Until the election of Barack Obama, the people of Colorado had voted Republican in every U.S. Presidential Election since 1964, with the exception of 1992 when a plurality voted for Bill Clinton, (possibly due to the effect of Ross Perot's candidacy.) Conversely, Colorado has held a Democratic governor for 22 of the past 30 years.
Colorado has a history of voter initiatives which severely restrict the power of state government. Some of these initiatives include Term Limits on Legislators (1990), TABOR (Tax Payer's Bill of Rights) (1992), and Amendment 23, passed in 2000, which set a fixed percentage of the budget for K-12 education. Voters passed Referendum C in 2005, amending some restrictions of TABOR and Amendment 23.[1]
Colorado supported George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004, by a margin of less than 5%. Republicans have generally held control of state-wide offices and the state legislature since the 1960s. In 2004, while Bush won the state's electors, Democrat, Ken Salazar won a U.S. Senate seat and his brother John Salazar won a seat in the U.S. House, while the Democrats captured both chambers of the state legislature. Most recently, in 2006, Democrat Bill Ritter won the governorship by a 16-point margin while the Democrats expanded their majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and Democrat Ed Perlmutter captured another U.S. House seat. In 2010, however, Republicans made big gains in the state. They won the statewide races of Attorney General, Secretary of State and Treasurer. Republicans also defeated two incumbent Democratic House members to hold a 4-3 majority in the state's House delegation. Furthermore, Republicans took control of the Colorado House of Representatives. This occurred even as Democrat John Hickenlooper won the governorship, albeit over weak and divided opposition, and Democratic Senator Michael Bennet was re-elected. Also as a result of the 2010 gubernatorial election the Constitution Party gained major party status as it passed the 10% popular vote threshold, putting it in an equal legal position with the Democratic and Republican parties in terms of rights under state election law.
Colorado was a battleground state in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. Obama won Colorado, by a margin of 8%, with 53% of the vote to McCain's 45%.[2]
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As of the 2010 election, the State Senate is controlled by Democrats with 20 seats, and 15 seats to the Republicans. In the Colorado House of Representatives, the Republican Party holds 33 seats to the Democratic Party's 32.
Democrats Mark Udall and Michael Bennet are Colorado's senior and junior United States senators, respectively. Udall was elected in 2008, and Bennet was appointed by Governor Bill Ritter in January 2009 to succeed Ken Salazar, who resigned following his confirmation by the Senate as United States Secretary of the Interior in the Barack Obama administration. As of January 2009[update], Colorado's Senate delegation had the least average seniority of any state's, with Udall 87th in terms of seniority and Bennet 98th.
Colorado has 7 seats in the United States House of Representatives, four held by Republicans and three by Democrats.
Article II of the Constitution of Colorado enacted August 1, 1876, the Bill of Rights provides:
Section 1. Vestment of political power. All political power is vested in and derived from the people; all government, of right, originates from the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.[3][4]
Section 2. People may alter or abolish form of government − proviso. The people of this state have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves, as a free, sovereign and independent state; and to alter and abolish their constitution and form of government whenever they may deem it necessary to their safety and happiness, provided, such change be not repugnant to the constitution of the United States.[3][5]
In addition to providing for voting[6][7] the people of Colorado have reserved initiative of laws and referendum of laws enacted by the legislature to themselves[8][9]
...the people reserve to themselves the power to propose laws and amendments to the constitution and to enact or reject the same at the polls independent of the general assembly and also reserve power at their own option to approve or reject at the polls any act or item, section, or part of any act of the general assembly.[10]
and provided for recall of office holders.[11]
Initiatives and referred laws are considered by the electorate at every general election in Colorado. Many are housekeeping measures or lack substantial public support, but matters of great public concern are also considered such as TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, enacted in 1992, which amended Article X of the Colorado Constitution to the effect that any tax increase resulting in the increase of governmental revenues at a rate faster than the combined rate of population increase and inflation as measured by either the cost of living index at the state level, or growth in property values at the local level, would be subjected to a popular vote in a referendum.
Issues to be considered in 2010 include proposition 101 which would repeal unpopular increases in car registration fees as well as phone and, possibly, income taxes. Amendment 60 would cut property taxes and Amendment 61 would prohibit state and limit local borrowing. Many Colorado officeholders oppose these measures which they fear have substantial public support.[12][13]
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, the San Luis Valley and other areas in southern Colorado with a substantial Hispanic population 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 rural parts of the state outside of the San Luis Valley and other rural areas with a substantial Hispanic population 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.
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