DENVER (KDVR) — Trump-era politics may have turned Colorado bluer, even as its voter base is less blue than it’s ever been.
Nationally, unaffiliated voters swung in favor of Democratic Party candidates in the 2022 midterms. Analysts and pollsters documented a turn against Trump-style politics, particularly accusations by him and the Republican candidates he backed that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election.
Colorado’s recent political history suggests a case example. Never has its voting base been less Democratic, but its elected representation grew to its most Democratic ever in the years since Trump took office.
Colorado voters have grown to be the largest voting bloc in the state. At 47%, unaffiliated voters are a plurality of the state’s electorate. The share of the state that is registered Democrats or Republicans has shrunk since 2008, when the state was one-third Democrat, one-third Republican and one-third unaffiliated.
Now, Colorado is only 27% registered Democrat and 24% registered Republican.
Unaffiliated voters tend to lean leftward. According to records, about two-thirds of the unaffiliated voters who preferred one party or another said they prefer the Democratic Party. Still, few of these voters express any preference at all.
Their voting history shows their preference, though. Although its voters are purple, its leaders are thoroughly blue.
Colorado’s state and federal elected leadership is currently dominated by Democrats, particularly with the election of Yadira Caraveo to the U.S. 8th Congressional District seat.
Only two offices are Republican among Colorado’s governor, attorney general, secretary of state, presidential vote, federal offices and party control of both state legislative bodies: the 4th and 5th Congressional Districts.
Colorado was much more even in its representation until the 2018 midterms, when voters chose Democrats instead of Republicans for a U.S. Senate seat, Colorado attorney general and Colorado secretary of state. Voters that year also gave control of the Colorado Senate to Democrats after two years under Republican control.
In 2020, voters took it a step further and ousted incumbent Cory Gardner from his U.S. Senate seat, dwindling Republican numbers even further. This election, voters added one more Democrat with new District 8 U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo.