Michael Karlik | Colorado Politics A federal judge agreed on Friday that she would await the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in an upcoming Second Amendment case before she addresses the constitutionality of similar gun ordinances in multiple Boulder County jurisdictions. Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the National Association for Gun Rights, and several individual Coloradans filed suit in 2022 over local firearms ordinances that generally prohibited the sale, transfer, and possession of large-capacity magazines and semi-automatic guns deemed “assault weapons,” with some variation. As defendants, they named the town of Superior, the cities of Louisville and Boulder, and Boulder County. In July 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang clarified which claims could ...
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Rural Hospitals Deploy AI to Fight AI as Claim Denials Add Financial Pressure
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Colorado Politics, Approved, State

Rural Hospitals Deploy AI to Fight AI as Claim Denials Add Financial Pressure

By Thelma Grimes | Colorado Politics Editor’s Note: Colorado’s healthcare system is entering a period of accelerating instability — a “tsunami,” as multiple leaders describe it — driven by collapsing hospital finances, shrinking Medicaid reimbursements, disappearing services and a political fight over who is responsible for this unraveling. Healthcare Freefall is a multipart series examining how Colorado arrived at this moment, what H.R. 1 will do next and why communities across the state are bracing for deeper shocks. Rural hospitals in Colorado say they are being pulled into a technological fight they didn’t choose. Hospitals said insurance companies have deployed artificial intelligence to deny claims faster and more efficiently, and they are scrambling to adopt the...
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