This fascinating interactive map from the Washington Post shows a surprising number of people in our area are Harris supporters, and that Mesa County has continued to trend more “blue” politically since 2020.
Tag: Politics
Cody Davis, Elections, Local concerns, Mesa County, politics
Follow the money Mesa County: A short dive into Tracer reports for county commissioner race 2024
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Important campaign finance research and analysis of the District 1 Mesa County Commissioner race between challenger Tom Acker and incumbent Cody Davis.
Diversity, Elections, Extremism, politics
Proposition 131: Top-Four Primary and Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative
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Proposition 131 changes Colorado’s current primary election voting system into a ranked-choice voting system.
In ranked-choice voting, all candidates running for an office who have met the state’s conditions to run, regardless of their political party, get their names on the ballot, and voters rank the candidates in order of preference. The top four vote-getters then advance to the general election.
This is called an “all-candidate primary.”
Here are two examples of what ranked-choice ballots look like:
Crazy Republicans, Dangerous Republicans, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, White Supremacists
Trump, at National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, says VP Kamala Harris “happened to turn black”
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[Clip from CSPAN]
Republican Party nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, the first former U.S. president ever convicted of multiple felonies, was asked by ABC News journalist Rachel Scott about his fellow Republicans referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as “a DEI hire.” Scott asked Trump if he believes Harris is only on the ticket because she’s a Black woman. He responded that he didn’t know she was Black.
Trump said,
“I have known her a long time, indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I did not know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as black. Is she Indian or is she Black?”
Audible laughing and gasping from the audience can be heard in the CSPAN video clip.
Trump seems unaware that people can identify as being of more than one race, a characteristic that is known as being “multiracial.”
Many people in Mesa County favor Trump for president.
Activism, Homophobia, Human rights, Intolerance, LGBT issues, Local business, politics, Pop culture, Propaganda, Racism, Trump Insanity
Tractor Supply throws LGBTQ+ customers and investors under the bus
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Tractor Supply Company, a farm, ranch and feed company which previously had touted its efforts at diversity and inclusion, did an about-face June 27 after it issued a press release saying it will stop sponsoring events like gay pride festivals and voter registration drives, stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign, eliminate its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) roles, “retire” its DEI goals and will “withdraw our carbon emission goals and focus on our land and water conservation efforts.”
The company says they “work hard every day” to “represent the values of the communities and customers we serve. We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart.”
Elections, Ethics, Janet Rowland, Mesa County, Mesa County Republican Party, politics, Separation of Church and State
Rowland booted as commissioner
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Results as of 10:25 p.m. Tuesday night
Political newcomer J.J. Fletcher of Palisade won by a wide margin over longtime career politician Janet Rowland in the primary election for District 3 Mesa County Commissioner.
Rowland conceded the race this morning via a brief Facebook post.
Advertising, Dangerous Republicans, Ethics, Extremism, Lies, Local business, politics, Propaganda
Paonia’s High Country Shopper under fire for running outrageous, false political ad
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Ad that ran in June 12, 2024 edition of the classified ad paper the High Country Shopper
Delta County residents are up in arms about a display ad that appeared on Page 20 of the June 12 edition of the High Country Shopper, a weekly newspaper published in Paonia that runs classified ads and promotes local businesses.
The ad, which is a departure from the norm for the Shopper, shows a photo of President Biden among an array photos of fascist dictators who have “had their opponents arrested,” including Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Stalin and others. The ad was paid for by Cedaredge resident Wes Fisher.
Where could someone get such a misleading idea as this?
Climate change, Conservatives, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, Lies, politics
Republican CD-3 candidate Jeff Hurd straight-up lies in new TV ad
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Scene from a new Jeff Hurd ad titled “Fight for American Energy” that’s running on local TV
We had hoped that maybe Jeff Hurd, a home-grown Grand Junction Republican running to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District in Washington, D.C., might be a slightly more honest politician than we’ve had in the CD-3 office for several years now, but Hurd just disappointed us all.
He put out a new TV ad two days ago in which he straight-up lies to viewers.
Hurd casts himself as a strong proponent of fossil fuels in the ad, showing piles of coal and people filling up their cars at gas pumps. But he lies to viewers right out of the gate by making a false claim that “Biden is waging war on American energy.”
Whether we like it or not, that’s hardly the case.
Elections, Janet Rowland, Mesa County, politics
Meet ‘n’ Greet event this week for JJ Fletcher, the Republican running against Janet Rowland for County Commissioner in the 6/25 primary election
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UPDATE, 5/8/24 @ 10:30 a.m. – JJ Fletcher has cancelled this event.
Claudette Konola will host a Meet ‘n’ Greet this week on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:00 p.m. for JJ Fletcher, the candidate running against Janet Rowland for County Commissioner in the June 25, 2024 primary election.
The event will be at Claudette’s home, so she requests people use the blue “message” button on her Facebook page to RSVP and get the location.
City of Grand Junction, Cronyism, Ethics, Grand Junction City Council, Housing, Local concerns, politics
City Councilor says he sees cronyism creeping into G.J. City Council
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Scott Beilfuss
At the regular May 1 meeting of Grand Junction City Council, Councilman Abe Herman was voted in as the new mayor of Grand Junction and Randall Reitz as Mayor Pro Tem for the next year by all attending city council members present except one, and that hold out was perhaps the more important story that Grand Junction citizens should know about.
The vote was 5-1, with current Mayor Anna Stout absent from the meeting.
The lone hold out vote was Councilman Scott Beilfuss.
Curious about the vote, I contacted Beilfuss to ask why he didn’t vote for Herman and Reitz along with the rest of Council.
Cody Davis, Democrats, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Ethics, politics, Republicans violating laws, Republicans violating rules
District 1 Commissioner candidate Dr. Tom Acker to speak at Edgewater Brewery May 9 @ 6:00 p.m.
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Retired CMU Professor Dr. Tom Acker is running for the District 1 Commissioner seat, against Cody Davis
If you need a breather from Mesa County Republicans who use their elected offices to violate morals and ethics, deny reality and promote conspiracies, commit felonies, engage in religious grandstanding, double-dip, violate state laws, mindlessly spout racist tropes in public hearings, say things that draw national embarrassment onto our community, engage in cronyism, compromise voting equipment, take credit for the contributions of others and spend hundreds of thousands in taxpayers funds on exacting revenge on people they take a personal dislike to — if you want to consider electing people with integrity for a change, then come and hear what Tom Acker, the only Democrat running for Mesa County Commissioner has to say.
Dr. Acker is a retired Colorado Mesa University professor Emeritus who taught Spanish at CMU for two decades. He is running against Cody Davis for the District 1 county commissioner seat.
Bad behavior, Conservatives, Conspiracy theories, Cronyism, Diane Schwenke, Elections, Ethics, Janet Rowland, Mesa County Republican Party, politics, Public health, Republicans violating laws, Republicans violating rules
In seismic shift for the local GOP, Tim Foster endorses Janet Rowland’s opponent, J.J. Fletcher, for county commissioner
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Endorsement posted on the “JJ Fletcher for Mesa County Commissioner” campaign website
In what amounts to a subtle but seismic shift in local politics, former Colorado Mesa University (CMU) President Tim Foster publicly endorsed Janet Rowland’s opponent, J.J. Fletcher, for Mesa County commissioner, formally ending his years-long support for Rowland.
Charter schools, Cody Davis, Democrats, Elections, Good things about Mesa County, Grassroots advocacy, Housing, Human rights, Immigration, Local concerns, politics, Poverty, Worker advocacy
Former CMU Professor Tom Acker to run against Cody Davis for County Commissioner
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Retired CMU Spanish Professor Tom Acker
A Democrat has joined the race against Cody Davis for Mesa County Commissioner. Tom Acker is currently the only Democrat running for local office in Mesa County.
Acker was a professor of Spanish language at CMU for two decades. He is now a retired professor emeritus, an honorary title conferred upon him for his distinguished service to the academic community. He is a founding member of the award-winning Hispanic Affairs Project.
Originally from the east coast, in the 1980s Acker worked with refugees from the Mariel Boatlift, after over 125,000 Cubans piled into boats and headed for Florida after the Cuban government announced that anyone who wanted to leave the country was free to do so.
While he lived in Pennsylvania, Acker worked with a federally-funded agency to help farmers interact with agriculture workers.
Elections, politics
CD-3 candidate Adam Frisch holding meet and greet Wed., 2/28@Kannah Creek Brewery 5:30-6:30 p.m.
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Grab your chance to meet Adam Frisch, the leading candidate for the 3rd Congressional District seat, and the one who single-handedly chased Lauren Boebert out of our District for good.
Adam is hosting a Meet-and-Greet Wednesday, 2/28 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Kannah Creek Brewing Company, 1960 N. 12th St., Grand Junction. Adam advocates a climb-down from the “angertainment” politics we’ve had to endure in CD-3 for the last few years
Adam Frisch
and seeks instead to represent CD-3 in Congress in a more normal way, meaning he would actually represent and promote the needs of our district in the House instead of seeking fame and notoriety by constantly engaging in outrageous behavior. He also seeks to restore dignity to CD-3’s representation in Congress, while actually making progress towards solving problems in our District.
Conspiracy theories, Cringeworthy, Dangerous Republicans, Election deniers, Elections, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Fake patriotism, Immigration, Intolerance, politics, Trump Insanity, Weird western slope stuff
Civil War & Feeding Migrants to Wolves: Western CO Congressional Forum Gets Extreme
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The forum for Republican candidates for CD-3 held at Appleton Christian Church, 2/12/24. (Photo: Sharon Sullivan)
Article by Sharon Sullivan, Feb. 14, 2024
This article is republished with permission from the Colorado Times Recorder. You can see the original article here.
Immigration policy dominated the discussion among five of the Republican candidates vying to win Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District primary election in June, and it included some eyebrow-raising statements.
The candidate forum, which took place Monday night at Appleton Christian Church in Grand Junction, included all but one of the Republicans hoping to become their party’s nominee following Congresswoman’s Boebert decision to abandon her hometown district for redder pastures on the Eastern Plains.
While their positions on immigration varied, the candidates found more consensus around their doubts about Colorado’s election system. Four of the five participants spoke in favor of banning the mail ballots used by nearly all Coloradans, based on the debunked conspiracy that they have been used to rig elections. All but one of the candidates advocated for a return to hand-counting paper ballots, a process which has been proven to be less accurate and far more expensive than Colorado’s current system. Hanks, Andrews and Varela all promoted elements of another debunked conspiracy theory: that the Dominion Voting machines used by nearly all counties to tabulate their elections could be manipulated to rig the results.
Anti-vaccine, Conspiracy theories, Extremism, Health, Janet Rowland, Local concerns, politics, Public health, Stephen D. Daniels
KREX TV explores how the County seized control over all of Mesa County Public Health Department’s contracts when it only contributes 4.2% of the agency’s budget
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KREX reporter Michael Loggerwell’s story about Mesa County’s new Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with the Health Department- Part 1
KREX-TV News recently did a two-part series about the Mesa County Commissioners’ new, post-Jeff Kuhr Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) that more tightly regulates the County’s relationship with the Public Health Department (MCPHD), and how it differs from the old 2012 agreement in important ways that could negatively affect public health and safety in the county.
Christian nationalism, Dangerous Republicans, Education, Elections, Extremism, Freedom under threat, Local concerns, politics, Religion, Separation of Church and State
D-51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson wants to teach creationism alongside science in public schools
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“I feel like we need to be teaching both ends of the spectrum when we’re teaching things in school as well….What I mean by that is if we’re teaching the Big Bang Theory then we need to teach creationism as well.” — Barbara Evanson
On October 31, the Colorado Times Recorder highlighted a locally-made video interview with District 51 School Board candidate Barbara Evanson in which Evanson says that if schools teach what is scientifically known about the origins of the universe, then they should also have to teach creationism alongside that information so kids can decide on their own what’s true.
Creationism is the religious belief that God created the universe. It is a wholly religious construct with no scientific proof behind it,
The idea of mandating creationism be taught in public schools alongside scientific information has been declared by U.S. courts to be illegal.
Bad behavior, Embarrassing Republicans, Extremism, Insurrection, Lauren Boebert, Separation of Church and State
Adam Frisch, the Democratic challenger for CD-3 seat, raises quadruple what Boebert raises in 3rd quarter
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Adam Frisch is running for 3rd Congressional District House Representative
It seems Lauren Boebert’s bad behavior and poor representation of Colorado in the House of Representatives is catching up to her.
In an article published this morning, Colorado Politics wrote that “Colorado has never seen a campaign finance report like the one filed last week by Democrat Adam Frisch.” Its headline reads, “Boebert challenger Adam Frisch rewrites record books, vies for national fundraising title,” and the article says “The magnitude of Frisch’s fundraising is hard to express.”