March 02, 2026 11:20 AM UTC

What in the Hell Are These People Doing?

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• by: Colorado Pols

MONDAY UPDATE (March 2): We received the following email regarding this story that was initially caught in our spam filters. The message is from Maureen Maycheco of COLOR Action Fund:

I’m writing regarding your recent coverage of the CD-8 Community Power Town Hall hosted by COLOR Action Fund and Working Families Power.

First, the organization’s name was misstated in your coverage. We are COLOR Action Fund, a Latina-led political organization.

On Tuesday night, nearly 100 intergenerational community members attended this bilingual, policy-focused forum in Thornton to discuss immigration, healthcare, housing, and economic stability in one of the most competitive districts in the country. Your coverage characterized an artistically crafted piñata as “political violence.” That piñata was placed on a stool and symbolized the absence of a candidate who declined to attend. No one was harmed. No one was threatened. I wish we could have discussed your journalistic approach to this story at the event. You have my email now, if you would like to stay in conversation, we invite that.

COLOR Action Fund was not contacted for context prior to the publication of your story, which is disappointing.

We believe responsible coverage of community-centered civic events requires engaging the organizers and participants, particularly in a district that is 40% Latine, where immigration policy is not abstract but a lived reality.

As you can see for yourself below, at no point did we use the phrase “political violence.” We didn’t need to use such a phrase given that the entire purpose of a piñata — even an “artistically crafted piñata” — is to be beaten with a stick.

We believe that you can hold community-centered civic events that engage intergenerational community members WITHOUT mocking the female Democratic candidate with a piñata likeness. This is not how you present a “policy-focused forum.”

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THURSDAY UPDATE: In a downright Trumpian display of attempting to justify a ridiculous stunt, Wynn Howell of Working Families Party (WFP) doubled-down:

In the comments to this statement posted on Facebook, former State Rep. David Ortiz — a Democrat from Arapahoe County — blasted WFP for its pettiness:

Howell is truly inflicting significant damage to WFP with this behavior. Attacks like this detract from the organization’s political and policy goals and create the impression of unserious leadership more interested in personal grudges than anything of substance.

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The Colorado Republican Party has been a flaming dumpster fire for more than a decade now, plagued by endless internal personal battles that drain energy, money, and time away from the very basic function of “winning elections.” Republicans in Colorado have long been more interested in fighting each other than in convincing voters to support their candidates and policies.

Colorado Democrats need to be careful to avoid a similar fate, beginning with NOT repeating what happened at a candidate forum in Thornton on Tuesday.

As John Frank reports for Axios Denver:

Three Democratic candidates for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District appeared at a campaign forum this week to talk about immigration.

Yes, but: One of the three, who didn’t attend, was depicted as a piñata…

…The hostility spilled out at a campaign event Tuesday evening in Thornton hosted by COLOR Latina and the Working Families Party, two influential progressive organizations.

The two candidates who appeared in person, Rep. Manny Rutinel and former Marine Evan Munsing, sat at the front of the room next to a three-foot-tall piñata with a cartoonish picture of rival Shannon Bird pasted on the head.

During the forum, the organizers and the candidates repeatedly mocked and laughed at the piñata, which represented the lone woman left in the race. [Pols emphasis]

Here’s a picture of the Shannon Bird piñata, courtesy of Frank/Axios:

This was a candidate forum for the Democrats running in CO-08 for the right to challenge incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Ft. Lupton) in November. Bird did not attend the forum, citing a scheduling conflict, and her absence was apparently viewed as a reason for mockery:

Former state Rep. Tim Hernández, who moderated the event and volunteers with COLOR, told Axios he commissioned the empty piñata to make a point about her absence.

Wynn Howell, the state director of the Working Families Party, quipped they wouldn’t destroy the piñata because “we don’t beat women.” [Pols emphasis]

Really?

REALLY?

Imagine the outrage from COLOR Latina or the Working Families Party (WFP) if Republicans used a piñata to mock one of their preferred candidates? What if someone like Rep. Scott “Rock” Bottoms (R-Colo. Springs) made a similar joke about beating women? The entire point of a piñata is to beat it into smithereens.

It is astonishing that it was the forum moderator who came up with the idea for the Bird piñata; “progressive” organizations hosting candidate forums should have no business placing their thumb on the scale to this degree. Tuesday’s theatrics should be a flashing red light for politicians invited to any future events hosted by either COLOR Latina or WFP. Why bother engaging with organizations that would openly mock the very people they invite for discussion?

At this point, you’d also be a fool to show up at any event involving Hernandez, a proud member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) who was an unmitigated disaster after winning a vacancy committee appointment for a legislative seat in Denver in 2023. [Hernandez was so toxic that he was immediately defeated in the 2024 Democratic Primary in HD-4 by Cecelia Espenoza. His top ally in the legislature, Denver Democrat Elisabeth Epps, was also bounced from office in that same Primary Election after alienating virtually everyone in the State Capitol building.]

The other candidates at Tuesday’s forum should also be ashamed for playing along with the mockery of Bird, including Manny Rutinel:

“I’m the only Democrat in this race that has voted to protect immigrants from ICE’s brutality time and time again, and I’ll let my piñata opponent say her piece on why she decided to vote against those protections.”

Whether or not Rutinel was aware of the piñata stunt ahead of time, he should have had the good sense to not get involved in the mockery of his former colleague in the state legislature.

The vitriol of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and the constant infighting from Colorado Republicans are not the kind of examples that anyone should follow. If Colorado Democrats hope to continue enjoying historic levels of electoral success, it is just as important to push back against the gross actions of lefty groups as it is to stand up against dangerous Republicans.