The high-spending fight for the choice vote is ranking Colorado’s party alliances

Representative. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a Republican brand that opposes the measure, found itself aligned with the senator. Michael Bennett (D-CO), a soft-spoken Democrat who is backing her challenger in Tuesday’s election for Colorado’s 4th District.

The fight even brought Ken Buck, the Republican congressman who resigned his seat in March, into the fray. He is aligned with Unite America, a Denver-based election reform organization that supports the ballot initiative.

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Proposition 131, which would eliminate partisan primaries and the introduction of ranked choice voting for congress, governor and other statewide races, faced pushback from each party for different reasons. Democrats say the measure is an opportunity for dark money to flow into Colorado, while lawmakers and GOP activists see the initiative as an attempt to prevent districts from flipping or staying red.

Voters in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and South Dakota will also vote on whether to introduce open primaries in their states. However, in Colorado, the ballot measure has attracted immense interest after more than 14 million dollars was invested to reform the process.

Nick Trioano, executive director of Unite America, said in an interview Washington Examiner that Prop 131 would “level the playing field” in a political reality where most federal races are decided in primaries.

“It’s really about giving voters more and better choices in their choices and much better representation in government,” Trioano said.

“I think voters deserve more than partisan fearmongering from their leaders, period,” he added.

Buck calls Prop 131 a remedy for the “dysfunction” of Congress

Under Prop 131, the state constitution would be amended to have an open primary, with candidates on a single ballot regardless of party. The top four vote-getters will then advance to the general election, where voters rank each of the candidates in order of preference.

The winner is tallied using the number of first choice votes a candidate receives. If someone doesn’t get 50% in the initial round, votes are reallocated as candidates are eliminated.

If Proposition 131 passes on Nov. 5, open primaries and ranked-choice voting would be in effect for the 2026 election — when a Senate seat and the positions of governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer will be up for grabs.

Buck, who blamed his exit from Congress on the level of GOP infighting in the House, said Washington Examiner he believes Prop 131 could “move the needle” on improving primaries and keeping extremes on both sides off Capitol Hill.

Buck was a member of the Freedom Caucus, but increasingly broke with the Republican caucus over partisan tactics, including the firing of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The former GOP lawmaker also believes the ballot initiative could prevent interference from the opposing party in the primary, noting how Democrats have spent money to field tough candidates to sway the outcome of a race. A similar tactic has been used in general elections to boost third-party candidates in an attempt to split a party’s vote.

“It’s one of those deals where Colorado Democrats have figured out how to use their superior resources on third-party candidates and meddle in Republican primaries to get inferior candidates — as far as interfering with primaries goes, they get candidates which are easier, so that the Democrat is more likely to beat a marginal candidate,” Buck said. “So they did both in Colorado, and this system solves that problem.”

Prop 131 supporters like Buck and Troiano say voters should ignore opponents like Boebert and Bennet and understand that the primary system in place today “wasn’t set in stone.” Proposition 131 is the latest in a “proud tradition in our country” of democratizing the election system, Troiano said.

He noted that Alaska had successfully reformed its system to introduce open primaries and first-choice voting, arguing that the reforms “didn’t tip the balance for either party.”

In 2022, the first year the system was used, Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) became the first Democrat in 50 years to represent Alaska’s only House seat. However, the system also allowed Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a Republican, to win re-election to the Senate.

“If Alaska can do it and do it well, so can Colorado, and so we’re trying to make the case in our closing arguments that the biggest risk we have is keeping the system the same and expecting whatever results different from this one,” Troiano said.

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There is a ballot initiative in the Last Frontier state to repeal the ranked-choice system, with the repeal supported by national Republicans and GOP House candidate Nick Begich. The system is designed to give more centrist candidates a better chance to win, but Republicans believe its results don’t reflect the state’s partisan makeup.

Troiano said an open primary system would give voters a chance to select the best person, “not just the party,” from a “fuller set of preferences.”

“I would also say the blue areas will remain Democratic,” Troiano said. “The red districts will remain Republican under the system, but it will give all voters — Democrats, Republicans and independents — the opportunity to choose what kind of Democrat or what kind of Republican could be elected, and also level the playing field in the long term. for candidates outside of both major parties.”

“So it’s not about the advantage of one party or the other,” he added. “It’s really about giving voters better representation in our politics.”

Boebert and Bennet paint Prop 131 as undemocratic

While some national figures like Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) on the Democratic side and Republicans like Buck and Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman are supporters of Prop 131, Leaders Unite Americans are concerned that Bennet and Boebert’s social media campaigns could undermine reform efforts.

In a post on October 24th, Bennet blamed the Supreme The “diabolical decision” of the Court in Citizens United for the impetus behind initiatives like ColoraProp 131 of do. The court ruling ruled that the government cannot restrict independent political campaign spending by corporations, nonprofits, unions and other associations.

Since the 2010 decision, Bennet said, “Our campaign finance system has become a cancer on our democracy.”

“Proposition 131 would allow more dark money to flow into our state, undermining the principle of one person, one vote,” the Colorado senator said. said.

A flood of funds from wealthy donors has flowed into the Prop 131 campaign, with total contributions now standing at nearly $16 million, according to Oct. 29 campaign finance reports. Multimillionaire Kent Thiry, former CEO of dialysis company DaVita, is leading the effort and has donated more than $3 million to the initiative.

Boebert, who opted not to run for re-election in the 3rd Congressional District to run in Buck’s vacant 4th District, scored a surprise primary victory in the 2020 election against then-incumbent GOP Rep. Scott Tipton.

The congresswoman also took to X when the ballot initiative was first introduced to blast the measure as a “blatant attempt to dilute” GOP votes.

“I will oppose this effort to rig our election system in Colorado with everything I have,” Boebert said he wrote. “Rankered-choice voting is a scheme launched by moneyed interests who are only concerned with their own power and do not give Coloradans a choice at the ballot box.”

Troiano said the opinions of Bennet and Boebert “speak volumes about how far parties are willing to go to defend a broken system.”

“Lauren Boebert and Michael Bennet are part of the same team making at best hypocritical and at worst dishonest arguments against this system,” Troiano said.

The executive director of Unite America focused on Bennet’s remarks in particular as hypocritical, noting that the Colorado senator joined several Democrats in promoting other ranked choice voting bills. US lawmakers have repeatedly introduced ranked-choice voting proposals in Congress, but they have died each session without opportunities for a mass vote or any serious consideration by party leaders.

“I think it’s hypocritical, especially when you’re talking about dark money and special interests, when a lot of those groups are supporting his campaigns as well,” Troiano said.

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“You also know Lauren Bobert got into Congress because she took out an incumbent and Scott Tipton in a low-turnout party,” the director added. “And so she’s certainly defending a system that without that she wouldn’t be in office today.”

Responding to Unite America’s allegations, Boebert said in a statement Washington Examiner that, if she had her way, she would “ban the practice of electoral voting in Colorado.”

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“Ranchored-choice voting diminishes our democratic process and would harm Coloradans of all backgrounds,” Boebert said. “It confuses voters, delays election results, unfairly overburdens poll workers, and would likely lead some Coloradans to vote more than others.”

The Washington Examiner has contacted Bennet for comment.