The Great Colorado Road Trip: voters share how they view the midterms

0:00Late summer in Lamar, a town of about 7,500 in Southeast Colorado, an hour from the Kansas border. For the last 125 years, the sand and sage roundup has drawn people from around the county. They line the main street for the parade to watch riders on horseback, floats for local businesses, kids on little ATVs and fire trucks pass by. In this year, there are a lot of trucks that have political banners on them, as political candidates shake hands and pass out candy to the waiting crowds. Democratic congressional candidate, Eileen Lawbacher, pulls a piece of candy out of a plastic bucket and hands it to a small child. She lingers to chat briefly with the child's parent, then she turns back to the parade round to catch up with her team, who wave an American flag and the state flag of Colorado as they haul a large banner that says Eileen Lawbacher for Congress. This parade is a chance for her to make her pitch directly to voters.

1:05Seems like this play out across the state, as the November midterms inch closer and closer. For Lawbacher, a Democrat trying to unseat Republican U.S. representative Lauren Bobert, this is a chance to try to sway voters in this deep red district. Lauren has been very good to us down here and we appreciate everything she's done. But this year, Democrats are cautiously optimistic that a blue wave could even reach here. So you consider the Democrat in this case then? If it's a good lady, I would. Having a political candidate that really sides with our issues as opposed to a party is important to me. The stakes are especially high. Control of Congress hangs in the balance. So Purplish is hitting the road, taking you on a trip around the state. From Lamar to Greeley to Boulder, steamboat springs and grand junction, rural areas to city centers to hear from voters what they're worried about, let's motivating them this election

2:06cycle. Buckle up. Our Purplish Road trip starts now. This is Purplish from CPR News and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. A show that tells the human story through the lens of politics. I'm Ben to Berkland. Joining me for this election road trip is CPR's congressional reporter, Caitlin Kim. Hey, Caitlin. Hey, Ben, we got you out of the nation's capital where we normally talk to you to jump in the car for this Colorado road trip and you drove about 1,600 miles and talked to a lot of voters. Yeah, it was a great road trip, you know, to talk to voters about how they're feeling because the way they're feeling, the way they're thinking may impact the some of the state's most competitive or at least somewhat maybe arguably competitive races depends on who you talk to.

3:08And voters certainly across the political spectrum are growing more and more frustrated with politics these days. Yeah, it's not very happy with the like what's going on. There are a bunch of monkeys playing in the zoo. Yeah, that last woman that I spoke with Deseria from Lamar was not a voter at all. She hated voting. She didn't hate politics every level, local, state, federal. She just thought they were all corrupt. No one gets anything done. It was kind of great talking with her. Well, you can always vote those candidates out of office. So maybe after she listens to this episode, she'll decide to cast a ballot this November. Somebody tells me she's not following anything political these days. We started in Lamar at the county fair in Parade in Southeast Colorado. This is in Colorado's fourth congressional district. This is one of four districts we're visiting on the road trip in. This is perhaps the least competitive. The seat is held by Republican Congresswoman Lauren Bober.

4:08It was a seat that was created as a plus 25 point GOP advantage. It's a very red part of the state. Bober is in a bit of a unique position. This is a quick, purplish recap. Bober surprised everyone in 2020 when she beat a sitting Republican congressman in a primary and then went on to win the seat. Then in 2022, she surprised everyone again by almost losing that seat. Then guess what? She surprised everyone again in 2024 when she decided to move across the state to CD4, the fourth congressional district seat, and run in that very, very red district. So that is how we got to where she is now running for re-election. Technically, this is her fourth term in office, but her first re-election in the fourth congressional district. Yes, it's a safer seat and it's a big district. It stretches parts of the front range, all of the eastern plains, 21 counties in total, and there's a lot of rural areas in this district.

5:09Well, out here, this district does not like the way things are going in Denver. It's a very conservative district, rural, agricultural, oil and gas-type people. They don't like the direction this state has turned. It's turned really hard left, and they really don't like the way it's going. That's Republican State Senator Rod Pelton. He represents a good chunk of the fourth congressional district, and he was getting ready to ride in the Sandin Sage roundup parade. So when I was in this district, I did hear Republicans who weren't worried about Bobert losing, and even some Democrats who acknowledged, it will be difficult to beat Bobert, given the Republican electoral advantages. There are more than twice as many registered Republicans as there are Democrats. This is a district that is voted for Trump all three times in Colorado by double-digit margins. At the same time, a lot of this voting population lives in suburban areas, like, you know, Douglas County, Larimer Well, and things feel a little less deep-red this time around.

6:14So red but less deep-red. Explain what you mean by that, because it is when you look at the numbers, a very safe GOPC. Yeah, well, for one, almost half of the registered voters in the district are unaffiliated. Now, that's a trend that we've seen all across the state, you know, more unaffiliated voters than registered Republicans or Democrats. Now, I heard from several voters who had changed their party affiliation, like a NASA stag nurse, Dope of Lamar. I was Republican before I became independent, and since then, I have voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates. I just, I really like looking at who the individual is, what their ideas are for the future, and yeah, going from there. And, well, with open primaries, some incentive to be registered with a major party has gone down. I also think the particular Democratic candidate running against Bober is changing the calculus sum.

7:16So, tell me a little bit more about Eileen Lawbacher. So, Eileen Lawbacher is a retired Navy rear admiral. People seem to like that, you know, that she has a military background, comes from a military family. Her grandfather was bought in World War II. Her father was in the Navy. Her sons in the Navy. She deployed to Afghanistan, served on the National Security Council. And I will point out Democrats have done well with candidates that have these like national security backgrounds. I think that makes sense, especially for more conservative leaning voters. And I've taught a lot of voters who say they back that type of discipline and service to the country. Yeah, and she also used to be a Republican. She turned it unaffiliated and then became a Democrat and is now running for the seat. She's even homeschooled some of her kids, which I think would also appeal to some of the conservative voters in this district. And Lawbacher says the job is in the title to represent the people of this diverse district, all of them, to hear their challenges and really listen. Democrats haven't done well with rural voters in recent years.

8:19And the last time this district elected a Democrat was 2008. That was a slightly different map, though. Still, it does seem like an uphill battle to run with a D next to your name in this district. Do you think she's making it in roads? So I asked many voters about why Democrats have struggled to resonate in rural areas. And many said they felt like the Democratic Party had lots of touch with rural America. You know, don't understand their issues. We're out here away from the big city and a lot of times that's what we do getting neglected. That's Mary Jane Torres and I talked to her at a farmer's roundtable event in Lamar. The Denver area, Spring area, they have more, I think they have more say, so more control. I would just like to see that even out some. Caitlin, you observed law-buckers on the campaign trail talking to voters. Did you see anything that was different in terms of how she was trying to talk to voters that

9:22you haven't seen other Democrats do? Not different. Like, look, this farmer's roundtable had Democrats unaffiliated and Republican voters present, you know. And that is usually kind of rare. And the vast majority were farmers or ranchers. You know, it was a nice backyard picnic and the host introduced law-buckers and she gave them her pitch. So many people in Congress who just seem to want to become rich or internet famous or powerful and that is not the job. Like, I believe the job descriptions and the title representative might, it's not really about me, it's about you. Most of the people there that I talked to, you know, were struggling with high costs. Pretty much everything. Diesel fuel, fertilizer. Someone brought a hitch bolts and said three years ago it was $7 and now this bolt was $28.20. And a lot of them also felt let down by Trump. From the tariffs and porting for him beef, I heard from more than a few that people used to say farmers did better under Democratic Presidents and they felt like they can't deny that anymore.

10:25And even traditionally conservative voters seem to be willing to at least hear law-buck or out. Here's Steve Shelton, he's a Republican who is there and talk with law-bucker for a bit when she stopped at his table. Just her opening comments was very encouraging, you know, what she's it's non-partisan and that's always a plus in my opinion because it's just not straight line anymore. You can't do that. And so just to have somebody that's got common sense and that's hard to find in a politician. Yeah, I think it's hard to find everywhere these days, but now just because he heard her out doesn't mean he's going to vote for law-bucker. But again, he was willing to talk with her and have a conversation. We have to talk about the incumbent. Lauren Boberts, probably the most well-known member of Colorado's congressional delegation, definitely a lightning rod and the name is a lot. Did you get any sense of voters are frustrated with Boberts? So yes, end note. Benta, as you know, she is very conservative politically and that is appreciated in this part of the state.

11:28And she was willing to go and buck Trump on the Epstein files, which some Democrats gave her credit for. But others have expressed concerns that she's not doing much to push back on, you know, Trump's terror policies has invoted for any of the war power resolutions, has been fought against the increased beef imports. And her life has been a little messy, which doesn't always go over with this conservative crowd. You cover Boberts pretty closely. How do you feel she's addressed some of these concerns? Look, she's acknowledged prices aren't where they should be. You know, at a recent telephone town hall, she said she's not a fan of Trump's imported beef moves. But she also said it's only 90 days. She called the Iran War Power Votes show votes. She says what she won't do is vote for an Iran war supplemental. That's an additional spending bill the administration has asked for to basically fund the Iran war. I will add technically she has already voted for that. It was part of a better resolution the House passed in July. I think to unlock a third reconciliation process. But you know, she also defended her vote on the one big beautiful bill, saying a lot

12:33of criticism is Democratic talking points. Last year I voted for the big beautiful bill, which strengthened Medicaid by stopping the fraud, wasting abuse that were draining it and putting those savings to work for the people the program was actually meant to serve. We should point out most of the Medicaid changes won't actually go into effect until after the midterms and some that really are expected to impact role hospitals until after Trump leaves office. Caitlin, what are the actual chances of flipping the seat blue? Benta, I'm not on call sheet or any of those betting markets. What I will say is because it's bober you can't just say it's a safe seat and ignore it. In 2022, as you know, her fire brand persona almost back fired on her and she barely squeaked out of wind. And that's when she had more campaign cash. Granted, it was a different district. I think the other thing to keep in mind is that the fourth district

13:33has voted out a controversial Republican cargors woman before. Again, you know, different lines of the district, but it has happened. Anything can happen in politics and we've seen it, but I do feel comfortable saying that out of all the races, people are watching in Colorado, this cycle at the congressional level, this seat is the least likely to go from one party to the other. Our next stop on this road trip, though, is the ace congressional district. And that's Colorado's true, true toss up seat is the only district that could very easily either go to Republicans or Democrats. Colorado's independent redistricting commission created this district. It's north of Denver and it was created in 2021. It covers northern Denver suburbs like Commerce City, Northwest to Greeley and Weld County. And the commission drew these lines with the explicit goal that it really be a swing district, a real toss up. And this district has delivered.

14:39Yeah, a Democrat won the seat first, then it swung to the right in 2024. And Republican representative Gabe Evans is now being incumbent. Evans faces former Democratic state lawmaker Manny Routenow. Routenow was appointed to the state house in 2023, then he won the seat, the next election. And he recently resigned from the state house to focus on the congressional race. Yeah, I think that surprised a lot of people because the state legislature is not in session, there is no special session expected. So why do it? But also I get why he would wanted to sort of focus solely on the congressional race. I covered Routenow for a few years at the state capital. He's 31. He's definitely a more progressive lawmaker. He was the main sponsor of one bill that was talked about for a few years. It was thorny to work through to regulate how governments and businesses use AI to make consequential decisions. So things like banking and hiring and health care. And he did rule with Democrats on every key issue at the capital

15:41and assault weapons ban to restricting federal immigration information sharing with ICE. What's been interesting though is that during his congressional run, some progressives have been upset with him for tacking to the middle on certain issues. Yeah, I don't think that should have surprised them. Just like it probably doesn't surprise you or me, you know, the former Democratic representative, Yadira Caravio, tacked from the left to the center as she moved from the state house to the US Capitol. As we've talked about, this is a true toss-up seat and Routenow needs support from a politically diverse cross-section of the district. And we've seen him pull back on progressive ideas like backing universal health care, canceling student debt. He also no longer supports a ban on fracking. Again, that makes sense, given the oil and gas interests in the district. All that said, Republicans will try to tie him to sort of the Democrat Socialists candidates, the progressive candidates like Melah Kieros. She's a candidate in Denver's first congressional district. And that

16:43could persuade some voters who think Routenow may be too far to the left. Now, others I spoke with, in Greeley, like Philippe Rubio, are tired of these kinds of attacks, like efforts to go after Routenow for having been a vegan in the past. That's stupid. Again, that's a big reach. That's a big reach as far as like, oh, I'm trying to find dirt on this person so that person looks bad. Who cares if he's vegan? Who cares if he's gay? Who cares whatever? I don't care. As long as he does well for the people and the community, that's all that matters. Just enough, why I, Routenow does have a girlfriend. And Rubio did tell me he mostly votes Democratic. What are you hearing from voters in this district that they're most focused on? I did hear a fair amount of frustration with both the general massiness of politics now and DC in general being out of touch with the people. People are also really worried about the economy, the cost of everything, healthcare, gas prices, groceries. What's been pretty interesting to me is that the incumbent, Gabe Evans, who's also a former state

17:45lawmaker, puts the blame on Democrats who control Colorado's state government. And Evans has been pretty aligned with Trump, even when it does come to issues that could drive up prices. We've seen other Republican candidates and close raises across the country trying to put some distance with the president. That's not been Evans' approach. No, no, it hasn't been. He's not voted to repeal, like the candidate tariffs, for example, such as Republican Jeff Hurt has done. He's been supportive of Trump's actions in Iran. I do think though, Evans would push back on that description of being closely tied to Trump because he has pointed out areas where he has pushed back against Trump, like writing a letter to phase out solar tax credits. He pushed for a longer runway off of those credits. It didn't happen, but it also didn't happen right away, which some far-right conservatives were pushing for. And I think he'd point to his legislative work. He's bipartisan bills and that he's part of the problem solvers caucus. Keep in mind, this is a toss-up seat. That means there's

18:48a lot of people with very strong views on all sides and some pretty diehards in the mix pro-Trump folks. Right, like Darren White, I met him in Greeley, a big issue for him is oil and gas. He works in the industry and he says he will vote Republican Party line no matter what. I love my party. They do a great job. I love our president. He's doing a great job. Love it. One of the key voting blocks in this district is the Latino vote. Latino residents make up 40% of the electorate in this district roughly. And this district's only ever been represented by a Latino member of Congress. That's not going to change regardless of who wins. Evans' mother's family immigrated from Mexico and Routinel's mother is from the Dominican Republic. And Routinel talks a lot about being raised by a single mother who was an immigrant and all the things he had to overcome. Yeah, this is going to be an interesting block to watch. Now, the Latino community

19:53is not a monolith. That said, a recent poll finds that Evans is underwater with Latino voters in his district. Yeah, that Latino poll said that inflation, low wages and unaffordable housing, healthcare costs are real pain coins for Latino voters. How do you think that could play out in this district in this race? Well, I think how Latinos are feeling about the economy, especially if they're not feeling the benefits, the, you know, the Evans and Trump keep talking about, you know, from their bills and the work that the Congressional Republican Washington is doing could hurt Evans' chance for reelection, you know, a reminder, Evans won by less than a point, less than 2,500 votes. Yeah, so, so close. Okay, that's a snapshot of two congressional races we're watching. Let's head to Colorado Springs, where a historically red district is getting a little purplish. That's next.

20:56This is purplish from CPR News and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. You love podcasts to keep up with the news. Now, there's an easy way to find out what's happening Colorado every day. The Colorado Today podcast is new from the same trusted source that brings you purplish. You'll get the top stories on the ground reporting and moments of curiosity. Follow Colorado Today for the statewide news you need each weekday on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is purplish from CPR News and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. Our next stop takes us south on I-25 to El Paso County. Yeah, this is Colorado's fifth congressional district, the conservative stronghold currently held by Republican Jeff Crank. Crank won his first term in 2024 by 14 points and he was elected following the retirement of

22:02Republican Doug Lamborn, who had been a longtime member of Congress in the district. And I do want to point out that this is the only congressional district in Colorado that has never elected a Democrat. Yes, but things are changing in Colorado Springs. The demographics of people moving into the area have made it a little less red. You know, they're younger, they're more educated. That said, as you pointed out, this is still a very Republican seat. Registered Republicans still outnumber registered Democrats. And it's also important to remember that a lot of the Christian Evangelical movement is based out of Colorado Springs, like this is the home of focus on the family. Now, Democrats are eyeing the seat for a potential upset. I think we also have to note that Donald Trump has become less popular in the district over the years. In 2016, when Trump first ran for president, he won CD5 by more than 20 points. Then in 2020, Trump only won by 10 points, last election and nine point margin of victory. Yeah, you know, and as you pointed out earlier,

23:06Crank did outperform Trump in 2024 in the district. How is Congressman Crank navigating Trump? We've seen gay bevens not show signs of separation. Congresswoman Bober, she's disagreed with Trump on a few very significant things, but still identifies as proud mega. I'd put Crank in the Evans camp showing little daylight. But again, I don't think this is how Crank would describe it. You know, during a candidate debate, Crank said he hasn't voted with Trump 100% of the time. I've disagreed with him on redistricting on the veto override of the Arkansas Valley kind to it, wildfire and flood disaster relief funding, water project funding in Colorado, Argentinian people. You know, I'd point out only one of those voting to override the finish the ABC bill veto was actually a vote. The Republican controlled Congress didn't do anything to stop mid decade redistricting or

24:09do anything to get FEMA money for the Lee and Elk fires or Southwest flooding. He, like Evans and Bober have been voted to stop tariffs on Canada. And none of Colorado's Republicans have voted to stop the Iran War. Let's talk a little about Crank's competition. Democratic challenger Jessica Killing. Yeah, so Killing grew up in the district. She went off to college on a rot sea scholarship, she served in the army, got a law degree, worked at USAAA, which is well known in the military community and became a public servant working as a chief of staff for some Democratic lawmakers before becoming second gentleman, Doug M. Hoff's chief of staff. Apart from being linked to the Biden Harris administration, a lot of those other things you listed that military background is going to be very appealing in this district, home of the US Air Force Academy, and a lot of military and former members of the military living in the Springs area. What's your sense of how voters are responding to her campaign or to Crank? I mean, this is his first term in Congress.

25:10So I think how you view each candidate really depends on your own political point of view. For the most part, Republicans like Crank, and you know, I never supporting him. I did speak with some Republican leaders who are not denying the district's trend, you know, getting more blue, but they don't see a Republican representative being voted out this cycle. Maybe in four or six, eight years, but not this one. Now, the voters who aren't keen on how Republicans have been leading in DC are really keen on killing. They think she's a really strong Democratic candidate, you know, something the district hasn't seen for a while. She has been outraising Crank also something that you don't normally see the Democrat do here in the Fifth Congressional District, and she's appealing to former Republicans and unaffiliated voters. Here's Dan Ergonne, who's canvassed for killing. I was Republican for a couple of decades and um, 2016, I just saw the light and I just could not, could not vote for that man. And so I became an unaffiliated

26:14for 10 years really. And then this year, when Jessica jumped in the race, said we got to get behind her. What kind of surprising to me is that Crank isn't a firebrand. He's a very traditional type of conservative, not especially controversial. Yeah, you know, on paper, this shouldn't be a tough reelection for Crank. I think the real question is going to be, will Trump be an anchor that brings Crank down? Now we are on to the final leg of our trip. Colorado's third congressional district, and this is the largest congressional district in the state geographically. It spans Pueblo, most of southern Colorado, over to Durango, Grand Junction, and then mountain communities like Telluride and Aspen. Yeah, this is the district that Lauren Bober used to represent, but is currently represented by Republican Jeff Heard, who was primary in Bober before she moved districts. And you know, it's

27:16rural, but it's a different type of rural. Yes, definitely. Not the egg epicenter like the eastern plains, still plenty of agriculture, but also has a lot of these resort mountain communities. Tourism is a big part of the economy here, also some decent sized cities and towns. Even though a Democrat hasn't won this district in about two decades, as we've talked about with Bober, Democrats came so, so close, just a few years ago, and the seat is on their target list once again. Yeah, so let's talk about the candidates here. We've got incumbent Heard, who was running for his first reelection and the increasingly competitive district, and he's facing off against Democrat Duane Romero, who's running on his military experience. He's a decorated veteran from Aspen and owns a real estate company. President Trump won this seat by 10 points. Heard only one by five, and Heard has a tough balance in act to try to appeal to Trump voters, and then not alienate

28:17everyone else. Yeah, and Heard is doing these public coffees, not town halls, but public events throughout the district to actually talk to his constituents. And I went to one of those in Glundwood Springs recently, and Glundwood is kind of in the middle ish of the district. It's right off of interstate 70, about two and a half hours west of Denver. Heard was doing this meet and greet at the library. I'm gonna curious, Penta, what was the scene like, where people yelling or booing or curing? No, Len, it was a pretty low key event at the Glundwood Libraries in this event room, which is basically just some tables right next to the library entrance, and Heard went table to table and talked to voters for more than an hour, mainly hearing their concerns, heard a lot of frustrations about high health care costs, and some voters were happy with some of the stances, Heard has taken and others felt like he had not pushed back enough against the Trump administration. Yeah, and this is really interesting because Heard has really tried to put some distance between

29:17himself and Trump. He did vote to repeal Trump's tariffs on Canada. He did vote to override both of Trump's congressional vetoes. He opposed selling off public lands. He actually voted to extend the ACA health care subsidy for three years without any guardrails. And that's something he told me afterwards he's talking about, the times that he has and will stand up to Trump. I knew as I was voting, there was a message that the president had put out that there will be consequences for anybody that votes against this, and I knew that going into the to the vote that there be consequences. But at the end of the day, I'm not doing my job if my biggest fear is not getting re-elected. Yeah, and I do think that's going to be a really tough needle to thread for any candidate right now, just given the political environment and how people are feeling about Trump. I think that's right, and one person that didn't convince, I don't think, is Sander Hernandez she's an unaffiliated voter. She said her seemed honest, and she actually liked what he had to say.

30:19But she is not a fan of the president, especially foreign policy, and she says the U.S. has lost so much standing in the world. And she said ultimately she is not sure if she can trust her to stand up to the Trump administration when it really counts. Congress is failing. They have just turned up. They're kind of like my pup rolls over on their back to rub your belly to the executive branch do what you want. Benta, I have to just say how much I love Sander's description, because you know, heard often talks about Congress reasserting their article one branch powers. And it's not what's happening. And you can say that about both parties, but Trump with all of his executive actions and Republicans and a 119th Congress not sort of doing anything about it, have taken it to a whole new level. And that's exactly what a voter and grand junction told her more recently. This was a different meet and greet. Here's Julie Sidel. I disagree with you on tons of stuff, but I believe that you're

31:21working hard. I believe you're competent. I believe you're a stand up guy. But I also think that to use an old metaphor, you are doing a really good job of rearranging the textures on the titanium. We have such huge issues. We have the debt. We have climate change. We have corruption. Right? Three issues that people brought up. We have these huge issues that I don't see you addressing. At all. Thanks Julie. Listen, I will tell you I'm not perfect and I'm going to make mistakes. And there's probably better ways that I can be doing it. And I will strive to be better. I can just tell that the people at this table are sincere and don't agree with me on a number of things I know. But that is okay. And you know what the other thing I would say is I'm willing to say that I might not be wrong. Or I might not be right. I know everything. Hertz challenger Romero has lived on the Western Slow for multiple decades. He's a moderate Democrat. And one thing he is focused on

32:21among a lot of issues is being a check against the Trump administration. And he hopes a Democratic control Congress can really provide that balance. So I have to unwind and try to repeal as many of the previous tariffs and the previous executive orders. And as well as the abuse of HR one, which was obviously the outcome of the one big beautiful bill. Those are the actions that I think are strident Congress who's going to adhere to their duties and try to put some sort of balance back in our government. That's where that's where I would like to lean. And that frankly I know I have the backbone for it. And I also know that our current legislator failed to do so. I will say on paper that sounds great. But actually getting that done is going to be hard for a Democratic controlled Congress if Trump is still the president. You will have divided government. There will need to be compromised on both sides. So this is all going to be interesting to see how everything you know plays out come November. One thing I'd point out about Romero I talked to a Republican and Garfield county

33:25who said that Romero is very well liked among a lot of Republicans. And he's got a lot of business experience. He was an engineer. He's got a lot of technical expertise that I think could be appealing. But this is still a pretty uphill climb for Democrats. It seems like it could be flippable. But Jeff heard it is a much much much different candidate than Bober. He's a lot more low key. And you heard from even some of these voters who disagree with them saying we think you're honest. We think you're a pretty stand up guy. What I will say is I do think the important thing that's going to affect the third and all the races is voter turnout. And right now talking to voters I'm seeing the Democratic leaning voters more enthusiastic about getting out to vote. And the Republicans a little less so. And that's going to be a problem for all the Republican candidates. Because if they want to win they're going to need to get their voters out the polls. And if those voters aren't feeling it

34:30right now it's going to be tough. And that's why I think Democrats feel like they have a shot in all four of these districts. That's it for this episode and our road trip across Colorado. Purplish is a production of member supported Colorado Public Radio and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. The CCNA is a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS and the Colorado Sun with support from news outlets throughout the state. Start up funding for the Alliance was provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I'm Caitlin Kim and I'm Ben Taberkland. Our producer is Stephanie Wolfe and our story editor is Nicole Vap. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsy. Our theme music is by Brad Turner. Megan Verly is CPR's executive producer of podcasts.

35:36Special thanks to CPR's Tom Hess and Stina C. Purplish will be back in your feed soon. Subscribe now so you don't miss an episode. This is Purplish from CPR News and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance.