GOP and Libertarians join forces in Colorado to break political stronghold.

Colorado Democrats Secure Historic Majority in 2022 Election

In the November 2022 election, Colorado Democrats made significant gains, securing a historic majority in the state House, a supermajority in the Senate, and retaining the governorship. The results were a clear indication that the red wave was nowhere to be found.

While the victories were decisive, several races were incredibly close. One such example was the Congressional House race for Colorado’s newly-formed 8th district, where Democrat Rep. Yadira Caraveo narrowly defeated Republican Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer by just 1,632 votes. The Libertarian candidate, Richard Ward, received 9,280 votes.

“There were about a handful of elections that I can think of in 2022 that were decided by the slimmest of margins, and they included a Libertarian candidate, or at least some other third-party candidate on there, and swung it for the Democrats,” former state representative and current Colorado GOP State Party Chairman Dave Williams, told The Epoch Times. The GOP elected Williams in March.

“I want to stress that I don’t think the spoiler effect is always the cause of why these close races go for Democrats, but there’s clear evidence that had we only had a Republican versus a Democrat, the Republican would have won these races,” Williams emphasized.

To increase their chances of success in the November 2024 election and support liberty-minded candidates, the Colorado GOP and the Libertarian Party of Colorado have struck an “unprecedented deal.”

“The general agreement is that if the Republican Party can put forth a good, liberty-leaning candidate, then we will not run a competing candidate against the GOP,” explained Eliseo Gonzalez, the vice chair of the Libertarian Party of Colorado.

“What liberty-leaning means is something that we’re working out in conjunction with the Republican Party. But we’re doing this in the hopes of inspiring the Republican Party to find more candidates that are more like the Ron Paul’s, the Rand Paul’s, the Thomas Massie’s, which are very strong liberty-leaning candidates, and promote the ideas of liberty, even within the GOP.”

Fighting for Colorado

Hannah Goodman, the chairwoman for the Libertarian Party of Colorado, believes that party affiliations can help voters understand the “branding and ideology” behind a candidate. However, she also acknowledges that there can be liberty-minded candidates in any party. This understanding led to the agreement with the GOP.

“Tulsi Gabbard is [a liberty-minded candidate] on the left, Rand Paul is one on the right,” Goodman explained. “And so, we were thinking, how can we get more of those types of candidates elected so that overall, we as a society are more free? And we approached the GOP on that premise.”

Goodman criticized the GOP for running candidates who are almost indistinguishable from Democrats in the past. She also highlighted the alliance between corporate interests and state benefits, which she believes is detrimental to Colorado voters.

“Across the board, Libertarians are not winning state House seats… But our main goal in the party is to advance liberty,” she stated.

While the Libertarian Party reached out to the Democrats with the same deal, they were met with indifference.

Gonzalez added that while Libertarians are not Republicans and don’t agree with everything the GOP stands for, there are several key principles they share, including being anti-communism, anti-socialism, and advocating for freedom and prosperity for Coloradans. These shared principles have brought the two parties together against the Democrats.

“Having the Democrats in power has been the most detrimental thing even to the community that I work in, which is the largest Hispanic community,” Gonzalez, who is Mexican-American, expressed.

“Nobody likes higher taxes. Nobody likes inflation going through the roof, where they can’t even afford to pay for childcare. Absolutely nobody wants that. But the Democrats are still pushing this idea that they’re kind of arbiters of morality.”

Gonzalez highlighted the slow response times of the police in Denver and Aurora, heavily Hispanic areas, as a result of Democratic policies. He also criticized the Democrats’ stance on gun ownership, which he believes hampers people’s ability to defend themselves.

Furthermore, he pointed out that Denver has spent over $250 million on homeless assistance, yet the homeless population continues to grow.

“It’s a legislative nightmare. We are heading into a weird government-ruled, communistic style of leadership from the legislation, and it’s about time that changes,” Gonzalez asserted.

Goodman shared her family’s long history of involvement in politics, particularly within the Democratic Party. However, she believes that the party has changed significantly over the years.

Conserving Liberty Together

According to Colorado’s 2023 voter registration records, there are 1,054,708 active registered Democrats, 931,705 active registered Republicans, and 1,801,956 active registered unaffiliated voters.

Goodman, Gonzalez, and Williams all agree that Colorado voters are largely independent and want to vote based on their own beliefs.

“The greatest trick that [Gov.] Jared Polis ever pulled off was convincing voters that he was both a moderate and a libertarian,” Williams remarked. “And I think, part of the story for why Democrats are winning, part of the reason why is they’ve been able to trick voters into thinking that they’re independent-minded, that they are oftentimes willing to buck their party line. And it’s not the truth.

“The truth is, we’re now competing with them. They can’t have a monopoly on what it means to be independent-minded, or liberty-focused, or pro-freedom, because now the Republican Party is competing on their playing field.”

Goodman expressed her willingness to work with the GOP due to the election of Dave Williams as the party chair. She believes that Williams is liberty-minded and anti-establishment.

“It’s so refreshing having Dave Williams step into that GOP chair. His focus is on the right thing. And this would never have worked if he hadn’t become chairman and I hadn’t become chairwoman at the same time,” Goodman stated.

Williams expressed his enthusiasm for building coalitions.

“There’s no reason why the Libertarian Party, or the American Constitution Party, or any other similarly aligned political organizations shouldn’t want to work together with us to break the stranglehold of one-party rule in Colorado,” he said.

Benefiting the Whole

Williams emphasized that the Colorado GOP is actively seeking…