8 MARCH 6-12, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | The state historically leaned red, with only four Democratic presidential candidates managing to win Colorado between 1920 and 2004. But since 2008, the state has gone to Democrats exclusively, quickly shifting from a swing state to solidly blue. These days, the Colorado GOP is best known for its many controversies. The party’s headlines from the past year have included Chair Dave Williams directing members to burn LGBTQ pride fl ags, spark- ing a long and ultimately failed effort to re- move him from leadership; public infi ghting over primary endorsements and election- denying rhetoric; and, most recently, picking an ex-reality TV star and convicted felon who called for political violence to lead a local party chapter. While the national and state parties focus on personality politics and hot-button social issues, Fields says he is taking the opposite approach. “Ballot measures are truly separate from party politics,” Fields says. “When we put a measure in front of you, ‘Do you want to stop fentanyl drug dealers?’, voters are not thinking about national politics. They’re thinking about, ‘I knew somebody whose kid died because of fentanyl.’ It becomes very much personalized, regardless of party. That’s why we have been and continue to be successful on issues.” The party drama is “not helpful,” Fields says, but he thinks it’s largely irrelevant. He notes how opposition from the state party didn’t prevent Republicans Gabe Evans and Jeff Crank from winning their seats in the U.S. House — Crank even beat Williams himself in the Republican primary. “Political parties have become less and less infl uential, especially party structure,” Fields says. “The Republican Party, the people in it, are much bigger than state party infrastructure. ...While this state is not a Republican state at all, they’re more unaffi liated than anything. They lean left on certain issues and right on other issues. It’s about focusing on the right issues.” Advance Colorado supported ballot measures to reduce the state income tax and require voter ap- proval for the creation of certain state enterprises during the 2020 and 2022 elections, all of which were passed by voters. In 2023, it led the opposition effort to the failed Prop HH. Last year, the group got fi ve measures on the ballot. Fields says he counts four as victories: two resulted in the property tax compromise and two were passed by voters, creating a $350 million fund for law enforce- ment and increasing minimum prison time for some violent crimes. The latter passed despite opposition from the Colorado Demo- cratic Party. The only measure that failed, a constitutional amendment to codify the right to school choice, was supported by 49.32 percent of voters. Under Fields’s leadership, Advance Colo- rado also successfully sued Democratic state legislators for using an anonymous voting system to prioritize bills for funding, ending the practice. It’s impacted some legislative bills as well, he says, such as advocating for lowering the amount of fentanyl that qualifi es as felony possession or fi ghting the failed addition of regulations against charter schools. As the group’s infl uence grows, so does the criticism against it. A so-called dark-money group, Advance Colorado does not disclose its donors (claims that it is funded by billionaire Phil Anschutz have not been confi rmed or denied). That lack of transparency inspired controversy during the special property-tax legislative session, as some argued that anony- mous wealthy individuals were holding the “government hostage” and forcing legislators to “negotiate with oligarchs.” Condemnation continued among state legislators when no one from Advance Colo- rado, much less Fields, testifi ed in person as the lawmakers debated the property tax compromise that he helped create. Some people on the political right have been wary of Fields’s policies. Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, notes that the libertarian think tank publicly opposed Advance Colorado’s two property tax ballot measures in 2024. Caldara calls the measures “poorly written, while very well intended.” “It would have required the state legis- lature to re-write just about every property tax law and rule that they have to somehow fi gure out the winners and losers,” Caldara says. “I’m thrilled that they used it, instead of putting it on the ballot, to extract a small concession from the state legislature during the special session.” Regardless, he is “very glad that Colorado has Michael Fields,” Caldara says. “Michael Fields is an intelligent guy with a bright future in politics,” he adds, “and he’ll get even more effective as he gets some wisdom that comes with age.” Fields argues that he represents not just his group or its donors, but a majority of Colorado voters who support his ballot measures. Just getting a proposal on the ballot requires petition signatures from over 124,000 voters. “What some of those legislators don’t like is that some Coloradans disagree with them and are willing to sign a petition and vote differently,” Fields says. “We have [citizen- initiated] ballot measures in Colorado for a reason, and it’s to have a check over elected offi cials.” He believes Colorado voters will continue to diverge from their elected representatives in future elections. FINDING THE DISCONNECT From here, Fields says Advance Colorado plans to run four or fi ve statewide ballot mea- sures every other year, continuing the model it set in 2024. (That’s for even-year elections because, during odd-year elections, all state- wide ballot measures legally have to relate to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. Fields is unin- terested in such measures, calling them “only tax increases or taking TABOR refunds.”) Advance Colorado already fi led seven- teen proposals for the 2026 election as of February 28. Two were withdrawn, eleven are awaiting review by Legislative Council staff and four have advanced to the Title Board, an early step in the lengthy process to earn a spot on the ballot. The wording and details of the proposals will most likely change before they make it to the ballot, if they make it at all, and some address the same topic with small differ- ences. But they generally seek to do the following: • Require law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration and deportation operations (state legislators rejected a similar pro- posal in February) •Increase the penalties for sell- ing and possessing fentanyl •Increase the penalties for retail and auto theft •Require voter approval for the state to establish certain fees •Codify the existing voter approval re- quirement for the state to create certain new enterprises in the Colorado Constitution •Prohibit state and local governments from banning or restricting the use of certain energy sources •Reduce the state income tax rate •Codify the right to school choice in the Colorado Constitution (the same effort that failed last year) “It’s not an easy process: It’s expensive, it takes a lot of work, but we do feel it’s an im- portant check and balance on what really is a single-party power in Colorado,” Fields says of the ballot measures. “If it’s good for Colorado, why would you not take advantage of that to bring it to the people and put it up to them?” Republican State Senator Barbara Kirk- meyer says Colorado’s citizen initiative process has been largely dominated by Demo- cratic politicians and center-right political organizations. As a Republican, Fields’s use of the measures has been infl uential, she notes. “While Republicans have struggled to elect a majority of policymakers to the state legislature, Michael Fields has been able to help supplement the effort with center-right fi scal conservative policy through the initia- tive process,” Kirkmeyer says. “He has had a big impact, and I suspect he will continue to do so for many years to come.” While Fields says he doesn’t plan to push any statewide measures in 2025, Advance Colorado is considering city- or county-wide initiatives regarding crime and immigration. The group also intends to back conserva- tive candidates in city council and school board races. He says he’s looking to the Colorado Democrats’ playbook to build the political party back from obscurity. “It wasn’t overnight that Democrats took over,” Fields adds. “They started back in 2006 and it culminated in 2022. ...We need to do the same thing the other way. Being conservative in a state like Colorado right now, you have to have a long view. You have to be training people. You have to think about how to do stuff locally.” He’s not in a rush for Republicans to seize control of the state — he’s already shown he can advance a conservative agenda without that. Still, Fields says he worries about the direction the state is heading on some issues, pointing to its recently declining standing in national rankings for business friendliness, public safety and affordability. Until that changes, he says, voters will continue seeing his proposals on their ballots. “We’re a great state. I love Colorado and want the best for it. But we are slipping on a lot of different metrics,” Fields says. “There are things that have gotten worse while there’s been single-party control. That gives us a platform to provide an alternative policy set. “We still have more work to do. ...And we might have to do it one at a time.” Email the author at hannah.metzger@westword. com. News continued from page 6 Jon Caldara knows the power of ballot measures. INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE HANNAH METZGER What Advance Colorado can’t get done at the Capitol could work at the ballot box.
