On an election night that defied polling and shocked even the most seasoned observers, Colorado voters chose to make big investments in our housing and local agriculture future (areas where our Alliance worked hard this cycle!), rejected an out-of-state push by big corporations to overhaul Colorado’s alcohol industry, and delivered an exceptionally narrow vote in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

So what happens now — and how can you bring these investments home? 

Proposition 123 (Dedicate Tax Revenue to Affordable Housing) narrowly passed by 52% statewide, earning 50% yes in Garfield, 41% yes in Mesa, and 37% yes in Montrose counties. Prop. 123 takes 0.1% of Colorado’s income tax revenue and dedicates it to the goal of increasing the affordable homes supply by 3% every year — raising about $300M next year. 

Prop. 123 gives Colorado a wide-ranging set of tools to boost affordable living: Land banks, grants and loans, direct renter support, debt financing for construction and modular home manufacturing, local government capacity building, and homelessness relief are all on the table — at a new funding level six times larger than current state levels. 

What happens next? 

Local governments and nonprofits face a deadline of November 2023 to prepare their first proposals for shares of this new Prop. 123 funding.

Come talk with us if you’re interested in making things happen in your area! Learn more about Prop. 123 funds here. 

Proposition FF (Healthy School Meals for All) passed by 56% statewide, earning 57% yes in Garfield, 48% yes in Mesa, and 44% yes in Montrose counties. Prop. FF reduces tax rebates for the top 5% of Colorado income earners to fund meals for all Colorado schoolkids — closing previously unaddressed gaps that meant at least 60,000 kids went without school meals some or all of the time. 

Critically, Prop. FF also creates new grant programs for school districts to source food from Colorado farmers and ranchers — and to get schools resources and training to make more meals from scratch. 

Then what?

School districts that embrace Prop. FF have big opportunities to get resources to overhaul their food and nutrition strategies — and agriculturalists will need to make sense of their opportunities to increase production. While the Colorado Department of Education will work through 2024 to implement Prop. FF’s new programs, local areas should start dialogue now with school districts and local producers to identify shared goals, opportunities, big questions, and challenges. Interested folks should keep an eye on the Colorado Department of Education website as the program implementation begins — we’ll send an email when we know more. 

Come talk with us if you’re interested in making things happen in your area! Or learn more about Prop. FF here. 

Other Election Happenings

This afternoon, CD3 candidate Adam Frisch conceded in his race against incumbent Lauren Boebert. It looks as though, under state law, a recount of the vote will be conducted regardless of this concession. After Frisch’s unexpected 7% overperformance above the district’s GOP lean, CD3 is certain to draw big attention in the next two years. 

In Garfield County, an extremely close County Commissioner race saw incumbent Tom Jankovsky narrowly defend his seat with a 344 vote 0.7% win over challenger Ryan Gordon.

After her election, State Representative Julie McCluskie won a leadership contest to become the Colorado State House Speaker – the first speaker from Western Colorado in 22 years!

Elsewhere across the region, Democratic party candidates swept State House and Senate races in every district that polls had indicated were competitive [State House map, State Senate map]. From North to South, the Western Slope’s 2023 state delegation will be: 

State Senate District 8: Dylan Roberts (previously House District 26 Rep.)

House District 13: Julie McCluskie (incumbent, redrawn district)

House District 26: Meghan Lukens (new)

House District 57: Elizabeth Velasco (new)

House District 54: Matt Soper (incumbent)

House District 55: Rick Taggart (new) 

Senate District 7: Janice Rich (previously House District 55 Rep.)

House District 58: Marc Catlin (incumbent)

House District 59: Barbara McLachlan (incumbent)

Western Colorado State Senate Districts 5 and 6 are competitive, open, and up for election in 2024.

Want to support the exciting work now before our Alliance? Please consider making a donation today so we can keep kicking butt in elections and delivering wins for Western Colorado!