Purplish

Coloradans are increasingly naming housing as a top issue, and it's one that will appear on ballots this fall in a couple of ways.

One in six Colorado voters is Latino, a fact the campaigns are very, very aware of. But are candidates and parties forging meaningful connections, or just falling back on transactional habits?

Senate candidate Joe O'Dea is getting national attention for his views on abortion, Trump and other issues that set him apart from many in his party. But will his positions be enough to win over the moderate voters so crucial to winning Colorado's elections?

Colorado's Republican establishment is celebrating a night of victories that they believe will give them a leg up on the general election, and could even be a turning point for their party.

the primary approaches, one big question is what influence an influx of unaffiliated voters might have on the GOP selection contests.

The party is torn between its grassroots, with their concerns about the 2020 election and their hunger for a more combative tone from lawmakers, and its more traditional voters, who […]

Over the past 120 days, lawmakers have argued over justice reform, housing, behavioral health and so much more -- we'll wrap up everything they did -- and didn't -- get done.

Colorado ranks last in the nation, when it comes to mental health care available, compared to the number of people who need it. This year state lawmakers are hoping to make a big difference in the problem.

Lawmakers are debating whether to ban menthol cigarettes, flavored vapes and similar products. It's an issue that's pulled in tons of lobbying money and is causing some deep divisions between usual political allies.

And what do the choices made at the GOP state assembly say about the state of that party?

The story of how one county clerk came to believe in false claims about her own voting equipment, what it reveals about the many ways in which our election system […]

Colorado has been a landmark state for both sides of the abortion debate: home to one of the earliest laws to liberalize access to the procedure, as well as the birthplace of the personhood movement. Now, with Roe v Wade in doubt at the federal level, state lawmakers are writing a new chapter Colorado's convoluted history on the issue.

For more than a decade, Colorado lawmakers have pursued a range of criminal justice reforms.

Some legislative leaders want to give all local public worker unions the power to collectively bargain, but they're up against a lot of powerful opponents.

Seven percent of the state legislature is currently running for Congress — that’s the largest number in recent years and it speaks to the many ways in which this is […]

With home values and rents rising at a dizzying rate, state lawmakers are rushing to try to address Colorado's housing crisis. They do have one ace up their sleeve: a whole lot of federal money.

The legislature has gaveled in its session. The governor has laid out his agenda. The cost of living and rising crime are high on the list of priorities on both sides of the aisle. What lies ahead for this year's policymaking?

When rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol a year ago, most members of the Colorado delegation were in the House and Senate chambers. A year later, the memories still haunt them.

It's beginning to look at lot like politics, at least for our public affairs team; everywhere they go they seem to be hearing about what's ahead at the legislature...

And it gave us a lot to talk about.

With minutes left on the clock, the congressional redistricting commission approved a new map. We give you the lowdown on what it looks like, what it means, and how commissioners got there.

Marathon Zoom sessions. Painstaking geographic descriptions. And the slow struggle toward something like consensus. We head inside the final days of the Congressional redistricting commission's work to see how they're trying to get it done.

Colorado is one of the few states where the rules for redistricting encourage competitive districts. But is competition really all it's cracked up to be?

Redistricting commission staff have released a new proposal that -- if adopted -- would make some dramatic changes to Colorado's congressional districts.

Two stories in this episode about different communities that are hoping to persuade the commissions to take their concerns into account as they draw their maps.

The first draft of the Congressional map puts the state's newest district north and east of Denver. We hit the road to hear what residents think of that idea.

Denver's Northside, historic home of the Chicano movement, has been getting whiter over the last decade. At the same time, some suburbs, like Commerce City, have seen their Latino populations increase. How Colorado's new political maps reflect these changes could have a big impact on the state's Latino representation.

Republican relief, a bit of Democratic chagrin, and a whole lot of thumbs hoping to sneak onto all sorts of scales -- we look at the political side of Colorado's new approach to redistricting.

Colorado's redistricting is in the hands of new independent commissions -- we explain what led up to the change and how the process is works.

Redistricting: that once-in-a-decade process with huge implications for representation and the balance of power, in Colorado and nationwide. In a special season of Purplish, we look deep into how the state's new process is working and what may come of it.

Everything you need to know about the end of session, from 11th hour bill failures to last minute filibusters to post-session caucus infighting, all brought to you by two hosts who really, really need to get some sleep.

Several mysteries unfold at the Capitol as the final days of the legislative session approach.

We're down to the last two weeks of session and that means two things: rush, rush rush, and stall, stall, stall.

Through new fees and tweaks to the tax code, Democrats are moving forward with policies that could bring in a lot of new money to state coffers, all without having to ask voters' permission.

Issues of race and systemic racism have boiled over repeatedly during this legislative session, in policy discussions and public comments, exposing deep divisions in lawmakers' views, and their lived experiences.

Transportation. Guns. The public option. Climate change. We check back in on how four of the biggest policy areas of the session are shaping up.

Some state lawmakers want to make even more changes to how police do their jobs, but their ideas face stiff opposition amid rising crime and changing politics.

Renters and undocumented immigrants are two groups that could see their situations change significantly, under a slate of progressive policies at the statehouse.

Look, we know it's complicated. It could also be the biggest thing the state does on health care since the Affordable Care Act.

Congressional redistricting is a one-in-a-decade political dogfight like no other, and this go-round in Colorado is starting off with some extra challenges.

You've heard a lot about health care, guns and transportation. But lawmakers are working on a ton of other ideas that will affect your life in ways you might not expect.

The mass shooting at a Boulder grocery store has Colorado Democrats rethinking how far they might be willing to push for more restrictive gun laws.

How did the Jared Polis of 1918 handle *his* deadly pandemic? After a year of living through COVID we decided it would be interesting to look back and tell the tale of Colorado politics during the Spanish flu. One big difference? A lot more moustaches.

Statehouse Democrats want to go big on climate change this year. Is Gov. Jared Polis ready to go along with them?

Congress signed off on spending an out-of-this-world number of Benjamins this week. The Purplish crew looks at what all that money means for Colorado.

This episode of Purplish is brought to you by the letter P: For Polis, pandemic, policies, persuasion, piñata, and proposal.

It could be THE big issue at the state legislature this year, and we have all the details.

How would YOU finish that sentence, after the year we've all had?

This week, two Coloradans took center stage at the second impeachment trial of former president Trump, while back at the state capitol, state lawmakers are warming up for the restart of the legislative session, with plenty of big policies and political drama waiting in the wings.

Caitlyn Kim gives us the scene from DC, recording from the same room she had to hide from rioters in just over a week ago. Bente Birkeland has been back in the Colorado Capitol for the start of a legislative session unlike any other. And Andy Kenney, stuck at home with a baby, has a lot of questions for both of them.