DougCo bucks Colorado Dems' leftward wave
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Sen. John Hickenlooper outpaced his statewide primary numbers in Douglas County. Photo: Kristoffer Tripplaar on behalf of Axios
Colorado's ultra-progressives flexed mega muscle in Tuesday's Democratic primary — beating establishment candidates up and down the ballot.
Zoom in: But Douglas County — long a GOP stronghold — wasn't as hostile to those Democrats as the state overall.
✅ U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper won his primary against state Sen. Julie Gonzales, and is taking nearly 59% of the vote in the county — about 5.5 percentage points better than statewide.
- U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet lost the Democratic primary for governor to Attorney General Phil Weiser but outperformed at 47% vs. 43.5% statewide.
- Veteran state Sen. Jessie Danielson dropped her bid for the Democratic secretary of state nomination but ran about 3 points better in Douglas County than statewide. She still lost decisively to Amanda Gonzalez, who had support from a Democratic Socialists of America chapter.
Meanwhile, one of Colorado's biggest November races is already taking shape.
✅ U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert starts the general election well behind in fundraising but is still favored in the deep-red 4th Congressional District, which includes Douglas County.
- Democrat Eileen Laubacher — a former homeschooling Republican mom with elite-level military bonafides — is trying to flip the seat.
- Laubacher — who won in a virtually uncontested primary — had roughly $3.3 million on hand as of June 10, per the Federal Election Commission.
✅ By the numbers: The Douglas County Clerk and Recorder's data — as of Wednesday — showed:
- Of the more than 105,000 ballots counted, about 35% were cast by Republican-affiliated voters.
- Roughly 22% were Democrat-affiliated.
The intrigue: Unaffiliated voters made up about 43% of Douglas County's primary electorate.
- They favored the Democratic ballot at a 2-to-1 clip.
Between the lines: As Colorado has grown bluer, Democratic primaries increasingly determine who holds statewide office.
- That gives unaffiliated voters an incentive to participate.
Yes, but: Douglas County wasn't immune to the anti-establishment wave.
- Gonzales dominated the secretary of state primary among DougCo Democrats.
- And Weiser outpaced Bennet there by more than 5 percentage points.
✅ Also worth noting...
- Barbara Kirkmeyer and Victor Marx are neck-and-neck statewide in the GOP primary for governor, but Kirkmeyer beat Marx by nearly 5.5% in Douglas County.
✅ Zoom in: In races with at least one contested primary, Douglas County's general election slate is set.
- District 1 commissioner: Republican Jake Bockenfeld will face Democrat Irene Bonham.
- County treasurer: Democrat Dan Smith battles Republican Tim Dietz in November.
Fun fact: President Trump has repeatedly disparaged mail voting, but fewer than 1,000 Douglas County voters cast in-person ballots.
- As of Wednesday, that was 0.9% of total county voters.