Why Pueblo is key to the 2026 election in Colorado

Starting this weekend, Pueblo becomes the center of the Colorado politiverse as thousands of Democrats, and later Republicans, descend on the southeastern city for state party assemblies.

Why it matters: The attention given to the city of 169,000 residents is no accident. Pueblo County is the premier battleground in Colorado, and both parties want to plant their flag with victories in the 2026 midterm elections.

• For Democrats, it's a litmus test for support among working-class white and Latino voters, those who abandoned the party in the 2024 elections.
• For Republicans, it's a temperature check on President Trump's coalition, the MAGA supporters who twice flipped the traditionally blue county to his side.

State of play: The statewide Democratic Party assembly is Saturday, and the GOP's happens April 11, at which both parties will select candidates and hone their messages for the 2026 elections to win over disheartened voters in Pueblo and elsewhere who are struggling to make ends meet amid a statewide affordability crisis.

What they're saying: "It's a critical county for us to be able to show which direction the state's heading," Colorado Democratic Party chair Shad Murib said in an interview. "My theory is you can't win if you don't show up. And so this is us showing up in a big way."

• Outgoing Republican chair Brita Horn championed Pueblo for the party assembly because it "sends a powerful message [that] we are building a bigger, broader Republican Party that fights for every corner of this great state."

The big picture: Pueblo is a one-time Democratic stronghold, thanks mostly to its strong union presence dating to the now-defunct steel mill days.

• The party still holds a six-point advantage over Republicans in terms of party registration, 28.7% compared to 22.5%, but 46% of voters are now unaffiliated.

The intrigue: Despite its heritage, Trump won Pueblo County in 2016 — the first time for a Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972 — by a fraction, just 390 votes.

• Former President Biden reclaimed the territory in 2020, winning by 1,520 votes, but Trump won with 51% in 2024.

Zoom in: Murib said the party "learned a tough lesson" in 2024 by not addressing the electorate's economic concerns. One of his first actions as the party's leader included hiring an organizer in Pueblo to help gather support. He is also targeting the 3rd Congressional District, which wraps from the Western Slope into Pueblo.

• "We've been trying to build infrastructure there that can serve long-term party-building … and make sure that we grow our presence there," he said.

His counterpart, Horn, emphasized the power of door-to-door campaigning in Pueblo with a message about affordability and concerns about crime.

• "We know we're going to have to really have good messaging, and make sure we're doing the work … in the trenches," she said.