Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a Republican firebrand who opposes the measure, found herself aligned with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), a mild-mannered Democrat who is backing her challenger in Tuesday’s election for Colorado’s 4th District.

The fight has even brought Ken Buck, the Republican congressman who resigned from his seat in March, into the fight. He is aligned with Unite America, a Denver-based election reform organization that supports the ballot initiative.

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Proposition 131, which would eliminate partisan primaries and introduce ranked choice voting for congressional, gubernatorial, and other statewide races, has faced pushback from each party on different grounds. Democrats claim the measure is an opportunity for dark money to pour into Colorado, while GOP lawmakers and activists see the initiative as an attempt to keep districts from flipping or staying red.

Voters in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and South Dakota will also vote on whether to introduce open primaries in their states. However, in Colorado, the ballot measure attracted outsize interest after more than $14 million was invested to reform the process.

Nick Trioano, executive director of Unite America, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that Prop 131 would “level the playing field” in a political reality in which a majority of federal races are decided in the primary elections.

“It’s really about giving voters more and better choices in their elections and a lot better representation in government,” Trioano said. 

“I think that voters deserve better than partisan fearmongering from their leaders, period,” he added.

Buck calls Prop 131 a cure for congressional ‘dysfunction’

Under Prop 131, the state constitution would be amended to have an open primary, with candidates on one ballot regardless of party. The top four vote-getters would then advance to the general election, where voters rank each of the candidates in order of preference.

The winner is tallied using the number of first-choice votes a candidate receives. If one does not receive 50% in the initial round, votes are reallocated as candidates are eliminated.

If Prop 131 is adopted on Nov. 5, open primaries and ranked choice voting would be in effect for the 2026 elections — when a Senate seat and the offices of governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer are up for grabs.

Buck, who blamed his exit from Congress on the level of GOP infighting in the House, told the Washington Examiner he thinks Prop 131 could “move the needle” in improving primaries and keeping extremes from both sides away from Capitol Hill.

Buck was a member of the Freedom Caucus but increasingly broke with the Republican caucus over partisan tactics, including the impeachment of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The former GOP lawmaker also thinks the ballot initiative could prevent meddling by the opposite party in primaries, noting how Democrats have spent money elevating hard-line candidates to sway the outcome of a race. A similar tactic has been used in general elections to boost third-party candidates in a bid to split one party’s votes.

“It’s one of those deals where the Democrats in Colorado have figured out how to use their superior resources on third-party candidates and interfering in Republican primaries to get inferior candidates — in terms of interfering with the primaries, they get candidates who are easier, for the Democrat to beat more of a fringe candidate,” Buck said. “So they have done both in Colorado, and this system solves that problem.”

Supporters of Prop 131, such as Buck and Troiano, argue voters should ignore opponents, such as Boebert and Bennet, and understand the primary system in place today “wasn’t etched in stone.” Prop 131 is the latest in a “proud tradition in our country” to democratize the elections system, Troiano said.

He noted that Alaska successfully reformed its system to introduce open primaries and ranked choice voting, arguing that the reforms “didn’t tip the scales to either party.” 

In 2022, the first year the system was used, Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) became the first Democrat in 50 years to represent Alaska’s lone House seat. However, the system also allowed Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a Republican, to win reelection to the Senate.

“If Alaska can do it and do it well, so can Colorado, and so we are trying, in our closing arguments, to make the case that the biggest risk we have is keeping with this same system and expecting any different results from it,” Troiano said.

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There is a ballot initiative in the Last Frontier State to undo the ranked choice system, with repeal supported by national Republicans and House GOP candidate Nick Begich. The system is designed to give more centrist candidates a better chance at winning, but Republicans believe its results do not reflect the state’s partisan makeup.

Troiano said an open primary system would give voters the chance to select the best person, “not just the party,” from a “fuller set of preferences.” 

“I would say also, blue areas are going to remain Democratic,” Troiano said. “Red areas will remain Republican under the system, but it will give all voters — Democrats, Republicans, and independents — a choice of what kind of Democrat or what kind of Republican may be elected, and also potentially level the playing field long-term for candidates outside of both major parties.”

“So this isn’t about advantaging one party or another,” he added. “It’s really about giving voters better representation in our politics.”

Boebert and Bennet paint Prop 131 as undemocratic

While some national figures, such as Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO), on the Democratic side and Republicans, such as Buck and Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, are supporters of Prop 131, Unite America leaders are concerned the social media campaigns of Bennet and Boebert could undermine the reform efforts.

In an Oct. 24 X post, Bennet blamed the Supreme Court’s “diabolical decision” in Citizens United for the momentum behind initiatives such as Colorado’s Prop 131. The court decision ruled that the government cannot restrict independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and other associations. 

Since the 2010 decision, Bennet has said, “Our campaign finance system has become a cancer to our democracy.”

“Prop 131 would allow for more dark money to flow into our state, undermining the principle of one person, one vote,” the Colorado senator said.

A wave of funds from wealthy donors has flooded into the Prop 131 campaign, with total contributions currently standing at nearly $16 million, according to Oct. 29 campaign finance reports. Multimillionaire Kent Thiry, the former CEO of the dialysis company DaVita, is spearheading the effort and has donated over $3 million to the initiative.

Boebert, who opted not to run for reelection in her 3rd Congressional District to run in Buck’s vacant 4th District, pulled off a surprise primary win in the 2020 elections against then-incumbent GOP Rep. Scott Tipton. 

The congresswoman also took to X when the ballot initiative was first introduced to blast the measure as a “blatant attempt to diminish” GOP voices.

“I will oppose this effort to rig our electoral system in Colorado with everything I have,” Boebert wrote. “Ranked choice voting is a scheme launched by well-moneyed interests who are only concerned with their own power and not giving Coloradans a choice at the ballot box.”

Troiano said the views of Bennet and Boebert “says a lot about how far the parties are willing to go to defend a broken system.”

“Lauren Boebert and Michael Bennet are on the same team making what are, at best, hypocritical, and at worst, dishonest arguments against this system,” Troiano said.

The Unite America executive director focused on Bennet’s remarks, in particular, as hypocritical, noting the Colorado senator has joined several Democrats in promoting other ranked choice voting bills. U.S. lawmakers have repeatedly introduced ranked choice voting proposals in Congress, but they have died each session with no opportunities for floor votes or any serious consideration from party leaders.

“I think it’s hypocritical, especially in making arguments about dark money and special interests, when many of those groups also support his campaigns,” Troiano said. 

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“You know, likewise, Lauren Bobert got into Congress because she primaried out an incumbent and Scott Tipton in a low-turnout party primary,” the director added. “And so she’s certainly defending a system that without which she would not be in office today.”

Responding to Unite America’s accusations, Boebert said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that if she had her way, she would “ban the practice of ranked choice voting in Colorado.”

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“Ranked choice voting diminishes our democratic process and would harm Coloradans of every background,” Boebert said. “It confuses voters, delays election results, unfairly overburdens election workers, and would likely lead to some Coloradans casting more votes than others.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to Bennet for comment.