Democrats tighten grip on Front Range voters
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Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
Democrat Alli Jackson's improbable upset in Aurora signals a turning point for her city.
The big picture: Jackson, a social worker, ousted incumbent Danielle Jurinsky to win an at-large Aurora City Council seat, completing a Democratic sweep in Colorado's third largest city.
- As Democrats celebrated major victories in Virginia and New York, Colorado progressives notched wins in Aurora, Centennial, Denver, Longmont and Pueblo.
Why it matters: The results indicate deepening voter support for Democrats and a sharp warning for Republican candidates eyeing 2026 contests in competitive districts statewide.
Context: Jackson will serve alongside newcomers Rob Andrews, Gianina Horton and Amy Wiles on the dais, flipping the council from a conservative to liberal majority in Aurora's nonpartisan elections.
Zoom in: Her win was perhaps the most notable in metro Denver, one of two contestants picked from a pool of five at-large candidates in Aurora, along with Andrews.
- Jurinsky built a national profile by aligning herself with President Trump, who parroted her 2024 claims about Venezuelan gang activity — and that "backfired" for Jurinsky, says Jackson.
- "Trump has just been … attacking working families, immigrants, pretty much anybody who's not an elite. … And I think he's really upset a lot of people," Jackson tells us.
Between the lines: In deep blue Denver, the teachers union, Colorado Education Association, flexed its political muscle to help elect four members to the school board.
- "This election was a referendum on corporate greed and a broken status quo," Wynn Howell, state director of Colorado Working Families Party, said in a statement last week celebrating DPS and Aurora wins.
- Other notable wins included Susie Hidalgo-Fahring (mayor of Longmont), Selena Ruiz-Gomez (Pueblo City Council), and Ashish Vaidya (Centennial City Council).
Zoom out: Trump's unpopularity likely played a role across races, but progressive candidates dominating in places like Aurora was unexpected, Paul Teske, distinguished professor at the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado-Denver, tells us.
- The 2025 election cycle is proof that progressives made inroads with Latino, Black and foreign-born voters in Aurora, Teske adds.
- More than half of its residents identify as Black, Asian, American Indian or Latino, per census data.
The intrigue: Jackson says the president's name rarely came up on the campaign trail, but the "divisive, toxic" atmosphere on the Aurora City Council did.
- It's something Jackson tells us she wants to change: "We can [now] move toward making sure City Council is reflective of people."