About this episode

The episode discusses the rise of unaffiliated voters in Colorado and the impact of primary elections on voting power.

It makes no sense to be a Republican in Colorado. Or a Democrat for that matter. On the day I turned 18, even before I bought my first legal 3.2 beer (remember 3.2 beer?), I went to the courthouse and registered to vote (remember registering to vote?). I joined the Republican Party. Even at 18, I knew not affiliating with a party diluted the power of my vote. Sure, everyone gets to vote in November. But one vote among millions isn’t nearly as powerful as a vote in a primary. Back then, unaffiliated voters were locked out of primaries. Republicans voted in Republican primaries, Democrats in Democratic primaries. The smaller the electorate, the more your vote mattered. As a Republican primary voter, my ballot was one of only a couple hundred thousand. As a delegate to the Republican state assembly, my vote was one of only a few thousand. At the county assembly it was one of hundreds. At my neighborhood caucus, I was one of fewer than 10. At one point, my vote represented more than 10% of all votes cast. That’s leverage. Rise of the unaffiliateds Then came Proposition 108 in 2016 , which I voted against. Now those smug, sanctimonious “independents” get both a Republican and…

Topics covered

• Colorado elections
• unaffiliated voters
• political primaries
• voting power
• party affiliation

Keywords

• unaffiliated voters
• Colorado
• primaries
• Proposition 108
• Republican
• Democrat
• voting

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Independence Institute

Places: Colorado

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• Violent anti-ICE protestors get a Texas-sized comeuppance · July 8, 2026 · 6 min
• James Michener’s ‘Centennial’ a must-read Colorado story · July 1, 2026 · 6 min
• Regular Season Rules Needed for NBA, NHL Playoffs · June 25, 2026 · 6 min
• Sundance Film Festival a crash-course in economics for Boulder · June 25, 2026 · 6 min

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