🗳️ Welcome to Wednesday! With ballots hitting mailboxes and midterms less than a month out, we're unpacking the stakes.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 84.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member Barry Curtiss-Lusher!

Today’s newsletter is 901 words — a 3.5-minute read.

As early voting gets underway in Colorado, the stakes of the 2026 election are coming into focus.

Why it matters: Who's in charge, what Colorado's cultural norms look like and how the state collects and spends money are all at stake.

Three major themes are emerging.

1. Democratic control: Voters will determine whether the Democratic Party retains full control of state government — and gains a supermajority in both legislative chambers.

• By the numbers: Democrats are defending all four independently elected statewide offices and need just one seat in the House and Senate to secure veto-proof majorities that can set the agenda and put constitutional amendments before voters.

2. Conservative values: Republicans are turning to the ballot to put limits on Democrats' agenda.

• Ten questions touch cultural fault lines, asking voters whether to require reporting certain immigration violations to federal authorities, constitutionally protect natural gas use, prohibit transgender students from competing on certain sports teams and increase voter ID requirements.

What they're saying: Conservative group Advance Colorado, which is behind multiple measures, "has created an alternative governing model using the ballot initiative process," political analyst Floyd Ciruli tells us.

• "It is a powerful counter to the Democratic Legislature and the general liberal cultural zeitgeist."

3. Tax fight: Four ballot measures with far-reaching consequences address how we levy and collect state taxes.

• Proposition 136 would protect the state's flat income tax and cap the rate for individuals and corporations at 4.4%.
• Amendment 87 would replace Colorado's flat tax with a graduated system that raises taxes on the state's wealthiest individuals.
• Two others would steer more state revenue toward conservation, through taxes on outdoor gear sales (Proposition 137), and education, by raising the state's current TABOR cap on spending (Proposition NN).

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Mail ballots land in voters' mailboxes this week, kicking off the final sprint to Election Day.

Here are the key dates to know now:

• Friday: Final day for county clerks to mail ballots to active voters.
• Oct. 12: All drop boxes for mail ballots are open.
• Oct. 19: Voting centers to drop ballots and vote in person are up and running.
• Oct. 26: Last suggested day to return your ballot by mail.
• Nov. 3: Election Day. Polls are open 7am–7pm, and ballots must reach county clerks by 7pm to count.
• Nov. 12: Deadline for eligible military and overseas ballots to arrive and for voters to fix signature discrepancies.

This year's Colorado ballot feels a little like a college exam.

• Thankfully, there's a not-s0-little Blue Book to help.

State of play: Colorado's one of nine states that produced a nonpartisan voter guide explaining ballot language and potential impacts.

• This year's record 14 statewide measures — seven of which propose changes to the state constitution — give voters plenty of homework.

By the numbers: Named for its blue cover, this year's book — published in English and Spanish — is the longest in its 72-year history, clocking in at 130 front-and-back pages.

• The previous record-holder was the 122-page 2024 edition — so big the state had to find a new way to bind it.

Follow the money: Given this year's girth, legislative staff estimates it'll cost more than $3 million to produce, including $850,000 in postage costs.

📉 Home sales in metro Denver fell to about 2,900 last month — the lowest since the U.S. was on the brink of the 2008 financial crisis — as mortgage rates spiked to 7.5%. (Denver Post 🔑)

👀 Colorado's top human services official, Michelle Barnes, resigned yesterday after years of turmoil, including millions in staff settlements and a recent scandal involving racist texts by youth detention leaders. (Denver Post 🔑)

❌ Oskar Blues Grill & Brew closed its downtown location for undisclosed reasons. (BusinessDen 🔑)

A former CSU student is suing Phi Delta Theta, alleging the fraternity failed to protect her last October, when, she claims, one of its members raped her at the fraternity house. (Reporter-Herald 🔑)

🧊 Ice Castles, the ultra-popular winter attraction in Cripple Creek, is canceled this year due to warm and unfavorable climate conditions. (CBS Colorado)

Denver's newest drop box, the city's 49th, holds more than ballots.

• It's got special meaning, too.

Why it matters: Unveiled this week, the box honors beloved East Colfax community leader Ma Kaing, a refugee who was killed by a stray bullet nearby in 2022.

• It's the only drop box along East Colfax within city limits.

What they're saying: "This is an area that for the longest time has been underserved and underrepresented, but not underorganized," Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López said at the ceremony, per 9News.

• City Councilmember Shontel Lewis, who represents the area, called the box a celebration of "access" and "representation" for a community that "refuses to accept being overlooked."

📍 If you go: It's outside The Rose on Colfax (1510 N. Valentia St.) and open 24/7.

🤩 John is sharing a link to vote for the Coolest Thing Made in Colorado "People's Choice" Award, hosted by the Colorado Chamber.

☕️ Alayna is working from the cute and quirky Quince Coffee House off East Colfax.

🤠 Esteban is listening to "Uncertain, TX," Kacey Musgraves' new song with Intocable.

Thanks to our editor, Gigi Sukin.