BRIGHTON, Colo. — Colorado voters will decide dozens of state legislative races on November 5, and it could impact whether Democrats get a supermajority in both chambers.
All 65 seats in the Colorado House and 18 seats in the Colorado Senate are up for grabs.
Most of the seats are in safe districts, where the party that currently holds the seat is likely to retain control of it.
But there are a handful of seats in both chambers where it's not so clear who the winner will be.
For the last several years, Matt Johnston has represented the people of Brighton on the city council.
“I stood up to my party here multiple times,” said Johnston. “I’m a gun-toting, coal-mining Democrat, so both parties kind of hate me equally in their own way.”
Johnston hopes voters in the area will send him to a new job representing them in the Colorado Senate.
“There’s a duty to all of the folks that have supported me in the past and they need me now,” Johnston said. “Normal people to run for office and win so that there’s normal voices at the capitol, where there’s partisan politics nonstop.”
Johnston will face Republican Scott Bright for the seat in Senate District 13, which includes Brighton, Platteville, and parts of Greeley.
Bright runs a chain of early childcare centers in the area. He said he decided to run for office after state lawmakers refused to help concerned parents.
“And as I met with those legislators, they one after another denied that option for parents to direct the education of their three-year-olds,” said Bright.
The incumbent senator for the district, Kevin Priola, was elected as a Republican, but switched parties and became a Democrat a couple of years ago.
Priola is term-limited and cannot run for re-election.
Republicans hope to get the seat back in a district both Bright and Johnston say is evenly split.
Right now, Democrats hold 23 of the 35 seats in the Senate, which is one seat shy of a supermajority.
A supermajority would allow Democrats to override gubernatorial vetoes and refer constitutional amendments to the ballot without needing Republican support.
A win by Bright could keep Democrats from reaching supermajority status.
“I haven't talked to any Republican that wants to see that happen. I haven't talked to any Democrat that wants to see Democrats have a supermajority in the Senate,” said Bright. “There’s not a whole lot of checks and balances. There’s not a lot of reasonable discussion.”
But Johnston believes a supermajority is inevitable.
He says what will matter is who can get stuff done for District 13, considering his party is likely to retain control of the chamber.
"Everyone is heard if I'm there and helping to represent us,” said Johnston.
Meanwhile, Democrats already have a supermajority in the Colorado House, where they control 46 of 65 seats.
Whether they can keep the supermajority depends on what voters decide.
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