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Colorado GOP congressional candidate Barbara Kirkmeyer scrubbed her hardline anti-abortion stance from her campaign website, part of a broader overhaul to moderate her image.

Why it matters: It's longstanding practice for candidates in both parties to modify their rhetoric for general-election audiences, but this year's messaging gymnastics are next-level, Axios' Alexi McCammond and Andrew Solender write.

State of play: The Supreme Court's June reversal of Roe v. Wade makes abortion a centerpiece issue in Colorado. And Democrats sense momentum on the issue after big wins in a Kansas abortion referendum and a special House election in New York.

Zoom in: In Colorado's hotly contested and newly drawn 8th District — where polls show Republicans can win — Kirkmeyer removed language saying she would "defend the sanctity of life" and took down a video of her speaking at an anti-abortion rally earlier this year.

The positions helped the Weld County state senator emerge from a crowded GOP primary contest, but now could hurt her in the November midterm, particularly in a district with a large Latino population that supports abortion access.

What they're saying: Kirkmeyer spokesperson Alan Philp told Axios the changes came after the campaign did "a complete redesign" of its website. 

Other issues removed were education, cost of living, agriculture and more. The site now just highlights her stances on spending, energy and crime. "We are focused on the three issues in which voters have expressed the most interest," Philp added.

Kirkmeyer now labels herself as "Colorado tough" instead of as a "conservative fighter."

Between the lines: Kirkmeyer is a prominent voice against abortion access and says she "unambiguously" believes life begins at conception. 

She wrote in a voter questionnaire: "What kind of nation and a people do not defend the most vulnerable and innocent among us? I think this issue goes to the very moral and christian foundation our country was built on."

The other side: Her Democratic opponent, state Rep. Yadira Caraveo, is a pediatrician who supports abortion access and backed a law earlier this year to codify it.

Kirkmeyer's "spent her 30 years as a politician pushing her own extreme agenda that she knows will harm hard-working Colorado families — which is exactly why she is now running away from her own long held, extremist anti-abortion views," Caraveo said in a statement.

GOP candidate Kirkmeyer scrubs abortion stance from campaign website

It's common for candidates to modify their rhetoric for general-election audiences, but this year's messaging gymnastics are next-level.

Illustration of an elephant trunk holding a pink rubber eraser.

Colorado GOP congressional candidate Barbara Kirkmeyer scrubbed her hardline anti-abortion stance from her campaign website, part of a broader overhaul to moderate her image.Why it matters: It&#x27;s longstanding practice for candidates in both parties to modify their rhetoric for general-election audiences, but this year&#x27;s messaging gymnastics are next-level, Axios&#x27; Alexi McCammond and Andrew Solender <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="write" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/08/31/republicans-midterms?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&amp;stream=top" data-vars-content-id="81259873-ccf6-4fc3-a5da-4a4c747d6883" data-vars-headline="GOP candidate Kirkmeyer scrubs abortion stance from campaign website" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/08/31/republicans-midterms?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&amp;stream=top" target="_self">write</a>.

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Axios Denver, anchored by John Frank and Alayna Alvarez, is here to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news and developments unfolding in their own backyard.

Data: Brookings Institution; Chart: Axios Visuals

Political candidates in Colorado and across the nation are forgoing debates — and their rivals want to make them pay a price.

Why it matters: Debates — once considered a frank exchange about serious issues — have become a casualty of politicians' increasing ability to bypass traditional media and avoid impromptu missteps.

By the numbers: In 2010, there were a total of 17 debates across the five most competitive Senate races. This year, there will be only six, according to Brookings.

Details: Colorado's top midterm races exemplify this trend.

In the U.S. Senate race, the candidates agreed to only one live televised debate, which takes place tonight on 9News. Other forums were live-streamed online.

Likewise, in the governor's race, the candidates participated in only one live TV debate. A second didn't materialize after Republican Heidi Ganahl objected to 9News' debate moderators.

In the newly drawn 8th District north of Denver, Democratic candidate Yadira Caraveo, a state lawmaker, attended one 30-minute TV debate and a joint forum. Her GOP rival, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, is accusing her of hiding and labeling her with the rhyming moniker “No show Caraveo.”

😡 In the final governor's race debate earlier this week in Grand Junction, Gov. Jared Polis landed a stinger with this line in the closing moments: "My opponent's a mad mom. I'm a happy dad."

Between the lines: It reprised a line earlier in the debate that Republican rival Heidi Ganahl owned. "I am a mad mom," she said, listing reasons that included rising crime and inflation and low testing scores in Colorado.

Ganahl and Republicans simultaneously promoted a clip of her saying as such in the debate, while suggesting Polis was misogynistic to repeat her phrase.

🚩 The most incendiary Colorado campaign ad of the 2022 midterm is aimed at Spanish-speaking voters. 

What's happening: The America First Legal Foundation, a political nonprofit run by former Trump aide Stephen Miller, is sending Spanish-language mailers and producing radio ads that warn Democrats “are pushing radical and irreversible gender experiments on children."

It features a photo of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Rachel Levine, who is transgender, the Colorado Sun reports.

The other side: Morgan Carroll, the state Democratic Party chairperson, issued a statement calling it a "cynical use of hate speech" designed to suppress the Latino vote.

📺 Speaking of ads, expect to see plenty of them in the final 10 days of the election.

By the numbers: $26 million worth of campaign commercials are booked in Colorado, according to AdImpact Politics, a tracking outfit.

Political Pulse: Debates dwindle in Colorado's top races and more news

In the U.S. Senate race, the candidates agreed to only one live televised debate.

Political candidates in Colorado and across the nation <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="are forgoing debates" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/22/midterms-campaigns-debates-oz-fetterman" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/22/midterms-campaigns-debates-oz-fetterman" target="_self">are forgoing debates</a> — and their rivals want to make them pay a price.Why it matters: Debates — once considered a frank exchange about serious issues — have become a casualty of politicians&#x27; increasing ability to bypass traditional media and avoid impromptu missteps.

Andrew Solender

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Political Pulse: Debates dwindle in Colorado's top races and more news

GOP candidate Kirkmeyer scrubs abortion stance from campaign website