Phil Anschutz
The extraordinary party primary season wrapped up on June 28, 2022. In Colorado, practically only the Republican Party continues to hold contested primaries. When a political seat opens many Democrats will enter but by the time of the primary only one candidate runs in the final primary. There are exceptions of course. In Congressional District 3 there was a battle to take on Republican and current Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, which was won by Adam Frisch, and in State House District 6 radically progressive Elizabeth Epps nosed out run of the mill progressive Katie March.
But the Republican primary is the only contested game in town for many positions, so everyone plays in it from Republicans to Democrats to unaffiliated voters and donors. If you are an unaffiliated voter in Colorado, you get both Republican and Democratic primary ballots but can only vote one.
The unaffiliated voters are the biggest group in the state, dwarfing Republicans and Democrats. It used to be that the unaffiliated voted more often in the Democrat primary but in 2022, with few actual choices in the Democrat primary, they flooded into the Republican primary. In some counties there were more unaffiliated voters in the Republican primary than Republicans. In the 3rd Congressional District over 3,000 Democrats re-registered as unaffiliated so they could vote against Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, and for teacher union’s favorite Republican, State Sen. Don Coram.
Earlier in the primary season at the assembly level, grassroots Republicans routed the establishment Republicans funded by Colorado’s richest man, billionaire Phil Anschutz. Republican leaders like Congressman Ken Buck and State House leader Hugh McKean almost didn’t make the ballot. Other leading establishment Republicans simply paid canvassing firms to petition to get on the final primary ballot as allowed by Colorado law.
The Republican grassroots candidates seldom have any money while the establishment candidates have the millions of dollars Phil Anschutz is willing to contribute. But this year, money poured in for grassroots Republicans from national Democratic groups on the theory that the Republican grassroots candidates would be easier to beat in the general. Never in the history of Colorado politics had so much money been spent for primaries.
On primary day with unaffiliated voters flooding into the Republicans, it was a Phil Anschutz wave. Virtually every establishment candidate won, and every grassroots candidate lost, often by narrow margins. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert who was endorsed by Former President Donald Trump won but she had long made peace with the establishment when she went to Washington.
Normally Republicans must depend on their volunteers to help get out the message and the vote, but many of those people are grassroots. For Anschutz no problem. He has indirectly gotten Victor’s Canvassing out of Colorado Springs to hire people at $15 to $30 an hour to go door to door this election cycle.
Where does that leave grassroots Republicans? Up the creek without a paddle as usual since Phil Anschutz started playing in Colorado politics decades ago and probably well before. In the general election you can vote Democrat or Anschutz Democrat light or go third party. The choice is yours.
- Editorial Board