November 3, 2026 ballot

0.3% county sales & use tax

About 30¢ on a $100 taxable purchase. Funds wildfire / water source protection, roads, parks/trails, public safety, and related county priorities.

Pros: Dedicated funding for resilience, water, roads, parks, safety.

Cons: Permanent tax increase (regressive sales tax).

0.333% tax + up to $580M debt

District sales tax (about 3¢ on $10) plus bonding for Front Range passenger rail. Fort Collins is in the district.

Yes: Full build path. No: Starter / limited service without this package.

Cons: Regressive tax; costs and delivery still unproven.

Blake Huber

Best pure libertarian match: limited government, deregulation, approval voting / voter choice, immigration reform with legal pathways. Faith treated as personal — not a Christian-worldview candidate.

Pick if: classical liberty first

Mark Baisley

Best liberty + Christian + local fit: openly Christian, religious liberty, social conservatism, tax/reg cuts, Second Amendment. Closer to limited government than Hickenlooper; not as non-interventionist as Huber.

Pick if: Christian worldview + prefer local over federal + liberty lean

John Hickenlooper

Incumbent. Farthest from the stack on taxes and gun control; more federal-policy oriented.

• Bob Chew — Forward
• Christopher Baum — Approval Voting
• Adam Withrow — Unity

Gaylon Kent

Best classical libertarian: anti-war / no undeclared wars, flat tax, drug decriminalization, free-market healthcare, government out of abortion. States he has no religious beliefs.

Pick if: classical liberty first

Kelley Dennison

Best liberty + Christian + local fit: “Christian first,” term limits, Colorado-first / shrink federal overreach, Second Amendment, small-business deregulation lean.

Pick if: Christian worldview + prefer local over federal + liberty lean

Joe Neguse

Progressive incumbent; House leadership. More federal-solution oriented.

Law enforcement notify federal immigration authorities

Requires law enforcement to notify DHS within 72 hours when charging someone with a violent crime (or any crime after a prior felony) if lawful presence can’t be confirmed.

Pros: Flags violent / repeat offenders for federal action; uniform statewide standard.

Cons: Triggers before conviction (due-process concern); may chill reporting and community trust; vague “reasonable effort” language.

Constitutional right to buy/sell natural gas

Puts a right to purchase and sell natural gas for homes/businesses in the state constitution.

Pros: Protects affordable, widely used heating/cooking fuel from bans.

Cons: Limits climate / building-code choices by state and local governments.

Constitutional right to hunt and fish

Creates a constitutional right to hunt/fish (traditional methods) and names hunting/fishing as preferred wildlife management, with room for scientific regulation.

Pros: Locks in heritage recreation; joins other states with similar protections.

Cons: Unnecessary constitutionalizing of recreation; vague language may invite lawsuits and constrain regulation.

Mail ballot voter ID

Requires last four of SSN or CO driver’s license / ID number on mail ballots, plus current signature check.

Pros: Stronger verification, more objective than signature alone.

Cons: Extra burden; eligible ballots may fail on paperwork; privacy concerns; county costs up to ~$2.5M first year.

Plain-language ballot titles (8th grade)

Requires ballot titles at no more than an 8th-grade reading level; blocks statutes that force conflicting initiative title language.

Pros: Clearer titles for voters; protects initiative titles from legislative clutter.

Cons: Already covered in statute; vague constitutional standard may spawn title challenges.

Off-cycle congressional redistricting rules

Any mid-decade map change needs Independent Redistricting Commission + Supreme Court approval, public hearings, and bans partisan gerrymanders / unnecessary community splits.

Pros: Protects the independent process voters already approved.

Cons: Makes it harder for voters/legislature to redraw maps between censuses if they want to.

Graduated income tax (~$2.7B max first full year)

Replaces flat 4.4% with brackets; cuts taxes under ~$500k taxable income, raises above; new revenue for K-12, health care, child care; TABOR-exempt. Conflicts with Prop 136 if both pass.

Pros: Tax cut for most; funds education/health/child care.

Cons: Large tax increase on high earners; expands state spending permanently; competitiveness risk. Fits poorly with skepticism of state spending growth.

Keep & spend TABOR surplus for education / kids

Lets the state keep revenue that would otherwise be TABOR-refunded (up to an education-tied limit) and spend it on K-12 and children’s programs.

Pros: Teacher pay, class size, CTE without a new tax rate.

Cons: Effectively ends/reduces TABOR refunds; grows what the state keeps. Fits poorly with skepticism of state spending growth.

Increase fentanyl penalties

Makes any fentanyl possession a felony; mandatory minimums for distribution; narrows reduced-penalty options.

Pros: Stronger deterrent for a deadly drug.

Cons: Higher prison costs; less treatment flexibility for low-level possession.

Life without parole for child sex trafficking

Expands trafficking of a minor to include buying sex with a minor; penalty becomes life without parole.

Pros: Maximum penalty for exploiting kids.

Cons: Removes sentencing discretion; long-term prison costs.

School/college sports by biological sex

Requires male / female / coed designations; biological males only on male or coed teams.

Pros: Protects female athletic categories.

Cons: Overrides local school/association policy; fairness / inclusion debate.

Ban sex-characteristic surgeries on minors

Prohibits surgeries altering biological sex characteristics for minors in response to sex/gender perception; blocks public/insurance funding.

Pros: Protects minors from irreversible procedures.

Cons: Overrides current access protections; medical / family autonomy debate.

Cap income tax at 4.4%

Writes the current 4.4% flat rate into statute as a maximum. Conflicts with Amendment 87 if both pass.

Pros: Hard ceiling against rate hikes. Aligns with limited state tax growth.

Cons: Locks policy in statute; less flexibility for future budgets.

Sporting-goods sales tax → conservation

Without raising rates, redirects existing sporting-goods sales tax to conservation, wildfire mitigation, outdoor recreation; TABOR treatment change.

Pros: Dedicated conservation/wildfire money without a new tax.

Cons: Earmarks money that could otherwise refund or fund other priorities; still expands what the state retains for programs.

• Justice William W. Hood, III — Meets standards (9–0). Retain / do not remove

• Judge Rebecca Rankin Freyre — Retain
• Judge Elizabeth L. Harris — Retain
• Judge Katharine E. Lum — Retain
• Judge Pax Moultrie — Retain
• Judge Karl L. Schock — Retain
• Judge Grant Sullivan — Retain

• Judge Katharine “Jenny” Ellison — Retain
• Judge Thomas L. Lynch — Retain
• Judge Matthew R. Zehe — Retain

No 8th Judicial District Court judges up this cycle.

• Phil Weiser / Lesley Dahlkemper — Democratic
• Victor Marx / George Washington Markert — Republican
• Eric Mulder / Wayne Harlos — Libertarian
• Greg Lopez / Taralyn Romero — Unaffiliated
• Stephen T. Hamilton / James K. Treibert — American Constitution
• Jeff Peckman / T.J. Cole — Unity
• Erik Underwood / Frank Atwood — Approval Voting

• Amanda Gonzalez — D · James Wiley — R · Sean Vadney — Libertarian
• Amanda Campbell — American Constitution · Celeste Landry — Forward

• Jeff Bridges — D · Kevin Grantham — R · Jodie Barr — Libertarian · Marilee Langner Sturgis — Approval Voting

• Jena Griswold — D · Michael J. Allen — R

• Edie Hooton — D · Marty Neilson — R · Richard Friend — Libertarian

HD-52 (south FoCo): Yara Zokaie — D · Steve Yurash — Center

HD-53 (north FoCo): Andy Boesenecker — D · Daniel Frick — R

SD-14 (most of FoCo city) is not on the 2026 ballot. SD-15 is rural Larimer fringe — usually not central FoCo.

• Commissioner Dist 1: Shane Atkinson — D · Marc Roberson — R · Stephen Fowler — Center
• Clerk: Ken Forsythe — D · Tina Harris — R
• Treasurer: Joann Ginal — D · Steve Olson — R
• Assessor: Bob Overbeck — D · Patrick Edwards — R · Sam Bradley — Forward
• Sheriff: John J. Feyen — R (unopposed)
• Surveyor: Tom Donnelly — R (unopposed)
• Coroner: Stephen Hanks — D (unopposed)