In a state as urban as Colorado, density is a key to winning or losing both statewide and local races. Most of the state's population is concentrated along the urban "Front Range Corridor" running from Cheyenne, Wyoming, in the north to Pueblo, Colorado, in the south. This article seeks to shed some light on where the largest concentrations of votes for both Democratic and Republican candidates came from in the 2022 elections.

2022 United States Senate Election in Colorado

After having won two narrow elections in Republican-leaning years, Michael Bennet was once again a Republican target in the 2022 midterms. Republicans hoped that rising costs of food and gas, the unpopularity of President Joe Biden, and a moderate candidate could flip the seat to them similar to Cory Gardner's 2014 victory. To this end, major Republicans backed construction company owner Joe O'Dea. The Republican primary proved more devisive than Republicans wanted, however, due in part to Democrats spending money to boost O'Dea's right wing opponent in hopes of an easier opponent for Bennet in the general. Ultimately, O'Dea won the Republican primary for the Senate nomination by just under 9% and positioned himself as a moderate alternative to Michael Bennet and other Democrats in the Senate.

Despite polls showing the race was close, and conventional wisdom favoring a close race, Joe O'Dea's campaign was easily defeated by Michael Bennet in the general election. Bennet won the first majority in his Senate career as well as the largest margin of victory for a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in Colorado since Gary Hart's victory in 1974.

2022 United States House of Representatives Elections in Colorado

Following the 2020 US Census, Colorado gained another congressional district and a new map courtesy of the state's new nonpartisan redistricting committee. The new, and very competitive, 8th Congressional District and Lauren Boebert's 3rd Congressional District occupied the bulk of attention to Colorado's elections to the United States House of Representatives in 2022.

The new 8th Congressional District was created by out of the northern suburbs of Denver in Adams County and the city of Greeley in Weld County and then connecting them via snaking up through the various suburban and exurban communities laying astride US 85. The district would have narrowly voted for Biden and other Democratic candidates in the 2020 elections, and was thus seen as a potential Republican pickup opportunity in the case of a 2022 electoral sweep. With that in mind, Republicans nominated state senator Barbara Kirkmeyer to face Democratic state representative Yadira Caraveo. Going into election night, most polls and predictions had the race as either leaning or likely for Republicans, but in an upset Caraveo ended up winning 0.7% after several days of ballot counting.

Unlike the 8th Congressional District, the 3rd Congressional District on paper was not one that would be competitive in a Republican-leaning year like 2022. However, Lauren Boebert had proven to be a national center of attention for making many contraversial and conspiratorial statements as well as promoting the furthest right elements of the Republican Party. As a result, Boebert both drew a competitive primary from state senator Don Coram and a surprisingly-close race from former Aspen city councilmember Adam Frisch. Despite being outspent and considered a long shot candidate, Frisch ended up coming within a few hundred votes of unseating the Congresswoman in the closest race of 2022 in the House of Representatives.

2022 Colorado Gubernatorial Election

Incumbent Governor Jared Polis was widely expected to easily win re-election in spite of a national mood that favored Republicans due to his personal popularity in the state. On paper his opponent, Heidi Ganahl, was strong due to being the most recent Republican to have won a statewide election in Colorado: back in 2016 when she won an at-large seat on the University of Colorado's Board of Regents. Ganahl, however, proved to be a poor campaigner and dedicated time and resources to, among other things, promoting the hoax of schools installing litter boxes for use by students identifying as "furries." As expected, Polis cruised to re-election with the largest raw vote for a gubernatorial candidate in Colorado history and the largest margin of victory since the 1990 election.

2022 Attorney General Election

Like other incumbent Democratic candidates, Attorney General Phil Weiser benefited from the popularity of Jared Polis and his government when facing re-election in a Republican-leaning year. The Republican primary featured only a single candidate, district attorney for the 18th district of Colorado John Kellner. Kellner debated Weiser twice but, like other statewide Republican candidates in Colorado, was defeated by more than 10% in the general election.

2022 Secretary of State Election

In the wake of the 2020 Presidential election, a significant portion of the Republican Party began to spread dangerous lies about election tampering and rigging in hopes of discrediting the outcome they disagred with. These claims are wrong, and always have been, but unfortunately found a ready audience in the far right. One notable figure in this movement was Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk who is currently waiting trial later this year for felony indictments related to election tampering. Despite credible evidence of her wrongdoing, Peters built up a large following both in the Colorado Republican Party and nationwide, and ran for the Republican nomination for Colorado's Secretary of State in hopes of giving Colorado Democrats a slap in the face. Despite large amounts of money and news coverage, Peters ultimately lost the primary to the more moderate Pam Anderson, a former clerk for Jefferson County. Though her loss was nowhere near close, Peters alleged the loss was due to election tampering and paid for a costly recount in hopes of being declared the winner. She wasn't.

Meanwhile, incumbent Secretary of State Jena Griswold had spent much of the time since the 2020 elections raising her own national profile by defending the election results from accusations of rigging and promoting Colorado's mail ballot system as one of the best in the nation. In a trend that was repeated in other states in 2022, this stance against election denial helped boost Griswold to an easy win over Anderson.

2022 State Treasurer Election

As with other statewide incumbents, State Treasurer Dave Young benefited from a surprisingly-favorable environment for Democratic candidates in Colorado in 2022, especially with the coattails of Governor Polis's colossal win in the gubernatorial election. Young faced former state representative and 2018 lieutenant governor nominee Lang Sias and bested him by a margin of just over 10%. Young's wife, Mary Young, won re-election to Colorado's 50th House District at the same time, a district Dave Young once represented.

Colorado Proposition 122

Proposition 122 decriminalized the personal use and possession (for adults age 21 and older) of the following hallucinogenic/entheogenic plants and fungi, which were classified as Schedule I controlled substances under state law going into the election: dimethyltryptamine (DMT); ibogaine; mescaline (excluding peyote); psilocybin; and psilocyn.

Anyone who completed a sentence following a conviction related to the personal use or possession of such psychedelic plants and fungi were set to be able to file a petition asking a court to seal the record of the conviction.

Proposition 122 was also designed to create a natural medicine services program for the supervised administration of such substances; create a framework for regulating the growth, distribution, and sale of such substances to permitted entities; and create the Natural Medicine Advisory Board to promulgate rules and implement the regulated access program.

The measure did not provide for retail sales of such psychedelic plants and fungi.

From Ballotpedia

Colorado Proposition 123

The initiative created the State Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) and dedicated one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) of state income tax revenue to fund affordable housing programs and projects. The initiative created the Affordable Housing Support Fund to receive 40% of funds in the SAHF and the Affordable Housing Financing Fund to receive 60% of funds in the SAHF.

Under Proposition 123, affordable housing was defined as rental housing that is "affordable to a household with an annual income of at or below 60% of the area median income, and that costs the household less than 30% of its monthly income," and "for-sale housing that could be purchased by a household with an annual income of at or below 100% of the area median income, for which the mortgage payment costs the household less than 30% of its monthly income."

Funds were set be used to:

• provide grants to local governments and loans to nonprofit organizations to acquire and maintain land for the development of affordable housing;
• create an affordable housing equity program to make equity investments in multi-family rental units to ensure that rent is no more than 30% of a household's income;
• create a concessionary debt program to provide debt financing for low- and middle-income multi-family rental developments and existing affordable housing projects;
• create an affordable home ownership program providing down-payment assistance for homebuyers meeting certain income requirements;
• create a grant program for local governments to increase capacity to process land use, permitting, and zoning applications for housing projects; and
• create a program to provide rental assistance, housing vouchers, and other case management for persons experiencing homelessness.

From Ballotpedia

Colorado Proposition 125

Proposition 125 created a new fermented malt beverage and wine retailer license and provided for the automatic conversion of fermented malt beverage (FMB) licenses to the new fermented malt beverage and wine license on March 1, 2023. Under the initiative, grocery stores, convenience stores, and other businesses that are licensed to sell beer are allowed to also sell wine. Retailers with the license are allowed to offer tastings if approved by the local licensing authority.

Under the initiative, a new fermented malt beverage and wine retailer's license can not be issued to a location within 500 feet of a retail liquor store. A new retail liquor store license can not be issued to a location within 500 feet of a licensed fermented malt beverage and wine retailer.

From Ballotpedia

Colorado Proposition 126

Proposition 126 would have allowed alcohol retailers and liquor-licensed businesses, such as grocery stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, bars, and restaurants, to offer third-party delivery services for alcohol deliveries beginning March 1, 2023. Going into the election, retailers are allowed to deliver alcohol using a store-owned vehicle by an employee who is at least 21 years old. Alcohol delivery has been allowed by liquor stores since 1994, by wineries since 1997, and by grocery and convenience stores since 2019.

In 2020, Colorado allowed takeout and delivery of alcohol by bars and restaurants, with that law set to automatically repeal on July 1, 2025. Proposition 126 was designed to permanently allow bars and restaurants to offer alcohol takeout and delivery.

From Ballotpedia

Colorado Proposition FF

The state's flat tax rate (4.55% as of 2022) is applied to an individual's federal taxable income. Federal taxable income is calculated by taking a filer's adjusted gross income minus a standard deduction or itemized deduction. As of 2022, the standard deduction was $12,950 for single filers or married filing separately and $25,900 for married filing jointly. Colorado House Bill 1311, enacted in 2021, created a limit on federal itemized deduction amounts that could be used to reduce state taxable income. Beginning in 2022, filers with adjusted gross incomes of $400,000 or more were limited to claiming itemized deductions of up to $30,000 for single filers or $60,000 for joint filers when calculating state taxable income.

Under Proposition FF, those with a taxable income of $300,000 or more (rather than the present law under which deduction limits applied to those with a taxable income of $400,000 or more) were limited to an itemized or standard deduction of $12,000 for single filers and $16,000 for joint filers.

State officials estimated these changes would increase state revenue by $100.7 million per year.

The measure was designed to create and fund the Healthy School Meals for All Program under the Department of Education to provide free school meals to all students in Colorado public schools, provide local food purchasing grants, and increase wages for employees that prepare and serve food.

From Ballotpedia

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Many thanks to Drew Savicki for providing the precinct shapefile that made these maps possible and to Matthew Isbell for help with handling population density.