The Unaffiliated | The Colorado election stories to watch in 2024. A state agency is overcollecting fees.

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Voters enter Augustana Lutheran Church to cast their ballots Nov. 8, 2022, in Denver. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)

The start of the new year means election season has officially begun.

Here are the top Colorado election stories The Colorado Sun will be following in 2024:

According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2024 is the year of the dragon. According to The Colorado Sun’s politics team, 2024 is the year of the primary. From U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s bid in the 4th Congressional District to the attempt to unseat Democratic state Rep. Elisabeth Epps, D-Denver, in Colorado House District 6, the state’s June 25 primary elections are going to be very consequential —and contentious. For Republicans, the primaries will determine how far to the right the party wants to go, while Democratic voters will choose whether to take an offramp back toward moderation. Except for the presidential contest, which is likely to be an easy win for Democrats, and the battle for an at-large University of Colorado regent seat, there will be no statewide races for elective office on the November ballot. That means the big prizes will be in Colorado’s 3rd and 8th congressional districts. If former Aspen city councilman Adam Frisch is the Democratic nominee in the Republican-leaning 3rd District as expected, he’ll be looking to prove that his candidacy is about more than just the anti-Boebert vote. It’s unclear who his GOP opponent will be. In the toss-up 8th District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo will be vying for reelection in a race that’s forecast to elicit gobs of national money. It’s unclear who her Republican opponent will be, too. Republicans can’t win back a majority in the state House or Senate in 2024, but they can set themselves up for success — or failure — in the upper chamber for the 2026 election. The GOP will have to defend a few seats and maybe pick up a few others to have a realistic shot at swinging the Colorado Senate pendulum before 2029. The House, meanwhile, is a lost cause for the foreseeable future in terms of a Republican majority. The GOP can rein the chamber back in, but there is no path to control. While there may not be any competitive, marquee races on the November statewide ballot, there will likely be many pivotal ballot measures on property taxes, abortion rights, the state’s election system and oil and gas.

STORY: 8 storylines to watch at the Colorado Capitol this year as the 2024 legislative session begins

MORE: Another interesting storyline we’ll be following in 2024 is whether Democrats can hang onto some of the Republican-leaning and toss-up Colorado House districts they narrowly won in 2022.

Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch, who won by about 400 votes in House District 43 Stephanie Vigil of Colorado Springs, who won by roughly 700 votes in House District 16 Jennifer Parenti of Erie, who won by just under 1,500 votes in House District 19 Mary Young of Greeley, who won by about 350 votes in House District 50 Tammy Story of Evergreen, who won by about 700 votes in House District 25 Eliza Hamrick of Centennial, who won by some 1,200 votes in House District 61

Democrats would keep their majority in the House even if they lose all of the above districts. But the races are worth keeping a close eye on because they may serve as a barometer of voters’ political mood.

COLORADO POLITICS: Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas filed to run in House District 43, which is represented by Bob Marshall

The 2024 Colorado legislative session begins Wednesday Gov. Jared Polis will deliver his sixth State of the State address at 11 a.m. Thursday morning The Joint Budget Committee is holding meetings this week and next as it drafts the state’s 2024-25 fiscal year budget The legislature will be off Monday because it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day The Legislative Audit Committee meets at 8 a.m. Tuesday

Unaffiliated voters made up nearly 48% of active, registered voters at the end of December. Click on the graphic for a larger version. (Sandra Fish, Special to The Colorado Sun)

Nearly 48% of active, registered voters in Colorado were unaffiliated at the end of December, an increase of 14.5 percentage points over December 2004.

In 2004, Republicans dominated Colorado’s voter rolls, making up 36% of the electorate, while 33% of the state’s voters were unaffiliated and 30% were registered as Democrats.

Unaffiliated voters became the largest share of the state’s electorate in 2013.

It wasn’t until 2016 that the number of active Democratic voters surpassed that of Republicans, who now make up about 24% of the electorate. Democrats accounted for 27% of active, registered voters at the end of December.

State regulators keep collecting more fees than the law allows

In each of the past two years — and 10 times since 2001 — Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Affairs has raised more money from professional licensing fees than it is allowed to keep under state law.

In the Joint Budget Committee’s final hearing before its holiday break, department officials took no responsibility for their continued violation of the law, which essentially bars departments from stockpiling large quantities of fees they aren’t spending.

Instead, agency leaders blamed lawmakers for this year’s $7.8 million surplus, pointing to two bills the legislature passed in 2022 that transferred $15.4 million into its cash funds.

Some quick background: Unlike taxes, fees can’t simply be redirected to other state programs when they go unspent by the department that collects them. Park fees, for instance, must be spent on parks. So when departments collect more fees than they need to administer a program, state agencies are supposed to either reduce fees accordingly, or increase spending to eliminate the excess revenue.

The increased funding shouldn’t necessarily have triggered a surplus. The money was supposed to cover the cost of waiving licensing fees for health care professionals during the pandemic, and analyses from nonpartisan legislative staff predicted there would be no financial impact to the department. That’s because the $15.4 million infusion was supposed to cancel out an equal amount of eliminated fees.

Trouble is, the fee reductions were spread over a two-year period, leaving the department with an immediate pile of cash.

The state auditor reviews cash funds each year to ensure compliance with the reserve limit, set at 16.5% of what the fund spends in a given year. DORA isn’t the only department in violation; but it is the worst habitual offender, the audit showed.

Department officials told the JBC they cut $4.9 million in fees last budget year in order to eliminate $3.8 million in excess fees collected in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

“We absolutely have been reducing fees by a lot,” said Justin Lippert, the department’s budget director.

Lippert said those reductions should have brought DORA into compliance in the 2022-23 budget year if it weren’t for the pandemic aid.

But that’s not quite right either. The department’s own math shows it still would have been in violation of the law by $134,000, a spokesperson confirmed to The Sun.

Want to reach Colorado political influencers and support quality local journalism? The Sun can help get your message attention through a sponsorship of The Unaffiliated, the must-read politics and policy newsletter in Colorado. Contact Sylvia Harmon at [email protected] for more information.

Then-state Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs at the Colorado Capitol on January 8, 2020 in Denver. (Kathryn Scott, Special to The Colorado Sun)

ELECTION 2024: Two Republicans have filed to challenge state Sen. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs in 2024: Rex Tonkins, husband of El Paso County GOP Chairwoman Vickie Tonkins, and David Stiver, a GOP activist. Liston accused Rex Tonkins of harassment at a party meeting, but a jury acquitted him and the state GOP censured Liston calling the complaint against Tonkins “unwarranted” and “inappropriate.” Stiver ran for the House District 10 seat in 2020, but he failed to get the required support at an assembly to make the ballot and the state party refused to intervene when questions were raised about the process.

HIGHER EDUCATION: In a revised budget proposal sent to the Joint Budget Committee this month, Gov. Jared Polis added $5.5 million in state funding to implement a new pay plan for higher education employees. But the additional state support will only cover about half the cost. Polis suggested that colleges pay for the rest by increasing tuition for in-state residents by 2.5%, up from 2% in his initial budget plan.

STORY: Colorado House speaker formally reprimands Elisabeth Epps for disrupting chamber during special session

STORY: Federal judge rejects Tina Peters’ attempt to halt her Mesa County criminal trial

STORY: Dave Williams, chairman of Colorado GOP, announces bid to replace Doug Lamborn in Congress

STORY: Doug Lamborn won’t seek reelection in 2024, meaning all of Colorado’s Republican-held congressional seats will be open

STORY: Police are investigating an apparent altercation between Lauren Boebert and her ex-husband

STORY: Judge orders Democrats at the Colorado Capitol to stop using secret voting system to allocate state budget

STORY: Coloradan who stormed Nancy Pelosi’s office during Jan. 6 riot sentenced to probation

STORY: Trump will be on Colorado’s presidential primary ballot as U.S. Supreme Court takes up appeal

THE DENVER POST: Colorado lawmakers, ready for another stab at land-use reform, say they’ve learned from last year’s failure

COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO: Campaign to protect natural gas at the Colorado ballot box gains momentum and money

Latino leaders in Denver hear from Biden campaign staffer

Sergio Gonzales, Denver native and adviser to President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, speaks to a Latino group in north Denver on Thursday. (Sandra Fish, Special to The Colorado Sun)

A roomful of Latinos, including several elected officials, heard Thursday from a top adviser to President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign in north Denver.

The gathering wasn’t aimed so much at wooing voters as it was an effort to persuade influential Latinos to get involved in the 2024 election via a new political nonprofit, Servicios Sigue.

The group is an extension of Servicios de la Raza, the 52-year-old human services organization aimed at helping low-income Latinos. As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, Servicios Sigue will lobby elected officials, endorse candidates and turnout voters. Those are activities traditional nonprofits, like Servicios de la Raza, are prohibited from.

Latinos make up about 23% of Colorado’s population and nearly 39% in the competitive 8th Congressional District, a toss-up that’s the focus of national Democrats and Republicans.

Speaking at the gathering was Sergio Gonzales, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign. He’s a veteran of Democratic campaigns, starting with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet‘s 2010 contest.

Gonzales played the latest TV ad for Biden’s election campaign, which focuses on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as former President Donald Trump tried to retain power. “This is not an existential threat, this threat is actually here,” Gonzales said. “We have to ring the alarm bells.”

Gonzales is also the son of Rudy Gonzales, president of Servicios de la Raza and grandson of legendary Denver activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales.

A panel including state Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, of Glenwood Springs, and Denver City Councilwoman Amanda Sandoval discussed how to reach Latino voters in 2024. Velasco said Latinos need to be encouraged to run for office.

“We all know someone that is a great leader, that just needs that push — and especially in our rural communities,” she said. “There needs to be investment in our leaders.”

MORE: Servicios Sigue’s board is led by Democratic political consultant Alvina Vasquez. Also on the board is political consultant Andrew Short.

Denver Democratic politicians at the event included City Councilwoman Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, state Sen. Julie Gonzales and state House candidate Cecelia Espenoza. Also present: Denver Public Safety Executive Director Armando Saldate, Denver Fire Chief Desmond Fulton, Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas and Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins.