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Manny Rutinel elected to House District 32

October 2nd, 2023

Congratulations to Manny Rutinel on being selected by the members of the House District 32 Vacancy Committee to fill the vacancy created by Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet’s resignation following her election as Senator for Senate District 21.


The results were 23 for Manny Rutinel and 5 for Lucy Molina. (During the meeting, the vote was inadvertently reported as 23 to 6).


“I'm honored to be selected to represent HD32 at the Capitol in the next legislative session,” said Representative-elect Manny Rutinel. “Now, I plan to turn my full attention to representing the people of HD32 to the best of my ability. My focus will be on making Colorado more affordable, defending our civil rights, and ensuring everyone has access to clean air, land, and water.”


“I want to congratulate Representative-elect Manny Rutinel, and I also want to thank Lucy Molina for running to fill this vacancy. I look forward to working with Representative Rutinel to deliver on making Colorado an even better place to live, work, and play.” - Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party



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Colorado Democratic Party Votes to Endorse Propositions HH and II and for a Virtual 2024 State Assembly & Convention

September 15th, 2023

DENVER – The State Central Committee of the Colorado Democratic Party endorsed 2023 statewide ballot measures Proposition HH and Proposition II at its State Central Committee meeting on September 14. 

Proposition HH was endorsed with 77.7% of the votes in favor, and Proposition II was endorsed with 96.8% of the votes in favor. 

“Colorado Democrats are working hard to put more money into Coloradans’ pockets, and to invest in giving our kids a great education and that’s exactly what Propositions HH and II do,” said Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “The Republican Party is selling the same old tired plan of giving irresponsible corporations and the wealthiest among us a handout, and Coloradans aren’t buying it. These measures cut the cost of living for working people, renters, seniors, homeowners and businesses.”

The Colorado Democratic Party also voted to hold its 2024 State Assembly & Convention virtually, with 76.4% of votes in favor. Holding a virtual assembly and convention creates an even playing field for every Colorado Democrat to be a part of this important democratic process. 

A fully virtual convention creates equity in this process by:

  • Eliminating the “rural tax” of participation such as hotel rooms, bad weather, gas, and time off from work — difficult challenges and expenses intensely leveraged on Democrats in rural areas to participate.

  • Providing equal access for Coloradans of all abilities to participate in the same way,

  • Allowing working folks to participate without having to take additional time off. 

  • Encouraging youth participation.

“I’m thrilled that the Colorado Democratic Party is making our most important event of the year more accessible than it has ever been for rural folks, working people, Coloradans with disabilities, and young Democrats,” said Murib. “While Colorado Republicans are focused on limiting participation in their Party, we welcome everyone to join the Colorado Democratic Party.”

“Coloradans of all backgrounds and zip codes should never face a barrier to participation in our democracy, and we will engage in a thoughtful and robust community outreach effort to bring as many people into our process as possible,” said Indira Duggirala, 1st Vice Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “We look forward to building an even larger and more diverse Democratic Party.”

"For almost a decade now, Americans with disabilities have been pleading with governments and businesses to integrate the use of remote technology into their practices,” said Jack Johnson, Disability Policy Expert and State Central Committee Member. “We’re proud of the Democratic Party for taking this important step that ensures every member of the Party has equal access to the democratic process.”

“By switching to a virtual convention, the Colorado Democratic Party has taken a huge step forward in making the party more accessible to young people,” said Chris Davis, Chair of the Colorado Young Dems. “We cannot afford to travel across the state, take significant time off for work, and pay for room and board that traditional conventions have often required. The Colorado Young Dems applaud CDP's foresight and Chair Shad Murib's work to make sure that all voices can be heard at our state convention!”

To stay up-to-date on what the Colorado Democratic Party is working on, follow us on Twitter here, Facebook here, or Instagram here.

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Dafna Michaelson Jenet elected to Senate District 21 

August 30th, 2023

Congratulations to Senator-elect Dafna Michaelson Jenet on being selected by the members of the Senate District 21 Vacancy Committee to fill the vacancy created by Senate Majority Leader Dominick Moreno’s resignation.

“I am so honored to follow in Senator Moreno’s footsteps. I look forward to continuing to serve the community I have served the last seven years, and am excited to expand the community to Westminster and Federal Heights. Let’s get to work!” -Sen.elect Dafna Michaelson Jenet

“I want to congratulate Senator-elect Michaelson Jenet, and I also want to thank Lucy Molina for running to fill this vacancy. Democrats look forward to continuing to deliver on our efforts to save people money, create a strong economy, and protect people’s basic freedoms.” - Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party

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Colorado Democratic Party Launches The Horizon Project

July 14th, 2023

Denver, CO – The Colorado Democratic Party, in collaboration with Attorney General Phil Weiser, is launching an unprecedented new effort to train and deploy organizers in Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District (CO-8). This unprecedented investment of resources and training will put skilled organizers on the ground over a year ahead of the 2024 General Election, and in advance of this fall’s critical elections across the district. 

“Coloradans expect more from their government than the political games MAGA extremists are playing on our school boards, in our city councils, and in Washington D.C.,” said Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “We’re launching The Horizon Project, a brand new field organizing bootcamp, to train and deploy organizers that will make an impact on local, state, and federal elections in 2023 and 2024 across the district.”


Despite our great successes in 2022, thousands of registered Democrats who typically vote in every election did not vote that year. This program will be especially dedicated to ensuring that these voters are reactivated in time to participate in local elections this fall, and also prepared to vote in 2024’s election.


CO-8 is a top-tier battleground district that can help us win a Democratic majority in Congress, keep our majority on the State Board of Education, and elect community-minded champions to local seats across the district. With such important elections across CO-8 in 2023 and 2024, these CDP-certified organizers will be best-equipped to support community-minded candidates focused on creating jobs, protecting our freedoms, and setting our kids up with a great education – not politicians who put their ideology above our kids, our public health, or our ability to get ahead in life and make our own health care decisions.”

“Showing up and engaging with community members is a critical part of renewing our democracy.  I am honored to be a part of this important outreach and leadership development effort by the Colorado Democratic Party.” said Phil Weiser, Attorney General. 

“I'm really excited about this work. I got elected to my local school board and now to the State Board of Education because people showed up and voted.” said Rhonda Solis, State Board of Education Member CD8. “I'm only the 3rd Latino elected to the State Board of Education since 1950. Votes matter!”

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Colorado Democratic Party Launches The Horizon Project

July 14th, 2023

Denver, CO – The Colorado Democratic Party, in collaboration with Attorney General Phil Weiser, is launching an unprecedented new effort to train and deploy organizers in Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District (CO-8). This unprecedented investment of resources and training will put skilled organizers on the ground over a year ahead of the 2024 General Election, and in advance of this fall’s critical elections across the district. 

“Coloradans expect more from their government than the political games MAGA extremists are playing on our school boards, in our city councils, and in Washington D.C.,” said Shad Murib, Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “We’re launching The Horizon Project, a brand new field organizing bootcamp, to train and deploy organizers that will make an impact on local, state, and federal elections in 2023 and 2024 across the district.”


Despite our great successes in 2022, thousands of registered Democrats who typically vote in every election did not vote that year. This program will be especially dedicated to ensuring that these voters are reactivated in time to participate in local elections this fall, and also prepared to vote in 2024’s election.


CO-8 is a top-tier battleground district that can help us win a Democratic majority in Congress, keep our majority on the State Board of Education, and elect community-minded champions to local seats across the district. With such important elections across CO-8 in 2023 and 2024, these CDP-certified organizers will be best-equipped to support community-minded candidates focused on creating jobs, protecting our freedoms, and setting our kids up with a great education – not politicians who put their ideology above our kids, our public health, or our ability to get ahead in life and make our own health care decisions.”

“Showing up and engaging with community members is a critical part of renewing our democracy.  I am honored to be a part of this important outreach and leadership development effort by the Colorado Democratic Party.” said Phil Weiser, Attorney General. 

“I'm really excited about this work. I got elected to my local school board and now to the State Board of Education because people showed up and voted.” said Rhonda Solis, State Board of Education Member CD8. “I'm only the 3rd Latino elected to the State Board of Education since 1950. Votes matter!”

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JOINT RELEASE: Staff of the Colorado Democratic Party Unionize, Collective Bargaining Agreement Reached.

April 7th, 2023

Denver, CO- Employees at the Colorado Democratic Party have officially joined the Denver Newspaper Guild — CWA Local 37074 of The NewsGuild, Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC.

The Colorado Democratic Party voluntarily recognized the union, and a collective bargaining agreement was reached.

“The staff of the Colorado Democratic Party is excited to join CWA Local 37074,” said CDP Staffer and Union Leader, Will Quinn. “Political workers deserve the resources they need to do the hard work of making Colorado an even better place to live, work, and play. We thank Chair Murib for his immediate support upon election, as well as management, in living our values as a party.”

“As the new Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, I could not be more thrilled that the staff has unionized,” said CDP Chair Shad Murib. “This effort will make our staff even stronger as we continue to elect Democrats across the state, and they have my full support towards ensuring that CDP is a great place to work, build a career, and grow as professionals.”

The Colorado Democratic Party’s mission statement is as follows: Together, we are Colorado Democrats. Our mission is to empower all Coloradans to achieve a better future, to lead the battle for democracy, to elect honorable people who will fight hard for working families, and dream of a better tomorrow.

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Coloradans Will Reject Joe O’Dea

Republican Senate candidate and wealthy self-funding CEO Joe O’Dea has been misleading voters on a wide range of issues, including abortion, and Coloradans can’t trust O’Dea. They will ultimately reject O’Dea because they know he would give Mitch McConnell and MAGA Republicans the majority, and his dishonesty signals to voters that he would be a rubber stamp for their far-right agenda that would hurt working Colorado families. O’Dea is clearly out of step with the majority of Colorado voters on abortion, standing with Trump, Mitch McConnell, and MAGA Republicans, climate and public lands, guns, and Medicare and Social Security. 

Abortion:

Economy:

Immigration:

Standing with Trump, Mitch McConnell, and MAGA Republicans:

  • O’Dea doubled down on calling the Mar-a-Lago investigation a political stunt

Guns:

  • Backed by the NRA’s Colorado affiliate group.

Medicare and Social Security:

Climate and Public Lands:

  • League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund (LCV) named O’Dea in the Dirty Dozen

Workers, Hypocrisy:


The bottom line: Joe O’Dea’s dishonesty in combination with his far-right record speaks for itself – and working Coloradans can’t trust O’Dea to be a voice for them in the Senate. He is way out of step with a majority of Coloradans on a wide range of issues and his desperate attempts of muddying his record only proves that he’ll say or do anything to get elected. Ultimately, Colorado will reject him because he would give Mitch McConnell and national Republicans the majority they need to enact a dangerous MAGA agenda that hurts Coloradans.

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 1: MAGA Mania

MAGA Heidi Ganahl has promoted misinformation and conspiracy theories for over a year. With one day until Election Day, it’s crucial to hold her accountable to her extreme positions and allies. 

Ganahl used the days before the GOP primary this summer to link herself to the biggest conspiracy of all: Donald Trump’s MAGA campaign. 

Ganahl’s own campaign literature sent to voters called her “the MAGA Candidate Colorado has been waiting for,” linking her directly to Trump’s Big Lie and far-right positions. 

The Full MAGA Heidi Conspiracy Countdown ICYMI:

DAY 12: Election-Denying Extremist

Day 11: Furry Fury

Day 10: Anti-Vaccine Fever

Day 9: Facebook Fallacies

Day 8: Anti-LGBTQ Agenda

Day 7: Confluence of Co-Conspirators

Day 6: Income Tax Insanity

Day 5: Anti-Abortion Radical

Day 4: Elevating Eastman

Day 3: Danny the Denier

Day 2: Gun Lobby Lies

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MAGA Heidi Starts Election Conspiracies on the Eve of Election Day

Endorsed by Election Conspiracists Tina Peters and Sherronna Bishop

MAGA Heidi Ganahl has promoted misinformation and conspiracy theories for the last 423 days of her campaign. She’s not done yet. 

Today Ganahl was endorsed by prominent Colorado election denier Tina Peters, and over the weekend received a similar endorsement from Peters associate and former Lauren Boebert campaign manager Sherronna Bishop.

In that interview with Bishop, MAGA Heidi stoked fears and conspiracy theories about the 2022 and 2020 elections, using common “election integrity” dogwhistles to question the results of her own election on the eve of Election Day.

Colorado’s elections are known to be the gold standard for trustworthiness and accuracy.

With one day left until Election Day, Ganahl is doubling down on conspiracies about the 2022 election results and reiterating her doubts that President Joe Biden is legitimately elected–maintaining her position as the “the MAGA Candidate Colorado has been waiting for,” as her own campaign literature referred to her in the primary.


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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 2: Gun Lobby Lies

MAGA Heidi Ganahl wants Coloradans to think she’ll make them safer, but the reality is that she would, in her own words, “roll back” Colorado’s gun safety measures.


Ganahl calls all recent gun safety laws passed “too restrictive.” She would side with the gun lobby and flood our streets with guns by repealing Colorado’s red flag law, rolling back bipartisan background checks, allowing teachers to concealed-carry in school, and undoing magazine capacity restrictions passed after the Aurora mass shooting. 

The red flag law in Colorado now serves as a model for keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, domestic abusers and those in severe mental health crises, and is endorsed by Democrats and Republicans.

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 3: Danny the Denier

MAGA Heidi was responsible for making exactly one appointment for her gubernatorial cabinet during her campaign, and she chose election denier Danny Moore.


Danny Moore was tapped as Ganahl’s running mate in July and is best known for sowing doubts about the 2020 election results and calling it the “Democrat steal” [sic] online. Moore was removed as chair from the Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission because of these statements.

Moore later doubled down on his comments, saying that he would not take those posts back if he could. 

The Ganahl campaign has not made Moore widely available for media interviews about his beliefs that the 2020 election was “stolen.” Despite holding a press conference to announce his nomination, they took no questions at that event.

ICYMI: Ganahl also spent most of July hyping a “strong Hispanic leader from rural Colorado” as her running mate. In one of the many blunders of Ganahl’s disastrous campaign, her camp even leaked the name of that nominee before she inexplicably retracted the pick, and then announced Moore as her pick instead. She then had to move Moore’s announcement event, which was previously scheduled in Aurora on the tenth anniversary of the Aurora theater mass shooting.

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 4: Elevating Eastman 

During her campaign, MAGA Heidi expanded her coterie of extremists to include John Eastman, architect of the January 6th coup plot. Ganahl went out of her way to try to meet with Eastman, reports show, and called him “fantastic” during his involvement at the ultra-conservative CU Benson Center for Western Civilization.

Ganahl not only refused to condemn Eastman for his involvement in the plot, she defended him to other CU Regents who wanted to call for his dismissal. 

She then told the Colorado Sun that Eastman’s career–which included chairing the homophobic National Organization for Marriage and attempting a similar “alternate electors” plot in the 2000 election–was “stellar.” 

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 5: Anti-Abortion Radical

MAGA Heidi Ganahl has been vague about a lot of her positions, but she has been crystal clear about one thing: her promise to “rip up” and repeal the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which protects Coloradans’ right to an abortion and contraception.

MAGA Heidi has also repeatedly called RHEA “disgusting” and praised the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the only existing federal protection for abortion for 50 years, saying abortion and contraception were “states’ rights” issues.

She continuously lies about RHEA, which does not allow abortions “after birth” as she has repeatedly and falsely claimed.  

Ganahl has used the Republican trope of “states’ rights” and claiming she will put abortion restrictions on the ballot–but it’s clear that the only reason she would do that is to overturn them at the state level.

Ganahl has tried to escape the consequences of her position by saying she would be putting changes to RHEA to the voters–but she has not said what she would put to the voters. 

Colorado voters have rejected abortion bans, like 2020’s Proposition 115, six times since 2000.

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Joe O’Dea Tanks National TV Interview Ahead of Election Day

O’Dea dodges questions on Trump, immigration, and guns with bogus claims

GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea appeared last night on CNN with Jake Tapper and flubbed his closing pitch to voters ahead of Election Day and dodged questions on Trump, immigration, and guns. While stumbling over questions, O’Dea managed to spread bogus claims which prove to Coloradans that he can’t be trusted in the Senate.


O’Dea dodged Tapper’s questions about why he would vote for Trump again if he were the GOP nominee in 2024 after Trump separated families at the border and O’Dea responded with a false claim about Obama’s policy. On immigration, O’Dea responded to a question about his support for Governor DeSantis’ use of asylum seekers for a political stunt with another false GOP talking point. On guns, O’Dea tried to justify his extreme position of opposing raising the age to buy a semi-automatic weapon by ignorantly comparing trained army enlistees to civilians.

O’Dea on Trump:
TAPPER: In that same debate, you ultimately said you would vote for Trump again, if he were the nominee. Did it bother you when Trump said “very good people on both sides” in Charlottesville? Did the family separation policy of the Trump administration, did that bother you?

O’DEA: Well, I believe Obama started that policy to be quite frank with you. But you know, at the end of the day… (​​FACT CHECK: NPR: Trump Wrongly States Obama Administration Had Child Separation Policy)

TAPPER: Not really. 

O’Dea on immigration:

TAPPER: Do you think it was right for [DeSantis] to ship off migrants under false pretenses into other parts of the country? That part of it? Not just bringing attention to it, but that part of it? Was that the right thing to do?

O’DEA: Well, I know that President Biden’s shipping them all over the country right now on airplanes, nobody said a word. (FACT CHECK: Washington Post: The difference between DeSantis’s migrant flights and the Biden administration’s)

O’Dea on guns: 

TAPPER: Yeah, but why should a 19-year old be able to buy a semi-automatic weapon when he can't even buy a beer or a handgun? That's my question.

O’DEA: Well, he can sign up and go into our military. So I just believe we don't need any more gun laws. What we need is more cops

TAPPER: I'm sure you know of all the training that enlistees undergo when it comes to how to use a firearm. 

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 6: Income Tax Insanity

Heidi Ganahl has been on a mission to convince Coloradans that the math on her income tax plan works–but she is just trying to pull a fast one on Coloradans. 

MAGA Heidi has lied by saying that her plan to go to 0% income tax won’t defund schools, police or key services. That’s flat-out wrong.

The former publisher of the Denver Post even called the plan “bulls#*t” at a forum, and experts agree: it’s “reckless” and “naïve” to pretend we can go to zero income tax without defunding critical services and increasing local taxes.

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Joe O’Dea Puts Trump’s Border Wall Ahead of DACA

O’Dea won’t support a standalone bill to provide pathway to citizenship for Dreamers

GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea revealed at last week’s debate that he would put Trump’s border wall ahead of creating a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. On the campaign trail, O’Dea used Dreamers to bolster his moderate credentials, however voters are just now learning that his “support” comes with strings attached.


Throughout the campaign, O’Dea has staunchly supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and praised him for using asylum seekers for a cruel political stunt. O’Dea has also bragged about not needing a Hispanic outreach program and insulted Colorado’s Latino community.

DACA recipient and small business owner Alejandro Flores Muñoz slammed O’Dea for his fake support of Dreamers:

“Republicans and Joe O'Dea have created all sorts of ways to dodge the responsibility to protect Dreamers, while hypocritically claiming to support immigration legislation with border security. Americans have had enough of this ping-pong on DACA. As polls consistently show, Americans across the political spectrum support a path to citizenship for Dreamers.

Whatever the approach, however, it is high time to make DACA permanent, as a recent court decision by a federal judge in Texas once again created uncertainty for DACA recipients.”

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 7: Confluence of Co-Conspirators

Heidi Ganahl’s campaign has been filled with conspiracy theorists, far-right extremists with MAGA Heidi at the very top of the chain. 

At the beginning of her campaign, MAGA Heidi signaled to supporters that she didn’t believe the 2020 election was legitimately decided for President Joe Biden by refusing to answer questions about her position and calling those questions “divisive.” She later called the 2020 election “shady.”

More recently, Ganahl nominated Danny Moore to be her Lieutenant Governor, who has directly questioned the 2020 election. 

Ganahl has also said that John Eastman, Trump’s coup architect, was “fantastic,” “stellar,” and that she advocated against firing him even after it was revealed he was at the center of the plot to steal the election. 

Ganahl boasted about bringing “Boris and Brad” onto the campaign this summer, referring to Boris Epshteyn, who tried to install alternate pro-Trump electors for the 2020 presidential election and Brad Parscale, Trump’s former campaign manager. She said this on Steve Bannon’s show, which she appeared on three times shortly before he was indicted for contempt of Congress. 


Ganahl has also appeared on far-right extremist Charlie Kirk’s show and been endorsed by him, even calling him a “dear friend.” Kirk regularly questions the 2020 election results, promotes anti-LGBTQ misinformation and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Ganahl’s extremist allies don’t stop there. She has appeared on the shows of Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka, anti-Muslim extremist Frank Gaffney, at anti-abortion extremist Jeff Hunt’s CCU Western Conservative Summit, and campaigned with anti-LGBTQ extremist Matt Walsh.

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 8: Anti-LGBTQ Agenda

The Colorado Democratic Party is drawing attention to Heidi Ganahl’s dangerous commitment to conspiracies in a countdown to Election Day, continuing with Day 8: Anti-LGBTQ Agenda. 

Today in an op-ed published by Fox News, Ganahl continued her barrage of anti-LGBTQ hate–once again targeting trans youth and lying that school curriculums are “pushing” sexual education on young children because of state mandates. 

The reality is that Ganahl is the one singling out kids and pushing them to the margins. She has promoted dangerous misinformation endangering LGBTQ kids and stigmatizing their identities. 


In the final weeks of the campaign, Ganahl has chosen to focus on making sure kids can’t be themselves at school–not on making sure every child can succeed. 

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MAGA Heidi Conspiracies Countdown DAY 9: Facebook Fallacies

The Colorado Democratic Party is drawing attention to Heidi Ganahl’s dangerous commitment to conspiracies in a countdown to Election Day, continuing with Day 9: Facebook Fallacies.

Ganahl claimed that Meta, owner of Facebook, was “blocking” her ads and other content on the social media network on several local right-wing radio appearances.

When 9NEWS contacted Ganahl’s campaign about the supposed conspiracy, she again claimed that Meta was censoring their campaign ads without evidence.

According to Meta, the Ganahl campaign had simply failed to add a legally required disclaimer to their content. 


Ganahl is far from the first Republican to claim they’re being censored on social media. But fact checkers have thoroughly debunked these claims, which stem from far-right Republicans’ goal of forcing social media platforms to allow misinformation, conspiracy theories, and hate speech to live and spread unchecked on their platforms.

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Statement on the Passing of House Minority Leader Hugh McKean

The Colorado Democratic Party released the following statement on the passing of House Minority Leader Hugh McKean from Chair Morgan Carroll:

“We’re sad and shocked to hear of the passing of House Minority Leader Hugh McKean. The Colorado Democratic Party extends their deepest condolences to Hugh's family. We will always remember his warmth even in times of disagreement, and honor his commitment to public service.”

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