{"id":109435,"date":"2021-03-12T19:48:34","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T19:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=109435"},"modified":"2021-03-12T19:48:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T19:48:34","slug":"the-spot-the-suburban-shift-to-the-left-women-in-office-and-whats-up-with-regional-rail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/the-spot-the-suburban-shift-to-the-left-women-in-office-and-whats-up-with-regional-rail\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spot: The suburban shift to the left, women in office and what\u2019s up with regional rail?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/the-spot-wordpress-logo.png\"><\/p>\n<h3>For people, policy and Colorado politics<\/h3>\n<p><em>What&#8217;s The Spot? You&#8217;re reading an installment of our weekly politics newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered straight in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This week, The Post\u2019s political reporters are having a Q&amp;A session, answering a few of the questions readers sent in and highlighting some of our work from the past week.<\/p>\n<p>But first \u2026 Colorado state leaders put forth a $700 million one-time stimulus plan this week, suggesting up to 40% of the money could go toward infrastructure and up to 15% toward \u201chousing and community revitalization.\u201d Check out the full breakdown from Wednesday. By the way, lawmakers will have to pass numerous bills in order for the full package to get to the governor\u2019s desk.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To support the important journalism we do, you can become a Denver Post subscriber here.<\/p>\n<h2>Questions?<\/h2>\n<p>Have a question about Colorado politics? Submit it here and it&#8217;ll go straight to The Denver Post politics team.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"button\">Ask Us<\/button><\/p>\n<h3>There are many correct answers, but what do you think has been the *single* the biggest factor swinging the Denver suburbs from Republican to Democratic? <em>&#8212; Larry Parker, Aurora<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>Short answer: Demographic changes &#8212; specifically the increase in college-educated white people, which now make up a larger percentage of our state&#8217;s electorate than nearly anywhere else in the country. The Post&#8217;s Jon Murray touched on this after the suburbs helped carry Joe Biden to a landslide win here.<\/p>\n<p>But you&#8217;re right that there are other factors. Trump was almost uniquely unpopular with many suburban voters, and his presence catalyzed a blue shift that was already underway. Previously safe red districts are now competitive in many areas of the state, and previous swing districts are now safely blue. That\u2019s recently been true for state races, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The GOP is not purely at the mercy of demographic shifts or national politics. The party and its candidates have agency over who they run, how they message and how they build coalitions. And by and large, the GOP has embraced a brand of far-right politics that simply doesn&#8217;t resonate with a majority of Colorado voters.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>&#8212; Alex Burness, Statehouse reporter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/TDP-L-Colorado-Summer-RJS-22498.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h3>With the mountains\u2019 peak tourism months coming to a close and wider public vaccinations around the corner, what is Colorado\u2019s plan for attracting tourists, who might be looking to get away from lockdowns and a sense of \u201ccabin fever\u201d but scared and scarred of the coronavirus disease, to stimulate our local economy and businesses? <em>&#8212; Calloway Carlotto, Glendale<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The pandemic isn\u2019t over yet (still trying to achieve that herd immunity), but Colorado is loosening restrictions and trying to revitalize its economy.<\/p>\n<p>State political leaders announced that $700 million stimulus package proposal and the state will see about $6 billion overall from the latest round of federal stimulus money, though it\u2019s not yet clear where exactly that money will go.<\/p>\n<p>But, like you point out, public confidence is important for tourism, too. That\u2019s why the state\u2019s tourism office has launched a campaign called \u201cDo Colorado Right.\u201d It\u2019s seeking to bring in visitors while still adhering to safe practices, including wearing masks. Tourism spokesperson Jill McGranahan said it\u2019s a shift from what the department was doing early in the pandemic &#8212; encouraging residents to explore their own backyards \u2014 to marketing to out-of-state visitors.<\/p>\n<p>The office partnered with Olympic gold-medalist snowboarder Red Gerard, The Bachelor\u2019s Ben Higgins and Top Chef contestant Brother Luck to promote tourism through some social media videos. The campaign\u2019s website has a list telling visitors what they need to do before they visit as well as providing a link to what\u2019s open in Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>As the Colorado Restaurant Association indicated Wednesday though, restaurants and small businesses still have a long way to go before they\u2019re back to pre-pandemic conditions &#8212; and hope to see more financial assistance.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>&#8212; Saja Hindi, Statehouse reporter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>More Colorado statewide political news<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After months of COVID-related fears, it turns out Colorado\u2019s budget situation is actually pretty stable \u2026 leading to the stimulus package we\u2019ve mentioned twice.<\/li>\n<li>Colorado is taking a hard look at marijuana industry regulations, with some big changes being floated that could ripple out nationally.<\/li>\n<li>Business interests want Colorado lawmakers to take it easy on new regulations this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What efforts are being made to advance women candidates to higher offices, e.g. U.S. senator? <em>&#8212; Diane Dash, Denver<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>Colorado is one of five states that has never elected a woman as governor or U.S. senator, despite having more women in its state legislature than 49 other states. That is a source of disappointment for groups like Emerge Colorado, which trains Democratic women to run for office at all levels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow that we have two Democrats in the U.S. Senate, getting a woman into one of those two seats is going to be challenging, because there are no term limits,\u201d Emerge Colorado Executive Director Michal Rosenoer said in an interview Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, Emerge\u2019s strategy has been to build a bench of really strong women candidates at the state level, where we can be developing and training women who have the acumen and knowledge to run for things like U.S. Senate,\u201d she added, referring to it as a \u201cbottleneck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is not a dearth of women willing to run. Republican Cynthia Coffman and Democrats Cary Kennedy and Donna Lynne were candidates for governor in 2018, but fell short in their respective primaries. In 2020, nine Democratic women and one Republican woman ran for U.S. Senate but didn\u2019t make the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe higher up the food chain an election gets, the more it\u2019s decided by power brokers who don\u2019t necessarily live in Colorado &#8212; donors and political players at the national level who are more steeped in traditional beliefs about who is and who is not electable,\u201d Rosenoer said.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>&#8212; Justin Wingerter, federal politics reporter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>More federal politics news<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Census delays leave Colorado candidates waiting and worrying about 2022.<\/li>\n<li>Colorado has 33 federal labs and two of its congressmen want to find out if the buildings need repairs.<\/li>\n<li>Coloradans in the U.S. House split along party lines Wednesday during the final vote for the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/TDP-L-J_NLINE_RE_07.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h3>What are the current plans the state has for developing an enlarged commuter rail network? Can we expect to see a multi-decade plan with forecast dates of completion detailing such a network connecting Boulder, Fort Collins, Denver, Colorado Springs, etc., sometime soon? <em>&#8212; Joseph Schlatter, Centennial<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The answer to your first question is yes: There are plans to build a commuter rail network along the Front Range, a nearly 200-mile line connecting Fort Collins to Pueblo. But as to when we&#8217;ll see specific dates for completion, or even phases, that\u2019s a ways down the track (as The Post reported in September, &#8220;likely a decade or so away from welcoming its first passenger.&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p>In December, a draft report presented to the Front Range Passenger Rail Commission provided some new details about the cost, with the initial phase connecting Fort Collins to Colorado Springs estimated between $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Throw another $200 million to $300 million at a second phase, and the line could be extended south to Pueblo. The report even envisioned service between Fort Collins and Colorado Springs running two to six daily round trips.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll need an ever bigger crystal ball beyond that: There is talk at the commission of a faster, more frequent and costlier line between Trinidad, Cheyenne and perhaps points south. Speeds would reach 90 to 110 mph on new tracks, with trains running every 30 minutes at peak times. The cost of that more ambitious undertaking: $7.8 billion and $14.2 billion.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>&#8212; John Aguilar, suburban reporter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>When the pandemic is over, what is our plan to revitalize downtown Denver? <em>&#8212; David Rutter, Denver<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>Several projects are already underway &#8212; and a few are in more conceptual phases &#8212; to change the way downtown looks and flows. But it won\u2019t all be finished by the time Denver begins to really open up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>City officials plan to use about $98 million in bonds (currently under consideration by the City Council) to renovate the Colorado Convention Center with an 80,000-square-foot ballroom addition and a 50,000-square-foot outdoor terrace with mountain and downtown views.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And Monday, the council cemented the city\u2019s pick to renovate the 16th Street Mall to the tune of nearly $150 million. The group also accepted a $20 million from a state grant to help pay for the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And there\u2019s more in the pipeline, said Tammy Door, president and CEO of the Denver Downtown Partnership: the redesign of Skyline Park, the idea for which was originally unveiled in 2004;\u00a0 and the 5280 Trail, a longstanding vision connecting five miles of downtown and several neighborhoods &#8212; though it\u2019s a long way off.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>&#8212; Conrad Swanson, Denver City Hall reporter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>More Denver (and suburban Denver) political news:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In the COVID-19 pandemic, the very definition of a public health crisis, Denver spent less than 5% of federal stimulus money on public health itself.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Douglas County effectively said it won\u2019t enforce the state\u2019s COVID restrictions anymore, and asked the governor to open up the state.<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s a good chance the Denver metro gets up to two feet of snow this weekend. Here\u2019s a small bit of what you need to know. And what huge snowfalls looked like in the city\u2019s past.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Forward this newsletter to your colleagues and encourage them to subscribe.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2021\/03\/12\/the-spot-suburban-shift-left-women-office-regional-rail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For people, policy and Colorado politics What&#8217;s The Spot? You&#8217;re reading an installment of our weekly politics newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":109434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Spot: The suburban shift to the left, women in office and what\u2019s up with regional rail? - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/the-spot-the-suburban-shift-to-the-left-women-in-office-and-whats-up-with-regional-rail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Spot: The suburban shift to the left, women in office and what\u2019s up with regional rail? - Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For people, policy and Colorado politics What&#8217;s The Spot? 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