I’ve been following and compiling the Colorado Secretary of State’s monthly reports of voter registrations since 2016.
Following the approval of constitutional amendments in 2018, the state created two Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions — one for Congressional districts and the other for state House and Senate districts — to use data from the 2020 Census for reapportionment. The Congressional Commission was charged with creating a new district and redrawing seven others. In a little less than three years, the shift in voter registrations is clear. In every district, Unaffiliated (UAF) voters grew, while Democrats (DEM) and Republicans (REP) diminished. The battleground is shifting to finding and increasing the votes from the Unaffiliated voters who make up 47% to 52% of the registrations.
The Democratic Party of Colorado has several projects going to find and activate voters generally. In CD 8, the effort centers around “The Horizon Project: a brand new field organizing bootcamp that will train new organizers on the best practices for how to deep canvass, organize, and activate voters in 2023 and 2024.” In CD 3, there is The 546 Project.
So, what’s happening in your area? How are Democrats trying to reach out to the Unaffiliated?