Colorado’s political calendar is compressing fast, and the courts, candidates, and White House are all on a collision course.
President Trump restored his endorsement of Rep. Jeff Hurd in CD3 Friday after Hope Scheppelman agreed to suspend her campaign for an administration role that has no title, no agency, and no start date. The reversal came after Speaker Mike Johnson lobbied Trump to protect the House majority. Scheppelman left with a warning: step out of line, and she primaries Hurd in 2028.
Denver District Court Judge Mark Bailey still hasn’t ruled on Trisha Calvarese’s lawsuit challenging the CD4 assembly date — an assembly now four days away. The case turns on whether state party chair Shad Murib had authority to move it one day to accommodate Eileen Laubacher’s registration timeline.
Neither Michael Bennet nor John Hickenlooper has a confirmed place on the June 30 ballot. Both filed petitions. Neither has a sufficiency ruling. Weiser didn’t file petitions at all — he needs 30 percent of delegates at the March 28 assembly or his gubernatorial bid ends that day.
Meanwhile, UCAR sued the federal government, alleging the Trump administration is dismantling the National Center for Atmospheric Research as punishment for Colorado’s refusal to release Tina Peters. And in the Republican governor’s race, Chaffee County resident Vince Phillips published a first-person account of Victor Marx at a local campaign event, calling him the antidote to eight years of Democratic governance.
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