{"id":74101,"date":"2019-08-24T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-unaffiliated-voters-surge-major-party-candidates-court-their-votes\/"},"modified":"2019-08-24T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-24T16:00:00","slug":"as-unaffiliated-voters-surge-major-party-candidates-court-their-votes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-unaffiliated-voters-surge-major-party-candidates-court-their-votes\/","title":{"rendered":"As unaffiliated voters surge, major party candidates court their votes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A blue wave swept Colorado politics in 2018. Democrats won races for governor, attorney general, secretary of state and took control of the state Legislature. But in terms of registered voters, Colorado is getting more and more purple.<\/p>\n

Democrats \u2013 who have had about the same number of registered voters as Republicans for the past decade \u2013 now outpace their counterparts by about 50,000 active voters. Unaffiliated voters are the state\u2019s largest voting bloc with nearly 315,000 more active voters than Democrats, according to the Colorado Secretary of State.<\/p>\n

Paul DeBell, a political science professor at Fort Lewis College, said major political parties losing rank-and-file support is an international trend called party dealignment. Disillusionment with government and partisan politics play roles in the shift from traditional political parties, research suggests. Colorado\u2019s 2016 measure to allow unaffiliated voters to participate in the major parties\u2019 primary elections may also contribute to party dealignment, DeBell added.<\/p>\n

\"Tipton\"
Tipton<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, who is up for re-election in 2020, said independent thought is part of Colorado culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cColoradans have always been independent-minded,\u201d Tipton said in an email. \u201cThis self-reliant spirit is almost unique to the West and that independence is what makes Colorado such a special place.\u201d<\/p>\n

As unaffiliated voters increase their plurality in Colorado, Democratic and Republican candidates continue to covet their vote. Republicans, though, may face a tougher path to victory in statewide races in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think Gardner has a real battle ahead\u2019<\/div>\n

A Republican presidential nominee hasn\u2019t won in Colorado since George W. Bush in 2004. Democratic dominance in recent elections and unaffiliated voters\u2019 tendency to lean left<\/a> combine to make the Colorado U.S. Senate race one of the most competitive in the 2020 cycle.<\/p>\n

Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, an affable politician from Yuma joined the Senate in 2015 after defeating Democratic incumbent Mark Udall by 1.9 percentage points. He rose to party leadership two years later when he was chosen to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee, making him the Senate\u2019s sixth ranking Republican at the time.<\/p>\n

In an email to The Durango Herald<\/em>, Gardner said getting things done is more important to Colorado voters than identifying as a Republican or a Democrat.<\/p>\n

\"Gardner\"
Gardner<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI have been ranked the most effective member<\/a> of the Colorado delegation and am the 5th most bipartisan senator,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cWhether it is moving the Bureau of Land Management to Western Colorado or fighting to protect our public lands, I will continue to fight for solutions that benefit Colorado above all else.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Gardner\u2019s first term winds down, nearly a dozen candidates are competing in the Democratic primary for a chance to unseat him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d expect (it) to be a pretty tough race. It\u2019ll really matter who\u2019s on the top of the ticket and who the Democrats have going up against Gardner,\u201d DeBell said. \u201cDemocrats and Republicans nationally will be watching this race really carefully and will probably be putting a lot of money into (it).\u201d<\/p>\n

Gardner\u2019s campaign raised more than $2 million last quarter and earned the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity Action<\/a>, the political arm of the Koch network. Charles and David Koch, who died Friday, are fossil fuel magnates and influential conservative donors.<\/p>\n

While the field of Democratic candidates features legitimate contenders such as former state House Majority Leader Alice Madden of Boulder and former state Sen. Mike Johnson, national Democrats have successfully courted former governor John Hickenlooper, who swapped out his White House bid to make a run for Senate, he announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always said Washington was a lousy place for a guy like me who wants to get things done. But this is no time to walk away from the table. I know changing Washington is hard, but I want to give it a shot,\u201d Hickenlooper said before knocking in a pool hall trick shot in his video announcement.<\/p>\n

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