U.S. Senate
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(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
Governor
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(D) Phil Weiser
(D) Joe Neguse
(D) Jena Griswold
60%
60%
40%↓
Att. General
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(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Alexis King
(D) Brian Mason
40%
40%
30%
Sec. of State
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(D) A. Gonzalez
(D) George Stern
(R) Sheri Davis
50%↑
40%
30%
State Treasurer
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(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
(D) Jerry DiTullio
60%
30%
20%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Somebody
80%
40%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Somebody
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(D) Joe Salazar
50%
40%
40%
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
October 20, 2008 07:58 PM UTC
63 Comments
Right after she gets off of work.
U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!
And on the heals of early voting starting, Obama leads McCain 52-45%, Udall leads Schaffer 51-44%. Seems about right.
I want to go over all the ballot measures again – well, only the last two and the referenda. I know how I’m voting in all the contested races.
no on the rest – see, it’s easy 🙂
David, so you are voting no on 51 ? Could you tell me why ? ( I am going through my blue book now)
not because it’s a massive burden for individual citizens, but because I don’t like raising taxes for a special interest–even if it is a worthy cause.
I am trying to convince my wife’s family about this one (my brother in law is an adult with Downs).
A cluttered constitution is a bad idea. This is better handled through the leg and reffered item.
I thought it was a statute. If it’s constitutional, then by all means vote against it. If it’s a statute, though, I’m voting for it and I urge all of y’all to do the same.
I represented the state department that provided services to people with developmental disabilities for a long time, and they got sued with some frequency because of the long waiting lists. There is so much misery and suffering because services for folks with DD are so under funded, and I can’t bring myself to reject a statutory measure that could relieve some of that misery.
But it’s still a special interest receiving tax dollars form its own special tax.
If we want to increase the amount of funding for those programs, we should cut funding elsewhere to pay for it properly.
It’s a sales tax, too.
Regressive.
Imagine if we gave every good cause in Colorado its own little piece of sales tax?
…football stadium…sales tax…funding for Denver preschools….sales tax.
it’s not unusual
do not affect the entire state. FasTracks affects RTD residents, and the other two affect the Stadium district and Denver.
Municipal sales taxes are not the same as increasing the overall sales taxes.
I’m open to changing my mind on 51 still, as I did not vote today.
You’re right though, Jamby, it’s statutory and not an amendment. The only reason it’s being posed as a question to voters on the ballot is because of TABOR.
…I’m undecided on 51 right now. But it’s doesn’t strike me as so odd that this kind of funding would come from a sales tax. While the geographic distinction you mention is true, I’m not sure it should make a difference in the analysis.
This is one of those tough votes where you vote on policy and not politics or heartstrings. It was the last one I filled in on my ballot, after trying to convince myself of a way to vote for it despite its fiscal irresponsibility…
If it had a sunset clause, maybe things would be different.
This was kind of why I was asking. I was a bit befuddled, but ultimately voted against it. Of course I believe it is an excellent cause, but all programs have to come under some sort of budget in the end.
Just dropped my ballot in the mail, and man does it feel good.
Torn on #50 as well.
I finally voted for 51, based on a blue book argument that said essentially that this special earmarking would be eliminated once the budget was actually fixed.
I’ll be voting for 51, as well.
But in the end, could not bring myself to vote against it as I have good friends who are working very hard for this and I’ve seen first hand what a relentless and crushing burden this can be for even the most hard working, responsible families.
The urgency about getting more funding so they can reduce the waiting list is due to the fact that the when severely disabled children turn 18 they are adults and many families are finding themselves coming up on this deadline with nothing settled for their children. They can’t sleep nights. it’s awful. And it’s a very tiny sales tax increase.
I just couldn’t face my friends if I had voted “no” even if they never had to know. I also respect the alternate choice.
but for those in El Paso County you might add:
yes on 200 and 201, and no on 1A.
These are Doug Bruce’s latest attempts to destroy the Municipal Enterprise system in Colorado Springs and place CS in severe finantial stress. The issues would effectively eliminate the extremely effective Wastewater Enterprise and hobble the city-owned Memorial Hospital.
Doug Bruce’s main point is the same as mine……if the city wants more money for wastewater needs, PUT IT TO VOTE! Don’t call it a bullshit “Enterprise Fee” to sidestep the law.
What are you people so afraid of? Why are you afraid to have this put to vote?
I am willing to bet that this illegal tax will fail as it should.
And the funny part is I might have voted for the tax if they would have been up front about it. But when the little bastards simply change the name, start sending mandatory bills four fucking times a year, and then threaten to lien your house if you don’t pay, fuck them.
By the way, I pay their silly bill. But I also write on the bill and my check exactly what I think of their illegal tactics. Not that doing so means anything. It just makes me feel better so I don’t get the urge to pummel someone.
I have to vote No on A-58. It’s another special interest benefit. If it was funding operating costs and not scholarships, I might be for it. But giving money to scholarships will not reduce the overall cost of school over time. The school costs will continue to rise, especially tuition, and that is the real problem.
I understand your preference for operating costs although I like the idea of the money travelling with the student. It makes the schools more responsive. But I think you’re wrong when you say it doesn’t reduce costs – we will pay X dollars per student regardless of how that money gets there.
But what happens when the Oil goes bust, like it has in the past? We should be working towards ways of increasing funding for the colleges and universities.
For $549 Million over four years (the amount the bluebook says Amendment 58 will create) we could vastly increase the Colorado Opportunity Fund, which is a tuition stipend.
Scholarships can go to all sorts of things besides tuition, and I have yet to see where A-58 would step in to make sure it’s getting to the schools.
As a parent of kids who are currently enrolled in college, you know as well as I do that the cost is much more than tuition. Textbooks, room and board, supplies, gas; it all adds up.
“we will pay X dollars per student regardless of how that money gets there”
This is precisely the role of government: to allocate money more effectively and more efficiently for big projects than people could individually. The advantages of budgeting to operating costs rather than scholarships are
1) it ensure more equal funding opportunities, rather than forcing students to compete for scholarships that not all qualify for
2) university knows in advance how much it has, and can therefore prepare better (rather than having to raise extra just in case of need)
3) as RSB says, scholarship money can be spent on other things; when I was an undergrad, I got more scholarships than needed for tuition, so I spent it on rent and other expenses
But I think it’s good. And we lost 700 million if we wait 2 years for something better. Get it started, win the fight with the oil companies over ending the tax holiday – then change how it’s used.
in off-year elections?
When I voted early in the primary, I got in and out in less then 10 minutes.
Today it took me about a half an hour to get my ballot, wait for an open machine, cast said ballot and get my sticker.
There were a ton of people there, and the lady who I talked to said that they were slammed this morning. Could we see a higher turn out in 2008 then we did in 2004? It looks promising.
Although IIRC you’re in CD-5 so maybe that’s bad for us Dems. 🙂
And we’ve missed you Haners! Nice to see a post from you again.
But I’m sure the same thing is happening all over the state.
Thanks for the kind words. I’m not sure if everybody knows, but I work for a financial services company, and the recent volatility in the market has kept us pretty busy. Combine that with a bunch of stuff because of the end of Q3, and I haven’t had much time for anything.
Other than knowing you’ve done you civic duty and voted against a bunch of idiots, isn’t the darn sticker the best part of voting?!
so I could wear it yesterday even though I didn’t vote in person. Very Cool.
I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t get a sticker. Stickers are my main motivation!
the Denver Election Division.
They are headquartered on Mexico Ave and they have taken over the middle lane of the street.
You just drive up and deposit your ballot in the red box and they hand you a “I voted” sticker.
Could not make it any easier to drop off your ballot.
The ballot is a mother****ing monster. Each voter will probably take half an hour to complete it – if not longer. The polling lines will be immense.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO VOTE EARLY!!!
That would be a great slogan for Yes on O:
“Vote Yes on Referendum O, because we can’t afford any more mother****ing monster ballots.”
without the asterisks.
Please consider hand delivering if you have a mail-in and are at all concerned about anything getting lost in the mail. It’s also very satisfying putting it through the slot in that box, like the old days before voting on screens. You can pick up an “I voted” sticker while you’re at it.
Also interesting news from Mom in Florida. She decided to hold off for a day on early voting (started today there, too) because people, young people, started camping out last night to be the first to vote and she thought it would be too crowded today. That’s the level of excitement among young voters there. You can bet that most, if not all, of those camping out hot rock concert ticket style are NOT McCain voters. Encouraging news for Barack in a close state.
Long lines. First day count was double that of 2004’s early voting.
And back in 2000 she was smart enough for the butterfly but saw others in tears over what they had done, voted for Buchanan by mistake. Now she’s 8 years older and still smart enough. She’s like the energizer bunny.
Some of her friends have been getting visits from the grandkids inspired by the Sarah Silverman Big Shlep effort to get Jewish young people to shlep down Florida to get their grandparents to vote for Obama. If she had known she could have gotten a special visit from her Colorado grandson she would have pretended to need convincing!
Oh well, any excuse for a visit!
In Boulder County they did.
No lines, no muss, no fuss. That was easy. Does this mean that I can ignore all the political ads on TV and the wonderful Robo calls I have been getting.
God is a Bronco Fan and football does not like Palin. Therefore, God wants you to not vote for McCain. Here is the proof:
It took forever to fill out, but well worth it to save myself an hour in line. I knew how much was going to be on there, but it’s totally different when you actually see it. WOW! I hope they don’t continue to get bigger every year as they have been.
Voted first thing this a.m. without any delays. But — even knowing exactly what I wanted to do on each issue, it just took a long time to stand there and color in the spots. Did hear that the paper ballot was faster than the electronic, but did not confirm.
Between State, County, and National elections, there are a ton of people going door to door this week to get out the vote. A good tip to not be bothered anymore after you’ve voted, take your “i voted” sticker and put it on your front door! I have been GOTV canvassing, and the few people who i have seen do this, i leave the hell alone.
we don’t have lists of people who voted already. With all the work and money that’s gone into the campaigns at this point, you’d think we could check the databases once in a while. Maybe we are, I don’t know.
But I remember canvassing in 2004 on election day for ACT, asking Democrats if they’d voted. Most people told me it was the third time they’d been asked (I think MoveOn was doing it as well, maybe the campaign as well). Those who wondered why Obama asked independent groups not to do stuff: I think that’s one good reason. Duplication of efforts not only wastes volunteers, it annoys voters.
I tried to talk to the Obama campaign into setting up a social networking tie to early voting.
This way instead of strangers at your door, it would be Obama suppoters calling their friends and family.
The campaign understands neighbor to neighbor opinion shifting, but they didn’t develop a neighbor to neighor GOTV plan. If you could go on line and find out which ones of your friends hadn’t voted and then nag them that would really amplify the GOTV effort.
Nice efforts, but really, my ballot was in the mail weeks before.
with the fact that campaigns aren’t allowed to coordinate, Obama’s camp can’t talk to State races, and vice versa; so the info isn’t shared across the board. Also, the fact that clerks don’t update their logs (or send the info to the database) every day, makes our GOTV chasing extra-encumbered.
At least it is in Arapahoe with respect to returned mail-ins and I presume will be for early voting too. It’s supposed to be up-dated daily so phone bankers and target canvassers can get fresh lists with the people who have already voted removed.
The problem is that all the various campaigns pretty much do things their own way without much coordination between the different campaigns at different levels or the campaigns and the party. In some cases coordination is illegal. So people tend to get canvassed repeatedly.
The sticker on the door is a great idea. The canvassers will appreciate being able to skip your door and move on as much as you will appreciate not being bugged again.
Went in at 5:30 pm, no lines. Very professional & courteous staff. I’m happy that we are using paper ballots and it felt great to slide those ballots into the box. Some of the staff felt they had been busy today, others expected that there would be more voters. I recommend the experience.
I’m an overseas Colorado voter, requested my ballot more than a month ago and still haven’t received it. Running out of time!
I did receive my ballot on Wednesday (Oct 29), the last day FedEx would accept ballots (they provided free shipping for absentee ballots).
Strangely, my and my wife’s ballots only included President, US House, US Senate — no state/local races or amendments.
They also spelled my wife’s name wrong.
Not too confident that the Denver Election office is particularly competent.
It’s Sequoia Voting Machines who prints the ballots.
Is that normal though? Why did they remove all races other than the top level and all the initiatives from our ballots?
Another issue — while I was waiting for my ballot to arrive in the mail I checked my registration with the SOS. I’m not listed as registered, though my wife is. We’ve voted absentee for many years and always mail in our ballots together.