Tag: 2008 Elections

Even as the mainstream media Saturday acknowledged the role of The Colorado Independent in introducing the topic of dramatic change to the state Republican Party prior to the Nov. 4 election, The Associated Press over the weekend delved into just what that change might look like.

Whether you’re Democrat, Republican or Mugwump, you look at Tuesday night’s remarkable election results and the nationwide reaction and can’t help but wonder at how far our young country has come — and, at the same time, how long it’s taken.

The Vote No on Amendment 46 campaign isn't the only group pleased to see the anti-affirmative action measure lose, albeit on a teensy margin Thursday afternoon. Several people who launched complaints that they were misled into signing onto the proposal have also expressed happiness that the measure flopped.

Latino voters turned out in record numbers in Colorado this year, more than doubling their turnout since 2004, according to recent polling data. More than 330,000 Latinos voted in the state last week, compared with 165,000 in 2004, based on exit polling from media outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Voto Latino, a national nonprofit organization that organized Latino voting drives in the state.

There were mixed results Tuesday in pair of key state Senate races targeted by the shadowy, pro-energy nonprofit group Western Skies Coalition, which is being investigated by the IRS to determine if it’s actually engaged in social welfare activities or hard-core politicking.

After a two day post-election limbo, Colorado's Amendment 46 failed yesterday on a slim margin. The so-called Colorado Civil Rights Initiative is the first anti-affirmative action amendment propped by California businessman Ward Connerly to make it onto a state ballot and flop. The significance is not lost on Amendment 46's detractors. "I am thrilled," says Melissa Hart, a University of Colorado law professor who co-ran the Vote No on 46 campaign. "Given that everyone kept telling us we couldn't do it, it is exciting that we did."

John Martin was a cop the last time an energy boom went bust in Garfield County. The Republican county commissioner who was reelected by a scant 350-vote margin Tuesday says those were dark days in the 1980s, and he’s determined not to repeat them.

Voters in Arapahoe County may have to wait until the end of the month to find out who their state senator is, as officials in their suburban district south of Denver scramble to tally and confirm mail-in election results in a tight race between Republican Lauri Clapp and Democrat Linda Newell.

Anti-affirmative-action guru Ward Connerly will likely halt his nationwide push to end race and gender preferences. Connerly, a part black California businessman, spoke with the Colorado Independent an hour after Amendment 46 toppled by an extremely thin margin. The so-called Colorado Civil Rights Initiative was the first Connerly amendment to flop after making it onto a state ballot. It was also a key measure in Connerly's Super Tuesday for Equal Rights campaign, a nationwide thrust to dismantle affirmative action programs in five states this year. In three of those states, the measure failed to make it onto the ballot, and Thursday, after a feverishly close tally, it collapsed in Colorado. Nebraska was the only state this year to approve the proposal.

As foreshadowed by the $7.5 million campaign put together by Coloradoans for Community Colleges, Amendment 50 has passed. That means voters in Cripple Creek, Central City and Blackhawk will soon vote on raising the maximum bet limit in Colorado from $5 to $100, allowing casinos to stay open 24/7 and bringing in craps and roulette.