Democrats lay out plan to win supermajority in Colorado Legislature

Colorado Democrats hope to flip four state House seats and one state Senate seat this fall to widen their majority power in the Legislature, the national party’s state legislative campaign committee announced this week.

Democrats currently hold a 43-22 majority in the House and 23-12 majority in the Senate. If the strategy announced Wednesday by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is successful, it would push Democrats into a supermajority in both chambers. That would make it possible for the caucuses to refer state constitutional amendments to the ballot and override vetoes from the governor with a party-line vote. A party attains a supermajority when it holds at least two-thirds of a chamber’s seats.

The DLCC is eyeing House Districts 16, 19, 50 and 51 and Senate District 30 to flip. It also wants to defend House Districts 25, represented by Evergreen Rep. Tammy Story; 43, represented by Highlands Ranch Rep. Bob Marshall; 46, represented by Pueblo Rep. Tisha Mauro; and 59, represented by Durango Rep. Katie Stewart.

It also wants to protect seats in Senate Districts 3, currently represented by Pueblo Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, who isn’t seeking reelection; 11, represented by Colorado Springs Sen. Tony Exum; 15, represented by Loveland Sen. Janice Marchman; and 27, represented by Centennial Sen. Tom Sullivan.

All of the districts the committee wants to flip and protect involved some of the closest races in the 2024 election. In the Colorado Springs-based House District 16, for example, Republican Rep. Rebecca Keltie defeated then-incumbent Steph Vigil by three votes. Vigil is running to regain that seat against Republican Jill Haffley.

There will be a rematch in House District 19 against Republican Rep. Dan Woog of Frederick, who defeated Jillaire McMillan by a little over 100 votes in 2024. In House District 50, Tommy Butler is running against Republican Rep. Ryan Gonzalez of Fort Lupton, who won the seat in 2024 by a little under 600 votes. Democrat Jacki Marsh is running against Republican Amy Parks in House District 51, a seat currently held by Loveland Rep. Ron Weinberg. Weinberg is not seeking reelection and won the seat in 2024 by about 5 percentage points.

‘Once-in-a-generation opportunity’

In the Senate, Democrats are hoping to flip District 30, currently represented by Republican Sen. John Carson of Highlands Ranch. Carson was appointed to the seat, and the last Republican to win the seat, Kevin Van Winkle in 2022, won with about 54% of the vote. Democrat Kevin Leung is facing Carson in the general election.

In a statement, DLCC President Heather Williams noted that since Democrats won control of the Colorado Senate in 2018, they have passed policies protecting abortion rights and expanding firearm restrictions. The last time the committee spent heavily in Colorado legislative elections was in 2022.

“We are prepared to capitalize on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand Democratic power across the map and get this group of strong candidates across the finish line in November,” she said.

The general election is Nov. 3.