Before we begin this week's post-election discussion, I want to acknowledge the terrible tragedy in Lakewood Thursday night.

One Lakewood police agent was killed, three others wounded in a shooting aboard an RTD bus.

Another person was injured.

The suspect died.

Our thoughts are with the fallen agent's family, the injured officers, the law enforcement community and everyone affected by this tragedy.

And now to this defining week in Colorado politics.

So much has been said since election night.

But as the headlines settle, what are we really learning about Colorado and the direction our state is heading?

Let's get started with this week's Colorado Inside Out.

Hi, everyone, I'm Kyle Dyer.

Let me get right to introducing you to this week's insider panel.

We start with Patty Calhoun, founder and editor emeritus of Westword.

Eric Sanderson, columnist with Colorado Politics and the Denver and Colorado Springs Gazette.

Amber McReynolds, one of the country's leading experts on election administration and policy, and the former director of Elections for the City and County of Denver.

And Kristi Burton Brown, the executive vice president at Advance Colorado and former chair of the Colorado Republican Party.

Colorado's political landscape is changing, and perhaps the most striking results from this election came in the fifth Congressional District.

Democrat Jessica Killen defeated Republican incumbent Jeff Crain, making history as the first Democrat ever selected to represent the Colorado Springs district.

Democrat Mattie Root now defeated Republican incumbent Gabe Evans in the eighth Congressional District on election night.

And in the heavily Republican fourth district, Democrat Eileen Law Backer mounted a serious challenge to incumbent Lauren Boebert.

Boebert campaign says it's investigating what it calls very unusual voting patterns, but hasn't explained what those are, and the campaign expects a recount.

Meanwhile, in the third district, Republican incumbent Jeff Hurd moved ahead of Democrat Dwayne Romero after trailing early in the count.

In another closely contested race here in Colorado.

So what are we learning about Colorado voters, especially in the areas of the state that have traditionally leaned Republican?

Patty, I will start with you this week again.

Well, we are first celebrating the 250th anniversary of this country with a big birthday present for the blue voters.

Here, Victor Marks did no one any favors.

You wonder if Barb Kirk Meyer had been the Republican candidate.

I think she would have helped.

She might have helped some people pull it out because Republicans would have had more pride in the top candidates here.

kill him was a surprise because even though that district is not that old, it's still the first Democrat to be elected.

There is incredible.

And Lauren Boebert, what we have to remember is it's not unusual activity.

It's an unusual candidate.

Boebert could lose this all by herself.

People just didn't want her representing that district.

And they're out there with Scott Kessler.

Bless his heart for former Secretary of State who should be ashamed of himself for doing this.

But they're out looking, literally a need for a needle in a haystack.

There are 3000 below as of this morning.

They're desperate to win, but I don't think they're going to pull it out.

Colorado really was just a microcosm of the country on Tuesday night.

There's a saying from years and years ago, former Speaker tip O'Neill made it famous that all politics is local.

I think that's been turned on its head these days.

All politics is national.

In Colorado.

Yes.

I mean, we can stop talking about different gradations of blue.

I think I've sort of been famous for saying, are we cobalt blue or sapphire blue or periwinkle or blue or this or that?

No, we're just solid navy blue where it's blue, as any state on either coast is these days.

Well, I think the real story in Colorado Springs, and that's where I grew up a long time ago, is the that is one of the fastest growing, fastest changing in terms of the political complexion of that time, fastest changing locales in the country.

I mean, with now with a Nigerian immigrant as mayor, with a Democrat as the US Congress person.

And to Patty's point, no, it's not an ancient district, but that district is now in its sixth decade.

And, Killen will be the first Democrat to hold that office.

It's noteworthy.

Jeff Hurd will probably be the only senior Republican elected official in the state of Colorado when the dust settles.

Amber.

Well, I think first, as Colorado tends to do, demonstrated significant independence.

voters have high expectations not only in this state but in the country.

And they are concerned about high costs, the high cost of living, keeping their families safe.

And you can see that on the ballot in lots of different issues, lots of candidates that that won or didn't win.

I think the the other thing I'll just say is, you know, most of the seats in Colorado are safe in terms of the legislature, like most of the election, is actually in the primary.

So we still need to think about how we make that primary, more accessible to more people.

Because at the end of the day, that's where the election is decided in a lot of these races.

And then the final thing is the county clerks, as always, do an extraordinary job with, with with how they run elections here, the safety and security of our elections, how they communicate, whether you look at Carly Copper's and Weld or Molly and Boulder, Tiffany and La Plata, they are all out communicating, inviting people into their offices.

And this happened across the state.

It is unfortunate to see the former secretary of state, former governor candidate Scott Gessler, making those kind of comments when the clerks are performing well, as they always do.

Christy, as the former head of the GOP in Colorado, what do you think Republican leaders need to be learning?

Yeah, I think that's a great question.

And I think, to Eric's point, that all politics has become national.

I also think it's worth it to look at history and see this often happens.

Too many presidents, midterm elections.

But in Colorado, I do think you see a path for, sometimes issues that affect kids, public safety, government transparency.

Those remain issues even in a major blue tsunami year where you see voters went conservative when they saw ballot measures they thought helped kids, they voted for them when they saw ballot measures that they thought, put public safety in place.

Again, in a way, the legislature took it away in Colorado.

They voted for it.

So I think those are some lessons Republicans can take away.

Voters are still with us.

There.

But then you look across the nation and in Colorado, and you see that voters who are swing voters, they want to see Republicans who live up to their values for the Family Values Party, we should be running family values candidates if we say we live by certain principles.

Are every single one of our candidates should be people of character?

I mean, Jeff Krank absolutely is.

So just because you are, it doesn't mean you're always going to win.

But what I do think this will provide is an opportunity over the next two years for Colorado and the country to see if they actually like a democratic socialism, because a lot of those candidates, the very extreme candidates on the Democrat side, one, what will people actually think of that?

Yeah.

I'm curious.

A lot of people are asking, why is it taking so long some of these special congressional races, but some of the measures to what is happening when you see 95% is counted for like two days, what is going on behind the scenes?

Yeah, I mean, they're finishing basically the kind of tail of the election I call it.

So if a voter didn't sign their ballot or if their signature didn't match, or if they need to provide extra ID, all those cures happened through next week and there's a deadline next week for that to happen.

And then the ballot itself was extremely long.

So, And then voters drop off really late in Colorado, we saw a big uptick Monday and Tuesday as usual.

And so there's a lot left to process okay.

All right.

Let's talk about who will be sworn in at the state Capitol in January.

As expected, governor elect Phil Weiser, one easily with the Associated Press calling the race for him pretty shortly thereafter.

The polls close, right.

Democrats are coming out of this election with super majorities in both the Colorado State House and the state Senate.

This, too, could be called seismic, and there is no time to waste with the selection of legislative leaders this week.

Eric, what do you expect from the legislative process this year with Democrats kind of taking over?

I think Phil Weiser has been on record as saying, and he is absolutely correct that he would be better off as governor elect, soon to be governor and the state would be better off to have a viable, sensible opposition party.

He would have been better off to be challenged in this race, to have his ideas challenged, to have a real debate on the issues.

And that's going to be what's lacking in Colorado right now.

All the debate is going to be within the Democratic caucus.

The Republicans in the legislature are essentially irrelevant.

Sometimes you'll need your vote on this or that issue, but all the debates are going to be on the Democratic side of the aisle.

Ultimately.

That's unfortunate.

One party government, whether it's one party red government or one party blue government, doesn't tend to be the best kind of government.

The wiser is going to be.

His big challenge in office is going to be sort of governing his own party.

He's going to have to find the brake pedal as well as the gas pedal, because so many in his party, it's all gas pedal all the time, and he cannot be the governor that presides over the, you know, the demise or the downturn of the Colorado business community, business climate, fiscal welfare, etc.

that's going to be his challenge with a supermajority.

What he says could be overridden.

Right.

So that's going to be tough.

Well, I was you know, I think the other interesting thing like it looks like Weezer's over 60%.

I'm sure he's going to remain there.

But a couple of the ballot initiatives actually outperformed.

So 84 was one that, and I think it shows that Coloradans deeply care about their voting system.

So, They love it like it's very popular.

And so I think, you know, they're stories like this all over the ballot, that we, that we can see.

And it will also, I think, be, provide a story to Governor Wise or, and to the legislature itself on what people care about.

Christy mentioned, you know, some of the public safety and kids issues passed.

Amendment 85 didn't hit the constitutional threshold, but it showed that the majority of voters in Colorado were tired of their ballots being so confusing.

And so we should focus on how we make it easier for ballot issues to be written and how they can be more understandable.

Those are things the legislature could take up, especially when you look and see how important they are to voters.

Christy.

Right.

I mean government transparency.

That's something that I think is going to be even more important when you do have one party supermajority controlling a government is you have to make sure those transparency and accountability marks are in it.

And I think if Democrats in the state want to, you know, remain in power, which I'm sure they do, every party does, they should hold themselves accountable within their party.

I think that's a place for Governor Weiser to step in and already his party is angry with him, with the Democrat chairman threatening to censure him for his opposition to amendment 87, which is insane if you ask me.

Like very reasonable Democrats disagree with that, including Governor Polis and, Ambassador Ken Salazar.

Like that was a debated issue.

And There's a lot of problems with how 87 was written.

And so I think it's issues like that that Governor Schweizer should take a look at and bring his party along to actually make things good for businesses, for the citizens.

And please change public safety things in the legislature instead of forcing people to do it on the ballot.

We're one of only four states that have increased in fentanyl overdose deaths when the nation's death rate is dropping because the legislature refused to take actions.

So people took it into their hands and changed things.

Okay.

All right.

And, Patty, well, we are going to be watching what the legislature is doing.

A lot wiser is able to do with the supermajority, because otherwise, let's all remember the ballot will be even longer to, two years, four years from now.

Christy, keep it down if you can, because people who can't, if the Republicans can't get their platforms through their their projects through, they will take it to the voters.

That doesn't mean it's going to pass.

I mean, we certainly know that many of the advanced Colorado plans didn't go through, but we also see citizens initiatives went through.

So why is there's got some real challenges on his hands.

He's already said he's going to look into some of the provisions of the fentanyl bill of the transgender bill.

But the business issue is huge, and you can see in his in his transition team, he is looking backwards as well as forwards.

He pulled up Romer, Salazar, Pena are all leading that transition team as well as people who are much more in the public eye now, like Alan Salazar at Denver Water.

But they're going to have to be transparent.

People will have a lot more faith in the government if they see where their Tabor refund money is going to go instead.

I checked in with Jesse Paul, legislative reporter with the Colorado Sun, about what we can expect.

So I think there will be kind of a mad dash at the beginning with new members, with the new governor to kind of introduce these bills and maybe test the waters a little bit.

It should be a pretty chaotic legislative session, if I had to guess, chaotic.

When you met with the governor the day after the election, the governor elect, what was his feel?

Probably exhaustion, but also glad that it's over.

But what did you what did you get from him?

You know him so well.

I mean, mostly tired.

I think he was still kind of recovering from from a late night.

But overall, you know, I think that he's gotten a bit ambitious and agenda and he's kind of coming into it with a lot of hope.

I've covered the legislature and two governors now, and I know that that hope, can last for a little while.

But then the job kind of hits you in the face.

And what's up, Mike Tyson?

You know, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.

And, I think how a governor reacts when they get punched in the face is, is really important.

red, blue or purple?

Colorado voters have a reputation for thinking independently.

Some Democratic measures did well.

Some more conservative measures, as Christy mentioned, did well.

now.

Governor elect Phil Wiser is reportedly, as we've discussed, talking with lawmakers about whether some of these measures that just pass needed adjustments.

So let's take a closer look at what did pass, what didn't, what's next?

What surprised us, what the results tell us about what people want.

You kind of mentioned the storyline.

It's very full.

It is full.

And I think I think, definitely, government is at an all time low in terms of trust, federal government being the worst state government, slightly better local government, better yet.

So, you know, figuring out a way to read the story the voters just told everybody create a situation where all Coloradans can, you know, have their ideas and whatnot heard, regardless of party.

I mean, that's the other to me story about this.

This has been the case for a number of elections.

Now.

The biggest block was independent voters like we're well over 50% independent in the state.

That matters.

And that's the majority of the people that are voting on all of these issues and all of these candidates, they have high expectations.

They should have high expectations.

And, you know, the government needs to serve them effectively.

And, you know, so seeing more transparency, how are we going to solve the greatest challenges before us is really important for not only the legislature, but certainly governor Wiser and and leaders that will be working on these issues.

Christy, as Patty mentioned, your organization Advanced Colorado didn't fare as well as you had hoped.

So what's the what's the day after at Advance Colorado?

Like what's the next steps?

Well, for one thing, I think you know, all of us who work at advance, we have families.

We think life is more than just politics.

So, there's always a reason to get up the next morning and keep fighting for those families.

And I think that's something a lot of people in politics share.

Like we care about our families, we care about our neighbors, we care about our friends.

And we don't just do it for a job.

We do it because we deeply care about these issues and making Colorado better.

So I think no matter who governs Colorado, whether it's a super majority or a minority or whatever any particular party has, if you care about issues and making people's lives better, you're going to get up and keep doing it.

And so I think you're going to see people advance Colorado continue to keep doing things that we believe are good for the state.

We talk to voters all across the state.

Many of these issues that we ran started out extremely popular.

And then you do have other money from out of state.

Come in and try and bring them down.

And sometimes it's successful, especially in a huge blue wave year.

But I think I'm actually I like the elections that happened with leadership, actually, on the Democrat side in the Senate.

I think it's positive that we'll see James Coleman return as, president.

I know Dylan Roberts got elected to I forget which position, but a high one.

Majority leader, thank you.

And I think they will help possibly keep their party in check a little bit.

They are not Democrats, socialists.

And I think that check and balance in their own party is going to be so important.

Patty the other ballot measure votes were fascinating.

You could kind of see nationally transgender is still such a huge issue.

And it was a huge issue in Trump's election last time.

It was big here.

So there are going to be some issues left over from these measures.

the fentanyl thing also has some issues that people will be working on.

But what you do like, whether you agree with the outcome, is that Coloradans can pick and choose.

They really look through the all those measures and they decided, we love the outdoors.

We are going to pass 37, 87, 37.

We're going to pass that change.

We love education.

We are going to pass and and and just hope it works so people are able to really follow.

But the way measures are written, we know there are unintended consequences and we will find those out.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well the theory behind Advance Colorado and I'm sitting next to one of the key people there, but I'll go ahead and put it out.

There has been that even as the state has become more and more blue, and Republicans have been less and less able to be competitive in these big time Partizan races, that the state still had a conservative streak on a lot of issues, and that that could be manifested through ballot measures.

And to their credit, Advanced Colorado has had a a fair amount of success over the years.

It hasn't been a 100% victory record, but a fair amount of success.

I think the magnitude of the blue wave this year was such that that theory didn't no no longer held in this election cycle.

That doesn't mean that can't, can't, have power again going forward.

But this election cycle, it was not just a tough year in terms of Partizan races.

It was also a tough year for conservatives in terms of ballot measures, in terms of, Governor Weiser's comments about fixing or adjusting or looking at some of these measures that were recently passed, I guess I'd introduce a bit of a note of caution if I was to be a Democratic legislative leader or our next governor, I wouldn't be in a big rush to change what the voters just voted on.

I think you have other priorities to deal with.

All right.

Looking ahead, Republicans in Colorado facing big questions about where the party is going from here, what has to change the message, the leadership, the strategy, But I'm just curious.

I mean, you're so optimistic and well rounded, but there has to be a lot of.

And we're thinking like, what's going on here?

What do we have to do?

Of course.

And I think, Kyle, you know, whenever you live in a state that is run by the other party, it's always a tougher fight than if you, you know, if in Alabama or I would say Mississippi, but not right now.

You know, then the other party's asking the same question.

Right.

And so I think it's good for people in general to say, what kind of leaders do really represent our policies.

How and I've had a great opportunity on the state Board of Education to get to know, some Democrats who care about the same issues I do education our kids, and we come together sometimes and we vote the same way.

And other times we vote differently.

Sometimes we do it for the same reasons.

Sometimes we do it for different reasons.

But I really think emphasizing the areas where we can make life better for people because people in general, right now, if you look at the exit polling, are very, very concerned with inflation, affordability and part of the issue with the swing voter set, whether you look in Colorado or across the nation, is whoever is in charge specifically, nationally, there's a big backlash against them.

If people don't like what's going on in their life right now, I would say it's a little bit of a cultural problem to say, oh, whoever's in charge is making my life bad.

And if I just flip who's in charge no matter what, whether or not they can prove that they can make my life better, I'm just going to let someone else.

It doesn't always prove out to be the solution.

People hope that it is.

But I think Republicans would do themselves a huge favor to nominate someone like Marco Rubio in 2028.

Get us back to a party of character, of family values, where our leaders live up to the principles that we try to implement.

I think that would go a long way for Republicans nationally.

Well, traveling back in time, we have to remember that in 2002, Bill Owens was reelected governor, Republican by more than he won by a greater majority than, Phil Weiser just did.

We had five Republican congressional members.

We were about to have seven.

I mean, we were about we had five out of seven were Republicans.

We had two Republican senators, thanks to Ben Nighthorse Campbell switching over from Democrat.

So this has not always been a Democratic state.

And in fact, four very wealthy Coloradans got together and said, we have to figure out how to make Colorado bluer.

I mean, at the time, it was deep, deep red and they worked it out.

So the question is, can there be a blueprint like that again?

Can the Republicans pull together enough?

We don't know.

I talked to Dick Wadhams about it.

He is not very optimistic.

Certainly not for the next two years.

He's been the Colorado Republican Party chair.

Like Christie.

Not until Trump's gone.

And you can really make some changes with the top candidates, but that Denver did not.

I mean, Colorado did not used to be a blue state as recently as two decades ago.

It was bright red.

And we have to remember that not that long ago, not that long ago.

like, it's like an addict has to hit bottom.

And if this is not bottom for Republicans, then what does bottom look like?

This has to be the bottom.

The problem is that as that party has gotten smaller and smaller, the more true believers have had a larger and larger voice.

And as the true believers have had a larger and larger voice in a smaller entity, you keep chasing other people, more moderate people away, and you keep chasing them, across the aisle.

let's give Governor Weiser a chance, okay?

He is a fundamentally good human being.

I won't agree with him on every issue.

I don't agree with him on every issue.

give Ken Buck, former congressman, former Republican Party chair, along with Christie and Dick Wadhams and other we mentioned, you know, I give him credit that he came out and said, I'm supporting, Phil Wiser here, even though we don't agree on a lot of things just because the Republican candidate was unpalatable.

Let's look for opportunities across the aisle.

Okay.

And lastly, what I so Governor Wise or the other day in his in his speech said there's more that unites us than divides us.

And I think he, is right on the mark.

That is how Colorado has always been.

And I'll also just go back to Colorado is not a blue state if it's just purely based on voter registration.

It is an independent state.

And it's been that it's been growing in that direction.

Democrats have lost margin.

Republicans have lost margin purely on voter registration statistics.

And both parties are slightly over 20% now.

And the bulk of people are it's 52% independent and so I think that that matters about, you know, how the legislature looks at all the different issues, but it also matters when we talk about primary, because the primary had not even 30%.

All the seats are safe.

And to me, that's not what Colorado should.

That's not competitive in the way that it should be.

So, you know, my hope is that we can have a lot more conversations about how to strengthen that system so that more people participate in that kind of first round primary process.

In addition, obviously, to the great turnout in the general election.

But, it's really important that we, you know, continue to respect voters and, and figure out policies that that work for them.

And I think the primary, system, I think tidal bore, I think there's a whole bunch of areas of, of, of, of work that needs to be done to make our system better.

Okay.

Let's now go to the highs and lows of this week.

It could be campaign election related or other something that's good or bad that you witnessed this week.

They want to share.

We'll start in a low notes.

We can hide it with you.

Patty.

Sad loss in Denver Steve Kaplan, former city attorney.

We have to remember that all we're talking about the elected candidates.

But there are so many people like like the people in the clerk's office, like our city attorney's, like all the other public servants who work so hard and make such a difference.

And Steve Kaplan was really a groundbreaking city attorney for Frederico Pena, worked on so many tricky issues.

The airport, I mean, he was there for major league ball, so many things that changed the face of Denver for the better.

And so that's a sad loss this week.

All right.

Ditto to Patty.

Steve was just a fine human being in every respect.

But in terms of a disgrace or a low point, I have to give this one to myself.

In a number of forms.

I don't think I did it on this show, but in a number of public forums.

When asked about the fourth Congressional District, the Boebert Laubach race, I opined that a Democrat would win that district when two other things happened one, the Rockies won the World Series and two health rows over.

Well, I don't think the Rockies are on the cusp of winning the World Series, and I think hell will be what hell is.

But I was wrong about that district, and, so I missed it.

And.

It's okay.

It's all right.

My low is actually not here.

I around the country, we continue to see people waiting in lines for two and even five hours in some states.

And I just, you know, again, like that's a policy choice by lawmakers in those states.

You shouldn't be waiting in line for two hours in Texas or in Mississippi or in any state around the country.

So I think, you know, there's still work that needs to be done to make sure that people can vote, and not have to stand there for more than half the day.

It's just not fair.

Okay, I, I guess I'd say just some responses.

And I'm not actually talking about Colorado specifically, but when people win and lose, you often talk about bad losers.

But I think sometimes there's bad winners too.

And you can look at that around the nation.

And if we want to promote civility, sometimes it's being the winner who who acts the right way when you win and doesn't hold it over an opponent who you don't like.

So you just see some of that around the country.

And it's unfortunate if we want to get back to civility.

Yeah.

Let's talk about something good.

Patty.

Well, I just a warning Denver's election is less than six months away.

So go out this weekend and enjoy yourself, because it's the 20th annual Denver Arts Week, which includes the free night at the museum Saturday night.

It's a great, great event.

Get out there.

Thank you for reminding, because I feel like we've all been in the same avenue, and it's nice to think about the weekends that that'll be fun to go to.

It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend.

My good thing is just that this red blue map that we have grown so accustomed to over so many election cycles and that it seems so baked in with only a few swing states, here, there, and other, other places.

Maybe we are not so permanently divided as we have been told to believe that that red blue map can change or changed in a big way on Tuesday night.

It's not baked in on the blue side either, and it can change back the other way as well.

So, you know, maybe the division is not as baked into our country as, as so many people have suggested.

Okay.

I'll, I think my high as it usually is post election is, is the clerks and the county administrators and election officials and poll workers and just all of them that, you know, have worked so hard, work hard, every election, deal with a lot.

They deal with a lot from a lot of different people.

And, you know, they again, performed incredibly well, dealt with flooding in some of the counties responded really well.

So kudos to them.

They're all fantastic.

Yes, mine will be more personal.

My baby is crawling and she's not even nine months old yet.

But it's you know, it's a little scary, but there's also great.

And I think it's just another reminder that life is beautiful.

No matter what happens in politics, we lose, we win.

But we have so many things that are worth focusing on in life.

They sure are on my high.

As all of you sitting around this table, and also the couple other dozen or so insiders who rotate through here week after week.

We have been having these conversations for months, long before election season, and you have brought such great insight and perspective.

And, it's really challenged all of us to think and helped us to see issues from different angles and made these conversations richer along the way.

So thank you all.

You make Colorado inside out so super strong and thoughtful.

And I also appreciate every one of you and what you bring to the show.

And I should also say, I imagine some of you may have joined that people watching us, like just during election season, we saw more interesting color inside out.

And so we hope that you'll continue to make this a part of your weekly routine and continue to be civically engaged.

And join in the conversation here on PBS, 12, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts.

Okay, that is the invitation always open.

Yeah.

We need to know what's going on our in our state.

Thank you for getting us to election season, everybody.

I'm Kyle Dyer and we'll see you next week here at the table on PBS 12.

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