ALAMOSA — While visiting with Democrats on a stop across the region, Shad Murib, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, announced the launch of a new project that focuses the party’s attention on recruiting and supporting strong candidates for local races, such as commissioners and sheriffs. Called the “Colorado County Comeback”, the project is spearheaded by Murib, a rancher from Eagle County, “a rural Coloradan and the first western chair of the Democratic party.”

The idea for the project came from something he says he has observed firsthand.

“President Biden has been delivering so well for Colorado, especially in rural Colorado. But we have a lot of county commissioners who are sitting on the investments the federal government is making and not spending the resources as they should be.”

Murib says it’s no surprise that people haven’t seen the success of the Biden administration because “some county commissioners and politicians are more interested in their politics than actually delivering resources to their communities.”

As an example, he cites a recent conversation with a commissioner who told him that he “wasn’t going to spend the money,” because he couldn’t “get by” the opposing party getting “that kind of win.”

“People should be pissed off at the people who are putting their ideology ahead of their communities. It’s shameless.”

Murib believes the next frontier of Colorado politics is local. “The party is going to be focused on these critical races that we have ignored for far too long.”

Part of that involves recruiting and supporting strong candidates for local positions.

“We focus on folks who are well known in their community.  I’m less interested in running people who are purely political and much more interested in finding the former president of the Chamber of Commerce or someone who represents their community in working with the USDA.”

Congressional District 3 (CD3) encompasses the San Luis Valley plus Pueblo and parts of southeastern Colorado to the east and, to the west, most of the Western Slope to the Utah and Wyoming state lines. It isn’t a Democratic stronghold and was weakened further when redistricting gave Republicans a 9-point advantage. Based on the latest voter registration from the Secretary of State, 22.3% of voters are Democrats; 29.6% are Republicans and 46.2% are Unaffiliated.

When asked how a Democratic candidate appeals to such a large and diverse block of unaffiliated voters, Murib says, “I think we have our basic Democratic values.” He cites climate change as an example. “I would argue that people really do care about climate change. I know most ranchers believe in climate change. They don’t call it that but they notice that land is drying up because the water is drying up now in late July instead of in the fall. The elk are coming down earlier and lower than they used to. When we go hunting or backpacking on the weekend, we see migration patterns of deer and elk and wild game are changing.

“We just have to stay true to our values. We’re interested in preserving the planet for the next generation. For some folks, that means solving drought so they can grow great hay and get a good price. For others, that means wanting to make sure polar bears survive into the future. Both folks agree that we need to address climate change, they just talk about it differently.

“Those are the ways I think we can bring people together. If we stop talking down to people and approach each issue with that kind of nuance and reach people where they’re at, we’ll be a better country for it.”

But Murib also believes the nature of the Democratic party is better suited to reaching more people.

“It’s baked into us to bring people along, to build things together. People are tired of hyper-polarization. I’ve heard from frustrated Republicans that their party is pushing people away. They’re told, ‘you don’t belong here unless you agree that the election is stolen or whatever is driving attention that day.’ Their candidates have to look and say and act a certain way.”

He contrasts that with Rep. Martinez who “works with Cleave Simpson to focus on things like water, which has an enormous impact on our agriculture out here” or CD3 candidate Adam Frisch, who “is sometimes going to disagree with Senators Bennet or Hickenlooper or Governor Polis. And we see that as a good thing. That’s a huge difference in the two parties.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure we tell the story of our success but it’s more important that we show them the results when we put points on the board. Too many politicians are just playing games.”

When asked about voter enthusiasm, Murib touts President Biden’s record in Colorado. “He’s been a great leader for us. We’ve been able to bring thousands of jobs. We cut health care costs for a million seniors with reform to Medicare and Medicaid. Put a cap on insulin.”

He also wants voters to have “an alternative to the chaos they’re seeing on the other side of the aisle”, adding they have the right to be angry and deserve people who will say what they’re actually going to do to solve problems. 

“But we have a strong record of success. We’re going to run proudly on that. Democrats are excited and we have every right to be.”