Three Democrats ran unopposed for Colorado House seats in the recent election.

[Justin]

Look, I understand that politics is expensive, and that there may very well be tactical reasons for not wasting the time, money, and effort to run a Republican or Libertarian contender in a heavily left-leaning district.

But...

I find it ridiculous that the GOP in this state doesn't see fit to at least put up some token resistance in those areas, if for no other reason than to put the Dem candidates at least a little bit on the defensive, and to force them to have to waste some of their resources on running at least a minimal campaign.

[Great-Kazoo]

You need to find someone to run that can win. I mentioned it before , In a district like DeGette's. Unless Pat Schroeder, Hillary Clinton, or a liz warner ran, they don't stand a chance in hell. Some things are not worth the investment. Now if the R's could get away with redistricting, who knows.

There are better choices in AZ than McCain, yet he still wins , go figure.

[Bailey Guns]

Look, I understand that politics is expensive, and that there may very well be tactical reasons for not wasting the time, money, and effort to run a Republican or Libertarian contender in a heavily left-leaning district.

But...

I find it ridiculous that the GOP in this state doesn't see fit to at least put up some token resistance in those areas, if for no other reason than to put the Dem candidates at least a little bit on the defensive, and to force them to have to waste some of their resources on running at least a minimal campaign.

Why is this the responsibility of the GOP? Why not the Libertarian Party? Or some other party?

There are districts here and around the country where the dems, or the republicans, don't stand a chance of winning, even against more than a "token" opponent. That's why people like DeGette, Pelosi, Schumer and others don't have to campaign. It's also why republicans in certain places like districts in OK and ID and a few other places don't really have to campaign against democrats...even when there is a dem opponent. And the last thing democrats worry about is wasting resources, especially in heavily democrat districts that are easily defended. They don't care about no stinkin' resources.

[newracer]

Several positions on my ballot only had an R running.

[Bailey Guns]

^^ Same in Park Co. Though most were for local county races.

Republicans won everything buy at least a 2 to 1 margin, sometimes even more.

[SenHolbert]

It really isn't the state Party's role to put up candidates. In fact, GOP Party Bylaws prohibit - or are at least supposed to prohibit - the Party from being active in a race prior to a Primary. That would include "vetting" or promoting a candidate in any state House or Senate district. That's a tricky point. Some get frustrated that the state/county parties don't vet candidates. Praise God that they DON'T! The problem is, there is no difference between "vetting" and the Party deciding who gets to run/win.

As for races for the state House or Senate where there was no challenger, it would be up to an R who lives in a heavily D district to decide to run. It's generally easy for such a person to go through Assembly when no one else is willing to give it a try. Such candidates would rarely have a Primary contest, so it's all about the General Election in November. One such candidate, Jeffery Washington, ran in HD8 against incumbent state Representative Beth McCann. Mr. Washington raised $4,551 through October 22. He had spent $3,490. There is 9% Republican voter registration in the district. Mr. Washington received 14.29% of the vote in a two-way race. McCann received the other 85.71% of the vote.

Mr. Washington worked hard for that 14.29%, yet that effort did not force McCann to work harder or spend more money. I'm grateful for Jeffery's effort, he's a gifted and talented man. Such people who are willing to devote so much time over a sixth month period, to ask anyone and everyone he knows for money, to raise and spend money in an effort that has no hope of winning… that's rare to find. Again, it really isn't a matter of a Party organization putting someone forth to do such work. It's up to an individual who lives in that district to decide that such an effort is what he/she wants to go do.

Data wise, HD8 is the "safest" Democrat state House seat. 14.29% there is good for a Republican. Over in Adams County, HD30, Republicans caught the Democrats off guard. Republican JoAnn Windholz beat Democrat incumbent Jenise May (50.29% to 49.71%) for one of the three Republican pick-up seats in the state House. Nobody was really looking at that race, but a group of Republicans in that community found their candidate, went out and worked hard, and won… in a district that is no where near as "D" as is HD8.

[Zundfolge]

So its really up to the Republicans in those districts to get off their duffs.

Thing is one has to wonder if 1) some of these "safe" dem districts might not be taken when they're not looking and 2) Are there R's and right leaning I's in those districts that simply didn't vote because they had no local R to vote for so that ends up being less votes for the state wide candidates?

[Justin]

Several positions on my ballot only had an R running.

Great!

I'm not interested in encouraging Democrats.

[Erni]

They may not have any chance of winning but i would appreciate being able to fill in a bubble for someone and not have to leave the square empty as a "protest" vote. Otherwise it looks like the other side just doesn't give a damn, not a good message to put out there.

[Justin]

RepHolbert, thanks for your response. Insightful stuff.

Please relay my gratitude to Mr. Washington if you get the chance.

I appreciate the info that candidates aren't picked by the party, but rather volunteer. That seems like a decent way to do it, even if it goes mean getting stuck with the occasional lunatic like Klingenschmitt.

How does that compare to how the CO Dems pick candidates?

Also, in your estimation, do you think that it might be a good idea for republicans to run in these districts as a sort of loss-leader?

Sure, a republican isn't going to win in boulder, but if one runs, is it likely to motivate voters to the polls who otherwise wouldn't go, but whose votes for other candidates like Governor might make a difference?

Thanks again for you post. My apologies for spelling/grammar issues as I'm posting from my phone.

[EvilRhino]

As noted, you fight where you can. In Douglas county, several slots had no D running. Either uncontested R or an R and an L choice.

I was in contact with the R running against Rapsheet Fields and he knew the skinny before the election. District is 70% African American and he ran as a White Male Conservative. As you can imagine, the vote results were about 70-30% for the criminal to keep stealing rights from us, but he ran. I asked if he was getting any funding or support from the state GOP and he flat out stated they spend where they can win.

Much like the NRA picking battles. They didn't go all out in Washington state against the UBGC law, but that was being bankrolled by Bloomberg, Bill Gates, and a few other billionaires. An article I saw today boasted at 91% win rate on the elections they backed.

[SenHolbert]

Justin,

"How does that compare to how the CO Dems pick candidates?"

It's the same process: Caucus, Assembly, Primary, General. I suppose the Dems have a reputation for having fewer Primary elections, but those do occur in their "safe" districts where the Primary winner will win in November. The county and state Parties (D or R) stay out of Primary elections. Their job is to facilitate caucus and assembly meetings and to allow delegates and alternates who are elected at caucus to decide by vote at their assembly which candidate(s) advance to the Primary. Once a D or R wins their respective Primary, their county and state Parties *can* get involved and support their candidate, but that doesn't mean that they will, must or need to.

"...if one runs, is it likely to motivate voters to the polls who otherwise wouldn't go"

Yes and no.

Here in Douglas County, Democrats hold zero partisan elected offices at the county or state legislative levels. Democrats have ~20% registration and they tend to account of ~21% of the total vote in even year elections. Any increase between their registration percentage and the percentage of actual votes cast is a factor of them turning out D voters and U's and Others voting below their 33% registration percentage. DougCo Dems have tried it both ways. They've tried to put a D in every race on the ballot so that Dem voters had candidates to vote for… and they came in at about 21% of the total vote. This year, very few DougCo Dems ran for county or state legislative seats and they came in at about… wait for it... 21% of the total vote.

The hotly contested races for state House and Senate occur in communities where voter registration is close to a 1/3 D, 1/3 R, 1/3 U/O and where performance (how people actually vote) is close. Adams County experienced a shift from D to R this election cycle. People in that community worked hard to shift single digits from the "D" column to the "R" column and they won. OK, I won my race this year with about a thirty point margin. That's not close. I won my two House races by 46 and 48 points. That's really not close. But, Rep. McCann won by a 70 point margin 85/15… that's stratospheric.

Pick your battles.