The politics of Colorado, United States, are that of a blue state. Once considered a swing state that used to be Republican-leaning, Colorado has been trending Democratic since the early part of the 21st century due to changing demographics and a rising number of the large unaffiliated bloc of voters leaning Democratic. The growing shift of the state's Republican Party towards social and religious conservatism along with shifting further to the right has also been cited as reasons for the changing voting patterns of Colorado.
After showing support for the populist movement between the 1890s and 1910s, Colorado voted for Republicans nationally, all but four times between 1920 and 2004. Only in 1932, 1936, 1964, and 1992 did the state vote Democratic, however, since 2008, Democrats have won the state four cycles in a row, the longest such win streak for the party in the state's history. Democrats have historically fared better for state offices (especially for the governorship), however, they tended to be more moderate than the national party.
For instance, until the election of Barack Obama in 2008, 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 24 of the past 32 years since 1991.
Political orientation
Colorado has elected 17 Democrats and 12 Republicans to the governorship in the last 100 years. Incumbent Governor Jared Polis, who was elected in 2018, is a Democrat, and his predecessor, Governor, now Senator John Hickenlooper, who won election in 2010 was also a Democrat.
The people of the state of Colorado are also represented in the federal government of the United States by two United States Senators and eight Congressional Representatives. Of Colorado's eight members of the United States House of Representatives, five are Democrats and three are Republicans. The Senators are Michael Farrand Bennet (D) and former Governor John Hickenlooper (D).
Colorado has a history of voter initiatives that severely restrict the power of state government. Some of these initiatives include Term Limits on legislators (1990), Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) (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.
History
Colorado supported George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004. Republicans have generally held control of statewide offices and the state legislature since the 1960s. In 2004, while Bush won the state's electors, while Democrat, Ken Salazar won a U.S. Senate seat and his brother John Salazar won a seat in the U.S. House and the Democrats captured both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since 1963. 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.
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 9%, with 54% of the vote to McCain's 45%.
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. 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. However, the Democrats regained the Colorado House by a large margin during the 2012 election.