It’s campaign season!
Colorado’s candidates for office are out knocking doors, showing up at events and talking to voters.
If the candidate is an incumbent, they are probably touting their accomplishments, and if they aren’t, they are probably saying what a terrible job the incumbent has done!
The reality is, many Coloradans are dissatisfied with the direction of the State.
So, if you are a candidate for office knocking on doors, or are volunteering for one, what should you be prepared to talk about?
In this three part series, we will look at some polls, recent news stories and other important issues that may affect the 2024 election.
Affordability Dominates Statewide Polls
The most obvious issue facing Coloradans is the high cost of living.
Housing, healthcare and other economic considerations are the biggest concerns according this year’s Colorado Health Foundation Pulse Poll (July 2024).
Homelessness, drug overdoses, crime and illegal immigration are also major concerns for Coloradans.
But making life more affordable, lowering taxes and fighting inflation are issues that candidates should be running on.
Candidates should be prepared to pro-actively tell voters how they will address the affordability issue.
They can talk about how State and local regulations have increased the costs for home builders and the cost of running a business.
Failure to address construction defect reform is another issue for renters and potential home buyers.
The reason life is more expensive is because greedy politicians have failed to adequately lower property taxes and fought against lowering the state income tax.
And new regulations on rental owners will only make it more expensive for them to rent apartments.
Candidates would be wise to address these issues during their campaign, and voters should be questioning candidates on affordability.
The Colorado Polling Institute, in their March poll echoes the previous findings that Coloradans are struggling with Affordability.
Longtime Colorado residents are being driven from their homes because of the high cost of living.
Seniors, working class families are struggling and the middle class is being crushed.
The same poll shows that immigration and homelessness are also major issues.
For candidates or voters, the major issues revolve around affordability. People vote with their pocket book and conversations around the election should recognize this fact.
What About the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights?
Although the Democratic Party Platform is opposed to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, most Democrats are not in favor of abolishing it.
The 2023 Colorado Political Climate Survey from CU Boulder showed that 54% of Coloradans support the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and only 26% of Democrats oppose it.
Candidates should not be afraid to discuss and explain the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
And candidates can most likely gain votes by actively support the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
What do Denverites say?
In a May Poll from Magellan Strategies, 55% of Denver voters believe the city is on the wrong track.
Denver has seen it’s fair share of crime, violence and homelessness, and it’s weighing on the voters.
Denver voters aren’t convinced that the Mayor or the Council has made progress on the major issues affecting the city.
Candidates outside of Denver can talk about keeping their community from suffering the same problems as the Capitol city.
And if you are representing part of Denver, you can use the failures of the city government to present different solutions.
What Should Republican Candidates Focus On?
Another poll from Global Strategy Group (June 2024) outlines some of the key issues and whether voters trust Democrats or Republicans to address them.
From this data, it seems that Republican candidates should focus on Property Tax, Public Safety, Cost of Living, Economic and Middle Class issues.
Republicans have a hard time in Colorado right now, and they need to focus on issues they can win on.
Focus on Independents
Most candidates know that you focus on turning out your base and persuading independents.
I recommend that if you are talking to independents or unaffiliated voters, you should review the aforementioned CU Boulder study and ignore the partisan answers and only look at Independents.
Colorado Political Climate Survey 2023 Report
If you only focus on the results for Independents, you might find surprising results:
- Jared Polis only has a 44% approval rating (as opposed to 82% of Democrats)
- 68% disapprove of Congress (about 10% higher than Democrats and Republicans)
- Only 43% approve of the State Legislature (Democrats are at 73%)
- County officials have an approval rate of only 39% (compared to 67% for Democrats and 55% of Republicans).
- 57% responded “Rarely” or “Never” when asked if they trust the Federal Government to do what is in the public’s best interest.
- Only 16% say the US economic condition is “good” or “excellent.”
As you probably know, unaffiliated voters are the biggest voting group in Colorado. Working to win their votes is a strategy that needs nuance and the ability to read the person you are talking to.
In the next post, we will look at recent events to get some more talking points for candidates and campaign volunteers.
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