It is said, victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is an orphan. As we look back at the past year, let’s assign paternity to 2024’s most notable wins and losses.
The winner of the Colorado legislative session was public education which was fully funded as required under the long-standing constitutional Amendment 23. Lawmakers eliminated the Budget Stabilization Factor, a budgeting gimmick that reduces education funding in order to balance the state’s budget.
An expected decline in revenue this coming year, however, may prompt the legislature to resort to such schemes again. It isn’t easy to fulfill competing constitutional mandates imposed by the ballot initiatives.
In more ways than one, representative democracy was the loser of this year’s legislative session. Twice special interests successfully extorted legislative changes by threatening to run initiatives. In order to thwart proposed legislation, the oil and gas industry said it would launch ballot proposals Democrats found unacceptable. Environmentalists upped the ante with a few proposition ideas of their own. Gov. Jared Polis was called in to broker a peace deal.
Later, in response to a weak property tax cut, Advance Colorado and Colorado Concern drafted a couple of initiatives to compel lawmakers to produce a stronger tax cut. In both cases, better legislation resulted but at what cost? Advocates of the initiative process say it empowers citizens through direct democracy. It looks more and more like a way for special interests to pressure and even bypass citizens’ duly elected representatives.
Speaking of elections, the winners of the primary were more moderate candidates. Voters sent far-left state Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernandez packing. Although the Colorado GOP endorsed a slate of unelectable far-right candidates for the state General Assembly and Congress, most lost to mainstream candidates. Sadly, when Republican Central Committee members tried to hold state GOP chairman Dave Williams accountable for this and other breaches of ethics, a judge ruled that an insufficient number of them had been present for a vote to oust him.
They weren’t the only losers, lefty funders who tried to boost conspiracy theorist Ron Hanks’ candidacy in the 3rd Congressional District failed to get him over the primary finish line. His opponent, Jeff Hurd, went on to beat Democrat Adam Frisch in the general.
The 4th Congressional District wasn’t so lucky. Thanks to several also-rans, a qualified candidate native to the district failed to gain a majority in that primary. The district will have to live with Congresswoman Lauren Boebert at least until she faces another competitive primary, moves again, or is nominated by President Donald Trump to head a federal agency. National Endowment for the Arts, maybe?
In the general election, the biggest losers were ranked-choice voting, which lost 54-46 despite the $19 million spent promoting it, and Secretary of State Jena Griswold, whose election machine password leak killed any hope she will ever be governor. That didn’t stop someone on her team from launching a “Jena for Governor” website domain. Maybe go with “Jena for Dog Catcher” next time.
Just as ridiculous, some on the far right tried to equate Griswold’s errors with intentional lawbreaking by former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. She was sentenced to nine years in prison for an election data breach scheme that cost taxpayers $1.4 million. Will the incoming president pardon her? Probably, for Presidents Joe Biden and Trump, decisions made by judges and juries are just suggestions when it comes to family, friends, and co-conspirators. In the meantime, though, Peters will have to sleep in orange pajamas without a My Pillow.
A little justice is about all we can hope for in politics. Win some, lose some. Happy New Year.
Krista L. Kafer is a weekly Denver Post columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @kristakafer.
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