November 14, 2014 12:07 PM UTC

Election Night Lesson: Conservation Universal Value in Colorado

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• by: ConservationColorado

[Promoted by Colorado Pols]

From our Executive Director Pete Maysmith: 

Have you ever seen a politician stand up and say, “I have an inconsistent voting record, get all kinds of funding from special interest groups and don’t truly have my constituents’ best interests at heart”?

Of course not; part of politics is spin.

We certainly learned a great deal about spin this fall. The lesson from Colorado’s statewide midterm elections?  This state cares about the environment and will not tolerate candidates who openly endanger it.

In the governor’s race, Bob Beauprez learned the hard way that being openly anti-environment will not go well in Colorado.  Publicly endorsing public land seizure, promising to repeal renewable energy standards and supporting costly water diversion projects, Beauprez was clearly a threat to some of Colorado’s most dearly held priorities.  These issues alone may not have cost him the election, but they were certainly a factor. Especially considering the fact that his opponent, incumbent Gov. Hickenlooper, faced strong headwinds after some unpopular decisions while in office.  Despite these setbacks, Hickenlooper beat Beauprez by over 3%.  It was not a photo finish but a clear, unequivocal victory.

On the other hand, Cory Gardner nabbed his Senate seat in no small part because of an effort to appear pro-environment.  Appearing in a now-infamous ad in front of a wind farm, he declared himself “a new kind of Republican” and labeled himself a pioneer of Colorado’s green energy economy.  His voting record would suggest otherwise (Gardner’s time in the House earned him a 9% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters), but his smoke and mirror tricks ultimately paid off.  

The optimistic environmentalist would hope that Senator-elect Gardner is in fact committed to keeping Colorado clean, and we share that hope.  But based on his voting record, consistent support of the Keystone XL pipeline, and tendency to minimize the impact of environmental concerns, we’re skeptical.  At the very least, we are certain we’ll miss our friend Mark Udall, who was a consistent champion for wilderness and the environment for Colorado in the US Senate.  

Tuesday, November 4th involved both successes and disappointments for the environmental community.  We were comforted by the knowledge that the voters refused to support candidates who openly jeopardize the environment, and without that factor, things could have gone much worse.  

A clear illustration of this lesson took place in the sprawling Central Colorado mountains  Senate District 5.  Our endorsed candidate Kerry Donovan faced League of Conservation Voters’ Dirty Dozen member Don Suppes.  Let’s be clear: of all the state legislative candidates in the country, LCV identified Suppes as one of 12 who stood out as a threat to the environment.  Conservation Colorado went all-in to support Donovan, knocking doors, sending mailers, and social media campaigns, and she emerged victorious.  Our efforts demonstrated that when Coloradans know the environment is in the crosshairs, they turn out to elect those who defend it.  

The Colorado Senate was bittersweet; despite losing our pro-conservation majority, Donovan is joined by Mike Merrifield and Leroy Garcia, two key state Senate seats lost in the 2013 recall elections.  We are grateful for these champions as we face a Senate tilted against us.  

We did succeed in retaining our conservation majority in the House, however, which was a hard-fought accomplishment.  We are very excited to work with our up-and-coming Representative-elects Jessie Danielson, Jeni Arndt and our own Faith Winter!

Another important lesson from this election is that turnout matters.  Experience has taught us that when large amounts of people vote, the environment wins, which is thanks to a group known as the Rising American Electorate – young people, minorities, and single women. For example, in House District 59, conservation champ Mike McLachlan won in 2012 by over 900 votes when more than 42,000 people voted. This year, only 34,000 people voted, and McLachlan appears to have lost by less than 200 votes.  Making sure all voices are heard is a must for the environment.  

As we move forward from our mixed election night, we hope that all of our leaders recognize that regardless of political spin, conservation is a universal value in Colorado.

To learn more about Conservation Colorado’s 2014 election efforts check out our 2014 Elections Report and Memo.