Courageous Colorado

10/15/2026

Colorado voters aren’t just frustrated with politics. Many are questioning whether the two party system represents them at all.

A Colorado Polling Institute survey found that 7 in 10 voters described the country’s political situation as “in crisis.” And 77% said a third party is needed to adequately represent the American people.

That sentiment crossed party lines, including Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters.

The question now is what it would actually take to turn that dissatisfaction into a viable political alternative.

10/14/2026

What would YOU change about Colorado’s democracy?

Courageous Colorado is partnering with Change.org to bring Civic Dialogues statewide, creating an opportunity for Coloradans to share their ideas, find common ground, and help shape a democracy that works for everyone.

Here’s how to get involved:

1️⃣ Share your ideas! Visit civicdialogues.org/colorado to submit ideas for strengthening Colorado’s democracy.

2️⃣ Vote on ideas! Explore proposals from fellow Coloradans and vote on the changes you’d like to see.

⏰ Deadline: October 18! This is your last chance to submit ideas and vote before the platform closes.

What’s next?

Following the first phase, Civic Dialogues will host three virtual conversations on November 5, 7, and 9, bringing together Coloradans from different backgrounds and political perspectives to discuss potential solutions.

Participants will be randomly selected to reflect Colorado’s diverse communities and will receive $100 for their participation in a two-hour virtual dialogue.

Your voice can make a difference! Ideas and recommendations developed through this process will be shared with Colorado’s elected officials.

Visit civicdialogues.org/colorado to participate and learn more.

10/14/2026

Every campaign has a list of voters they've decided not to bother with.

The problem this causes is that campaigns end up talking to the same people over and over while everyone else feels like politics isn't for them.

Hot take: the campaigns that stop skipping those voters are the ones that win. Not because it's the right thing to do (though it is), but because that's where the votes nobody else is competing for are.

10/13/2026

Who really gains the power from open primaries?

The question isn't which party wins. It's whether the people who make it through the primary actually represent the voters in that district.

Open primaries place the power back into the people over parties.

10/12/2026

Real reform doesn’t require us to agree on everything. It starts with finding what we can agree on and building from there.

Different perspectives aren’t the problem. They’re part of a healthy democracy.

10/09/2026

10/08/2026

PRIMARY GLOSSARY 👇

Primary: the election that picks who's on the November ballot.

Closed Primary: You have to be a registered member of the party (Democrat, republican) to vote in its primary.

Semi-open: Unaffiliated voters can vote, but only in one party's primary. Colorado works this way.

Open Primary: Every voter picks any primary, no registration required.

All-candidate Primary: One ballot, every candidate on it, and you vote for whoever you want regardless of party.

Let us know if you learned something new about the primary election in the comments 👇

10/07/2026

Alana Persson leads that work at RepresentWomen, one of our coalition partners. Ranked choice voting isn't hypothetical in Colorado, either. Boulder, Fort Collins, Basalt, Carbondale, and Broomfield have all adopted it for local elections, so if you live in one of those cities, this is already how your ballot works.

We convene groups who don't agree on everything because that's the only way a real agenda for 2030 gets built. Which reform do you want explained next?

10/06/2026

What if our politics is being driven less by who we support and more by who we’re against?

Researchers call it negative partisanship: political identity shaped in part by opposition to the other party. Research has documented increasingly negative views across party lines.

But voters aren’t always neatly contained by the two-party divide. Roughly a third of registered voters identified as Independent or something else in Pew’s 2023 data.

The bigger conversation: what would our elections look like if they were designed around more choice, rather than stronger party loyalty?

10/05/2026

77% of Colorado voters say a third party is needed because the two major parties aren’t doing a good enough job representing the American people.

But if voters want more choices, that change can’t start in November. It starts in the primary.

Open all-candidate primaries give voters more choices, make elections more competitive, and most importantly, put the decision about who moves forward back in the hands of voters, instead of political parties.

If we want a political system that actually gives people more options, we have to open the door where the choices are made.