2018 Midterm Election

Colorado Congress members want review of drug bill that cost Tom Marino ‘drug czar’ nomination

DENVER – Some of Colorado’s federal lawmakers say they are reviewing the ramifications of a 2016 law, of which two of the state’s congressmen cosponsored early versions, that some say has handcuffed the Drug Enforcement Administration in its fight against drug companies—something that was uncovered in a joint Washington Post-60 Minutes investigation published last week.

The two Republican members of Congress – Rep. Mike Coffman and Sen. Cory Gardner, who was in the House of Representatives when he cosponsored the bills – did not, however, put their names on the bill that contained the final language now being blamed by some for neutering the DEA’s diversion program, which aims to stop the flow of pharmaceuticals and scheduled drugs to non-official sources.

And they and other members of Congress from Colorado, who were present when the bill passed both the Senate and House unanimously, say the law may have created “unintended consequences” for the DEA’s power over the opioid manufacturers that might need to be fixed.

Several legislators have endorsed new bills that would reverse the language written into the law, but those from Colorado have yet to sign on, saying they are reviewing the matter. Continue reading

Democrats out-raise Republicans in quarterly fundraising for 2018 Colorado governor’s race

DENVER – Democratic candidates for Colorado’s governorship in 2018 far out-raised most Republican candidates in the third quarter of 2017 fundraising, though two political action committees are making splashes in the race already as individual fundraising tops $7.3 million.

All five Democratic candidates out-raised their Republican counterparts this quarter, which covers the period between July 1 and Sept. 30. Continue reading

New 2018 House model shows pickups for Democrats, a possible challenge for Mike Coffman

DENVER – New modeling for 2018 shows Democrats have a better chance than they did in recent weeks of picking up some seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and that there might be a chance a Democrat knocks off Republican Mike Coffman in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.

Decision Desk HQ put out a new model Monday for the 2018 House midterms, which forecasts that Democrats will end up with 208 seats in the House, up from 194 currently in the House.

Most of its forecasts for Colorado aren’t much of a surprise, as incumbents are expected to remain in their seats, lest they be ousted in a primary by a challenger from their own party.

But the 6th Congressional District, which Coffman is currently representing for the sixth time, might be in play, according to the models.

They show that Democrats have a 60.7 percent win probability in the district and that Democrats will take 52 percent of the vote.

That would in theory bode well for the Democrats in the field, which currently include Jason Crow, Levi Tillemann and David Aarestad, who are trying to unseat the Republican Coffman in a district that Hillary Clinton drew 55 percent of the vote in last year.

But the district was also considered as being “in play” for Democrats last year, when Coffman defeated Democratic challenger Morgan Carroll 50.9 percent to 42.6 percent.

Some conservatives scoffed at the idea that Coffman might be an early underdog Monday, seeing as how Coffman hasn’t been seriously-challenged since 2012, when he narrowly defeated Joe Miklosi.

“[Democrats] should sue Decision Desk HQ & others for tricking them into spending so much [money] in #CO06 every cycle,” said Americans For Prosperity Senior Director of Issue Education Michael Fields.

But the 6th was the only 2018 Colorado district Decision Desk said was moderately in play in Monday’s release.

According to their analysis, Rep. Diana DeGette (D) has a 100 percent chance of winning re-election; a Democrat is 98.5 percent-likely to win the 2nd district that Jared Polis currently holds; and Republicans have a 73.5-percent chance to win the 3rd district where Scott Tipton is trying to get re-elected.

Republicans have a 94.2 percent chance to hold Rep. Ken Buck’s 4th district seat, and a slightly-better chance of holding the 5th Congressional District that Doug Lamborn currently represents.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter has a 93-percent chance of holding onto Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, according to Decision Desk.

The new forecasts come on the last day that candidates have to report their quarterly earnings to the Federal Election Commission. The filings are due by the end of the day, and the subsequent reports should provide more insight into who is challenging whom in the various districts ahead of next spring’s primaries and caucuses.

Colorado premiums will rise by 6% on top of existing hikes after Trump ends CSR subsidy payments

DENVER – Health insurance premiums being offered by insurers in Colorado in 2018 will go up by an additional average of 6 percent – beyond the increases already in place – because of President Trump’s decision to stop making cost-sharing reduction subsidy payments.

The state’s insurance commissioner, Marguerite Salazar, made the announcement Friday afternoon, and like Gov. John Hickenlooper, called Trump’s decision “cruel and irresponsible.” Continue reading

Colorado’s CHP+ program has funding through January, but state says Congress needs to act quickly

DENVER – Colorado officials say the health insurance program for children and pregnant women has enough federal money left over to remain operational through the first month of the year, but warn the money could be gone after that if Congress does not act to restore funding in the next couple months.

Funding for the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ran out Saturday when Congress failed to act to restore funding for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Continue reading

Walker Stapleton announces run for Colorado governor in 2018

DENVER – Colorado Treasurer Walker Stapleton officially announced over the weekend that he’s joining the crowded Republican field vying for Colorado’s governorship in 2018.

Stapleton is in his second term as state treasurer after being elected in 2010, and is currently the only two-term Republican serving in a Colorado state office. Continue reading

Brauchler says he’ll bring Aurora shooter James Holmes back to Colorado if elected governor

DENVER – George Brauchler says he’ll bring Aurora theater shooter James Holmes back to Colorado to serve his sentence if Colorado elects him as its next governor in 2018.

“As governor, I will return Aurora Theater Shooting mass murderer back to CO to serve his sentence here, where he committed his evil crime,” Brauchler tweeted early Friday. Continue reading

Western Conservative Summit 2017 kicks off in Denver with Gardner, Buck, Sekulow among speakers

DENVER – The Western Conservative Summit kicks off Friday in Denver, and though President Donald Trump won’t be there this year as he was in 2016, the event is packed with high-profile Republicans and comes in the midst of a trying time for the GOP in Washington.

The yearly summit comes as Senate Republicans are expected to try for a last-ditch effort to get one of three possible health care bills to the floor early next week, though some of the senators who have opted to oppose bringing the Senate’s bills to the floor remain on the fence.

It also comes after a week of discord in the White House, as President Trump seemed to throw Attorney General Jeff Sessions under the bus over his recusal from the Justice Department probe into the 2016 in an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, and White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned Friday after Anthony Scaramucci was appointed as new White House communications director.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will be at the summit, and announced Friday that Colorado’s Canyons of the Ancients National Monument would remain a national monument after a review of designations made under presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama that was ordered by President Trump in April.

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., is scheduled to speak at the summit on Friday evening, though it’s unclear exactly what time or what he’ll talk about.

He’s been among the most under-pressure Senate Republicans regarding the GOP’s attempts to repeal and/or replace the Affordable Care Act, as he’s yet to definitively take a public stand one way or another on any of the three proposals laid out by the Senate GOP over the past two weeks.

Earlier this week, he seemed to tip his hand on how he felt when he said he wasn’t happy with people who he said were “spiking the football” after efforts to get a repeal-now, replace-later bill to a floor vote.

But in an interview with the Denver Post Thursday, he said he “would prefer a solution that would be a replacement” for the Affordable Care Act, perhaps a hint he wasn’t pushing for the repeal-only bill that some of his Senate colleagues have sought to vote on.

But Gardner said he wouldn’t speculate on if he’d support that bill.

“I don’t know that’s what would come up and I don’t want to say that I’m going to vote for this, that or the other before I see it and before I know what’s in it,” Gardner’s told The Post. “I don’t see why anybody should be concerned about fighting for legislation that they believe will do better than what we have.”

But Gardner also told The Post he wouldn’t focus only on health care in his speech to the Western Conservative Summit on Friday.

A group of advocates is expected to gather outside the convention center at 4 p.m. Friday to protest.

Many Colorado’s Republican governor candidates for 2018 will also be at the summit. Victor Mitchell will speak Friday night, and George Brauchler and Doug Robinson are scheduled to talk Saturday.

State Sen. Owen Hill, who is running for Colorado’s 5th Congressional District seat in the Republican primary for 2018, will also speak Saturday afternoon, and Rep. Ken Buck will speak Saturday night.

Also scheduled to speak Saturday night is Jay Sekulow, who President Trump has hired to represent him in the Russia scandal and who on Friday denied reports that Trump and the White House were discussing the possibility of pardons in the future.

The conference kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Friday, and the final session will start Sunday at 9:30 a.m. at the Colorado Convention Center.

More information can be found here. 

Gardner, Buck among speakers advertised for Western Conservative Summit; will Trump attend?

DENVER – The Western Conservative Summit is coming to Denver again this year, and the gathering of major conservative players is again hoping to bring out some big names for this year’s three-day event.

Though he hasn’t been confirmed to be attending yet, the summit’s organizers have been touting the possibility that President Donald Trump may appear at this year’s gathering. He spoke at last year’s event while he was still a candidate, as did Sarah Palin and a host of other Republicans.

High-profile people who “might” also show up and who have been invited include HUD Secretary Ben Carson, EPA head Scott Pruitt, the president’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to the event’s website. It’s unclear at this point if any will actually attend the conference.

But some high-profile Republicans from Colorado are certain to attend, according to the event’s planners: Sen. Cory Gardner and Rep. Ken Buck will be there.

The summit, hosted by the Centennial Institute and Colorado Christian University, will also host a roundtable interview involving three of the Republican candidates who have already declared their candidacy for Colorado’s governorship in 2018: Doug Robinson, George Brauchler and Victor Mitchell.

On that panel, each will get five minutes to speak about the ideas for Colorado, then will be interviewed by Colorado Politics’ Joey Bunch.

Online ads for the summit have touted Gardner as being one of the speakers, and have drawn even more questions from those on the left, as Gardner will again visit an event full of wealthy donors and political players weeks after he attended the Koch Industries convention in Colorado Springs.

The Republican senator has been chastised by Colorado Democrats since he hasn’t held an in-person town hall meeting in months and has been part of the Republican team crafting a new health care bill in the Senate.

Those calls for a town hall are unlikely to wane, nor is criticism, as weekend passes will cost $200, and daily passes will be $120 apiece. Discounts are available for some parties of 10 or more people, as well as for people under 30, veterans, active duty military, clergy, educators and CCU alumni.

More information on the event, the speakers expected to attend, and ticketing can be found here.

Source: Ed Perlmutter to drop out of governor’s race, won’t run for re-election in Congress

DENVER – Ed Perlmutter will pull out of the race for Colorado’s governorship in 2018 just three months after he entered the race, and won’t run for re-election in Congress either.

The Denver Post was the first to report that Perlmutter was pulling out of the race early. A source close to the campaign has since confirmed to Denver7 that will be the case. Continue reading