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A Douglas County voter filed suit on Wednesday seeking to prevent the Colorado secretary of state from placing Democrat Trisha Calvarese's name on the special election ballot to fill the remainder of former Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck's term.

James Glasser, a Castle Rock resident, argues in the lawsuit filed in Denver District Court that Calvarese doesn't meet statutory and party bylaws requirements that congressional nominees must be registered Democrats in Colorado for at least 12 months prior to their nomination.

The state Democratic Party and Calvarese say they're confident she meets the requirements. A spokeswoman for Calvarese said the candidate plans to contest the lawsuit's claims in court.

A spokeswoman for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in an email to Colorado Politics on Thursday afternoon that the department hasn't been served with the lawsuit and so has no comment.

The lawsuit asks the court to issue an order preventing Griswold, Colorado's top election official, from certifying Calvarese as the Democratic nominee on the ballot. Under state law, the secretary of state has until April 29 to certify the ballot.

Calvarese won the Democratic nomination in an online convention on April 4 to run in the June 25 special election, which was triggered when Buck resigned from Congress last month.

A week earlier, Republicans nominated Greg Lopez, a former Parker mayor and two-time gubernatorial candidate, to run in the special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat.

The special election only the second in state history will take place concurrently with the state's primary election, which will pick the major parties' nominees to run in November for a full term representing the 4th Congressional District, which covers Douglas County and Colorado's Eastern Plains.

Calvarese, who grew up in Colorado, moved to Highlands Ranch from Virginia last fall to care for her ailing parents. She registered to vote in Colorado in December.

"Im in compliance with the statute," Calvarese told Colorado Politics in a text message. "Ive been registered as a Democrat since college. I'm running for the people because they want, need, and deserve someone with values like truth, election integrity, and democratic process."

Glasser's lawsuit, filed by attorney John S. Zakhem, cites a state law that says a party's nominees "must be affiliated with the party for at least twelve consecutive months prior to the date the convention begins, as shown in the statewide voter registration system."

Noting that state law allows political parties to supersede certain statutory requirements, the lawsuit also points to the party's bylaws, which says nominees must be members of the Colorado Democratic Party for at least 12 months prior to the convention.

Glasser didn't respond to a phone call seeking comment.

"Im shocked that the Democrats didnt catch this," Zakhem told Colorado Politics after the lawsuit had been filed.

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib told Colorado Politics that the party hadn't missed anything.

CDP rules are clear that a candidate simply has to be a Democrat for at least 12 months immediately preceding the convention," Murib said in a text message.

"Ms. Calvarese says she meets this requirement. There is no residency requirement for Congress that prevents her from being the nominee.

The state Democrats' rules committee chair, Josh Trupin, said the party rules cited by Calvarese's critics don't apply to the circumstances surrounding the special election.

CDP Rule 4.9, Vacancy in Office, applies only to offices held by Democrats within the state of Colorado," Trupin said in a text message. "The procedure to nominate a candidate for a special election is statutorily separate and unique (CRS 1-12-202). The CDP does not have rules specific to vacancy in Congress as it had not occurred since 1983, but the residency requirements in 4.9 are not applicable.

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams told Colorado Politics that he expects all candidates to meet legal requirements and urged the court to resolve the question quickly.

We certainly hope and expect all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, to meet all legal requirements for ballot access and hope this issue is resolved by the court soon so voters have certainty about the special election before June," Williams said in a text message.

Added Williams: "Regardless of the outcome, Greg Lopez will be elected to fill the remainder of Ken Bucks unexpired term.

Calvarese is among three Democrats seeking their party's nomination to the 4th CD's primary ballot at an online assembly scheduled for Thursday evening, along with John Padora and Karen Breslin.

Ike McCorkle, the party's 2020 and 2022 nominee for the seat, qualified for the primary by petition on Wednesday. After learning he'd made the ballot, he said he would skip the assembly.

Lopez, the GOP nominee for the special election, isn't running in the primary. Describing himself as a "placeholder" candidate, Lopez said he would only serve through the end of the year, letting primary voters pick Buck's successor.

As many as eight candidates could qualify for the GOP primary in the district.

Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert who moved into the district earlier this year from the more competitive seat she's represented for two terms qualified by petition last month and went on to win top-line designation at the GOP's district assembly on April 5.

Republican candidates who have qualified for the primary by petition include former U.S. Senate candidate Deborah Flora and state Reps. Richard Holtorf and Mike Lynch. Four more petitioning candidates are awaiting rulings from the Secretary of State's Office on the signatures they submitted by last month's deadline.

Editor's note: This developing story will be updated.

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Lawsuit seeks to prevent Democrat Trisha Calvarese from appearing on Colorado's 4th CD special election ballot - coloradopolitics.com

In the run-up to the 2020 election, more voters across the country identified as Democrats than Republicans. But four years into Joseph R. Biden Jr.s presidency, that gap has shrunk, and the United States now sits almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Republicans have made significant gains among voters without a college degree, rural voters and white evangelical voters, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. At the same time, Democrats have held onto key constituencies, such as Black voters and younger voters, and have gained ground with college-educated voters.

The report offers a window into how partisan identification that is, the party that voters tell pollsters they identify with or lean toward has shifted over the past three decades. The report groups independents, who tend to behave like partisans even if they eschew the label, with the party they lean toward.

The Democratic and Republican parties have always been very different demographically, but now they are more different than ever, said Carroll Doherty, the director of political research at Pew.

The implications of the trend, which has also shown up in party registration data among newly registered voters, remains uncertain, as a voters party affiliation does not always predict who he or she will select in an election. But partisan affiliation patterns do offer clues to help understand how the shifting coalitions over the last quarter century have shaped recent political outcomes. During the Trump administration, the Democratic Partys coalition grew, helping to bring about huge victories in the 2018 midterm elections and a victory for President Biden in 2020.

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More Voters Shift to Republican Party, Closing Gap With Democrats - The New York Times

In a meeting with her staff last week, Vice President Kamala Harris offered a prediction: Former President Donald J. Trump would not support a national abortion ban. Instead, she said, he would take a position that would muddy the waters on an issue that she believed could be deeply damaging for his campaign.

We need to make him own this, she told her aides.

Days later, as rumors circulated that a court ruling was coming on Arizonas abortion ban, Ms. Harris instructed that an event in Tucson about student loans should instead focus on abortion rights, according to three Democratic officials familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the internal deliberations.

On Tuesday, Arizonas top court upheld an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions. And on Friday, before more than 100 abortion rights activists and supporters, Ms. Harris plans to deliver a simple message: Blame Donald Trump.

From campaigns for state legislatures to the race for the White House, Democrats have unified around a central message of protecting what remains of abortion access in the United States, along with the availability of long-established reproductive health measures like contraception and fertility treatments.

The Democratic effort underscores how the 2022 Supreme Court decision ending federal abortion rights remade American politics. Four years ago, Joseph R. Biden Jr. rarely mentioned abortion rights in his general-election campaign, fearing the issue could alienate moderate voters and would not sufficiently energize his base. Now, after the fall of Roe v. Wade, abortion rights are a centerpiece of his re-election bid, the first time that an American presidential campaign has focused so intensely on womens reproductive health.

After largely abandoning an effort to brand economic progress under the banner of Bidenomics, the presidents team has found a simpler, easier-to-understand slogan to use wherever states are restricting abortion.

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Democrats Hammer a Simple Attack on Abortion: Donald Trump Did This - The New York Times

Thirty Years Ago This Week: While only a few people testified before the Colorado General Assemblys House Judiciary Committee on House Bill 94-1340 and the legislation was expected to pass swiftly through the House Appropriations Committee, two Democratic Party committee members were vehement in their opposition to the measure.

HB 1340 called for the addition of 2,700 new prison beds over the next five years, which would carry a fiscal impact to the state of $92 million for capital construction and $360 million in operation and building expenses.

Rep. Wayne Knox, D-Denver, one of the two Democrats who voted against the bill, said it was a lot of money poured down the rathole after previous prison spending.

It would be nice, Knox said, if we took at least half of that money and put it into prevention and intervention.

Rep. Dorothy Rupert, D-Boulder, who also voted against the bill, concurred with Knox. Rupert said that the House Judiciarys vice-chair Rep. Shirleen Tucker, R-Lakewood, told her that we would prefer putting the money elsewhere but prison overpopulation must be considered.

Tucker presided over the meeting because the committee chair, Rep. Jeanne Adkins, R-Parker, was the bills prime sponsor.

Among the few who testified before the committee was Clarke Watson of the Black Professional Businessmans Association who said, Latino and African-American males make up the bulk of prison populations.

It is rural economic development at the expense of people of color, Watson said, noting that prison facilities were primarily located in rural areas. The idea of building more prison space is terribly offensive.

Barry Frye, a former prison inmate and director of a youth program called Reconstruction, told the House Judiciary Committee that there was no rehabilitation in the prison system, and that this bill is just another emotional decision by legislations.

Twenty Years Ago: Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton returned to Colorado to formally mark the transfer of over 5,000 acres at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Once the large-scale clean up was complete, another 10,000 acres would be added to the National Wildlife Refuge.

The Environmental Protection Agencys Superfund program had spent 12 years cleaning the contaminated site to ensure that the highest health standards were met to return the Arsenal for reuse as a wildlife refuge.

The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge has a rich past and a promising future, Norton said. In celebrating this important milestone and the establishment of the Refuge, we also must remember the history of this site, its role in national defense and the valuable lessons learned here.

Norton grew up in Thornton and said that she remembered hundreds of earthquakes in the area which, as rumor had it, were the result of chemical waste being injected into the ground.

Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment Geoffrey Prosch said the Army was proud to turn the land over to the Department of the Interior for the public to enjoy its abundant resources for generations to come.

U.S. Senator Wayne Allard, R-Colo., who, along with U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-CD1, had sponsored the original legislation mandating the creation of the refuge, said it was an extremely exciting day for Colorado and the United States.

After twelve years I am proud to be here today for the transfer of this site, Allard said. We have taken land that had been contaminated by decades of chemical and incendiary weapons and turned it into a premier wildlife refuge. In doing so, we have set the standard for future reclamation projects across America.

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.

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State Democrats call for crime 'intervention and prevention' instead of increased prison spending | A LOOK BACK - coloradopolitics.com

President Biden gestures after speaking about student loan debt relief at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisc., on Monday. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

This week President Biden took his campaign to save his embattled presidency to Madison, Wisc., the capital of a state he is counting on winning in November.

The capital, sometimes known as "Mad City," is also home to the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin, the largest college in the state. Beyond the state government and education establishment, Madison has become a magnet for white collar occupations and a hard place for many recent UW graduates to leave.

Given the recent voting proclivities of younger voters and especially those who are current or recent college graduates, Madison and surrounding Dane County should be a trove of votes for Democrats. And indeed, they are.

Historically, Democrats have counted on running up big margins in industrial Milwaukee County, long a stronghold of organized labor and the state's most populous county. Dane and a few other populous counties were counted on in supporting roles. If a Democrat was to win statewide, these polities had to counterbalance the strong Republican leanings of the state's more affluent suburbs and farm towns.

But in recent elections, Dane has stepped out to sing lead. It is the quintessential example of a college-and-government population center that has become more than a trove of Democratic votes. It has become a defining feature of the party identity. It is not much of an exaggeration, if it is one at all, that college towns are to the Democrats today what factory towns were through most of the 20th century.

In 2020, for example, Biden carried Milwaukee County by about 183,000 votes over Trump out of about 451,000 votes cast. But he had an almost equal bulge in actual votes in Dane County, where he managed 181,000 votes over Trump out of a far smaller total of about 338,000 votes cast.

In midterm elections, such as 2018 and 2022, the role of Dane County's Democratic turnout has been even more dominant. And the same was true when Wisconsin elected a liberal state supreme court justice in 2023, making it possible to restore abortion rights and throw out Republican-drawn maps for state legislative districts.

So it made sense for Biden to be in Madison if he hopes to keep Wisconsin in his column this fall. And it is hard to overstate the importance of doing so for the president. In 2020 he managed just 49.6 percent of the statewide vote, but it was better than the 46.9 percent Hillary Clinton had in the state in 2016 and just enough to shade then-incumbent President Donald Trump who had 48.9 percent. Trump was only 20,000 votes behind.

Clinton's 2016 loss in Wisconsin had become for some the emblem of her fatal weakness in the Great Lakes region. Michigan and Pennsylvania also fell out of the "Blue Wall" that year after voting Democratic for president every year since 1992 even when the Democratic candidate was losing nationally.

But somehow Wisconsin seemed the unkindest cut of all. Polls there had shown Clinton's lead well beyond the margin of error. And Wisconsin had been voting Democratic even longer than the others, all the way back to 1988. Confident of Wisconsin, the Clinton campaign did not return for events in the state after the primary.

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Wisconsin's 'Mad City' is a rational choice for Biden's appeal to youth - NPR