Voter Guide
Our endorsements for the candidates and measures on your Boulder ballot.
The 2026 General Election will be held on November 3rd.
All ballots must be turned in to an official drop box (not mailed) or cast in person by 7pm November 3rd.
You can find more information about where to vote and how to cast your ballot here.
Get future election updates and voter guides by joining our email list!
Subscribe to Boulder Progressives
Voter Guide
Our endorsements for the candidates and measures on your Boulder ballot.
The 2026 General Election will be held on November 3rd.
All ballots must be turned in to an official drop box (not mailed) or cast in person by 7pm November 3rd.
You can find more information about where to vote and how to cast your ballot here.
Get future election updates and voter guides by joining our email list!
Subscribe to Boulder Progressives2026 Endorsements
Our Strongest Slate Ever
Boulder Progressives is proud to announce our endorsements for Mayor and Boulder City Council: the strongest slate we've ever supported for a city council election, and one we believe is the strongest the city has seen in recent memory.
For Mayor
Aaron Brockett
Incumbent, Seeking Re-Election
Boulder Progressives is proud to re-endorse Aaron Brockett for Mayor. Mayor Brockett's leadership and vision align with our commitment to a more affordable, sustainable, and inclusive Boulder. Aaron is Boulder's first directly elected mayor, capping a decade of service that began on the city's Planning Board and continued through eight years on City Council. As mayor, he's championed climate resilience, housing affordability, and public engagement. He's running for reelection to keep pushing on the city's budget challenges, homelessness, and wildfire resilience, and to build a Boulder that can pass the test of time.
For City Council
Six Outstanding Council Candidates
They represent a broad spectrum of lived experience and bring an impressive depth of understanding and solutions-driven ideas to the issues facing Boulder today.
Ryan Schuchard
Incumbent, Seeking Re-Election
A climate leader completing his first term on Boulder City Council after two decades advancing climate solutions across the country. Ryan has championed reliable transit, wildfire protection, and workers' wages while serving on the city's Long-Term Financial Strategies committee. A father of two raising his kids in BVSD schools, he brings a hands-on commitment to making Boulder work for families today and generations to come.
Tina Marquis
Incumbent, Seeking Re-Election
Tina has a long history of leadership in Boulder, including eight years on the BVSD Board of Education (six as board president) before her first term on City Council. Her strong commitment to transparency and government accountability is a breath of fresh air. Tina has been a deciding vote on many important progressive issues, and has a long record as a champion of trans rights, women's rights, and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Jill Adler Grano
Jill is Boulder's first-ever openly LGBTQ councilmember. As lead staffer for Congressman Joe Neguse's "Housing Our Communities" legislation, and with years as a residential real estate broker before that, her experience on housing issues makes her an even more insightful leader than before. She's a strong advocate for city policies that put people first and make Boulder more welcoming for everyone.
Sam Fuqua
Sam brings a long history of service: eight years on the BVSD Board of Education, including as president; five years as a Boulder Library Commissioner before the Library District's formation, and another term after; and nearly a decade as station manager at KGNU radio. He's committed to a Boulder that better meets the needs of all people.
Rachel Rose Isaacson
Rachel is running to become Boulder's first Gen Z City Council member, bringing systems-level thinking and a fresh voice to the table. A renter and barista at South Side Walnut Café, she holds a master's in public administration and leadership, and is an advocate for climate resilience, affordable housing, and stronger support for workers.
Jamillah Richmond
Strong Recommendation
Jamillah entered the City Council race after our endorsement process had concluded, but we enthusiastically support her serving on Boulder's City Council. She has extensive experience serving on BVSD's District Accountability Committee and executive team, on the City of Boulder's BVCP Community Assembly focused on accessibility, and on several nonprofit boards. She's passionate about education, affordable housing, a more accountable city government, and meaningful police oversight.
Help Us Get Them Elected
These seven candidates represent the breadth of progressive politics in Boulder, and bring unmatched experience and knowledge. Boulder Progressives will keep mobilizing volunteers and resources across the city through Election Day.
Our full voter guide will be available in October.
Statewide & Regional
Vote Democratic, Up and Down the Ballot
Boulder Progressives believes strongly in the importance of voting Democratic up and down the ballot, especially in light of the ever-growing threats facing our immigrant communities, our LGBTQIA+ communities, and our communities of color. We hope you will join us in voting for every Democrat on your ballot.
There are six candidates for state and regional office who we believe are truly progressive champions and forces for good. We are proud to endorse them and to stand with them in this election.
Joe Neguse
US House, District 2
Phil Weiser
Governor of Colorado
Amanda Gonzalez
Colorado Secretary of State
Junie Joseph
Colorado State House, District 10
Molly Fitzpatrick
Boulder County Clerk
Jack Rosenthal
RTD Director, District O
In addition to these six endorsements, Boulder Progressives encourages a vote for every Democrat on your ballot.
Ballot Measure Recommendations
Our positions on the statewide, county, and city measures on your 2026 ballot.
Ballot Measures
Colorado Statewide Ballot Measures
Proposition NN: Keep and Spend Money for Education and Other Purposes
Referred to the 2026 Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Referred by the legislature through SB 26-135. Allows the state to retain and spend specified revenue above the TABOR limit, tied to K-12 funding, rather than refunding that money to taxpayers, with spending directed as specified in the measure.
Initiative #85 / Proposition 132: Increase Penalties for Fentanyl Crimes
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Increases criminal penalties for specified fentanyl offenses, requires treatment in specified circumstances, and changes provisions relating to fentanyl-related deaths.
Initiative #95 / Amendment 81: Law Enforcement Communication with Federal Immigration Authorities
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Requires law enforcement to notify federal immigration authorities within 72 hours when a person is charged with a violent crime, or is charged with any crime and has a prior felony conviction, if law enforcement cannot determine that the person is lawfully present in the United States.
Initiative #108: Penalties for Human Trafficking of a Minor
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Expands conduct covered by the offense involving human trafficking of a minor and increases the offense to a Class 1 felony, carrying life imprisonment without parole under the measure.
Initiative #109: Male and Female Participation in School and Collegiate Sports
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Requires covered public and private K-12 and postsecondary schools to classify athletic teams as male, female, or coeducational based on sex and restricts participation on sex-designated teams as specified in the measure.
Initiative #110: Prohibit Surgery on Minors in Response to Perception of Sex or Gender
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Prohibits medical providers from performing specified surgeries on minors when the purpose is to alter sex characteristics in response to the minor's perception of sex or gender, and restricts government funding and specified insurance coverage for those procedures.
Initiative #177 / Amendment 83: Constitutional Right to Purchase and Sell Natural Gas
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Establishes a constitutional right for consumers to purchase natural gas for use in homes and businesses and a right for producers, distributors, and utilities to sell natural gas, subject to the measure's terms.
Initiative #232 / Proposition 136: Income Tax Rate Limit
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Caps the state individual and corporate income-tax rate at 4.4%. Initiative 195 proposes a conflicting graduated-rate structure. If both appear on the ballot and pass, the interaction of conflicting provisions may require application of Colorado's rules governing conflicting measures and legal interpretation.
Initiative #234: Plain Language Ballot Titles
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Amends the Colorado Constitution to require ballot questions to use plain language at no more than an eighth-grade reading level and limits statutes from mandating certain language that must precede, follow, or appear within initiative ballot titles.
Initiative #302 / Amendment 84: Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish
Qualified for the Ballot — Requires 55% Approval — Recommendation: Pending
Establishes a constitutional right to hunt, fish, and harvest fish and wildlife using traditional methods for species managed by the state. It declares hunting and fishing the primary and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife populations, while preserving specified state regulatory authority, private-property rights, and protections for nongame and endangered species.
Initiative #308: Direct Sporting Goods Sales Tax Revenue for Conservation
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Allows the state to retain specified sales-tax revenue from sporting goods and equipment and direct it to conservation purposes including wildfire prevention, land and water projects, and outdoor recreation, rather than refunding that revenue under TABOR.
Initiative #362: Mail Ballot Voter Identification
Qualified for the Ballot — Recommendation: Pending
Requires a voter returning a mail ballot to provide specified identifying information, such as the last four digits of an eligible Colorado identification number or Social Security number, in addition to the signature. A ballot with missing or nonmatching required information would be subject to a cure process and would not be counted until the discrepancy is corrected.
Initiative #195: Graduated Income Tax
Pending Final Signature Verification as of Aug. 29 — Recommendation: Pending
Would replace Colorado's flat individual income-tax rate with graduated rates. Legislative Council's analysis describes rates ranging from 3.7% to 8.4% depending on taxable income and directs additional retained revenue to specified education, health-care, and early-childhood purposes.
Initiative #256: Requirements for Off-Cycle Congressional Redistricting
Pending Signature Verification as of Aug. 29 — Recommendation: Pending
Would amend the Colorado Constitution to impose requirements on any off-cycle congressional redistricting. Among other provisions, a modified map would require public meetings and approval by the independent congressional redistricting commission and Colorado Supreme Court, and could not be drawn purposefully to favor a political party or minimize competitive districts. Signatures were submitted July 29; verification remained pending as of August 29.
Ballot Measures
Boulder County Ballot Measures
County Commission Expansion — Two Ballot Questions
Qualified / Certified for Boulder County Ballots
Question 1 — Expansion — Recommendation: Pending (Yes / No)
Should Boulder County expand the Board of County Commissioners from three members to five? Organizers submitted 18,422 signatures; the Clerk issued a statement of sufficiency on August 5, and the commissioners certified the two-question measure on August 25.
Question 2 — Election Structure (Conditional) — Recommendation: Pending (Option A / Option B)
If voters approve expansion, which structure should Boulder County use: (a) five commissioners elected by voters in their respective districts, or (b) three district-elected commissioners plus two commissioners elected countywide?
Early Childhood Care and Education Mill Levy Increase
Referred / Certified for All Boulder County Ballots — Recommendation: Pending
Would increase Boulder County property taxes by $30 million annually in the 2027 collection year, and by additional amounts raised thereafter, through a 2.579-mill levy. County materials estimate about $115 per year on a $725,000 home at current assessment rates. Revenue would lower child-care and preschool costs, increase compensation for teachers and staff, and expand capacity and reduce waitlists.
Ballot Measures
City of Boulder Ballot Measures
Recreation and Safety Bond ("Building Boulder Together")
Referred / Expected on City of Boulder Ballots — Recommendation: Pending
Authorizes up to $400 million in city debt, with a maximum repayment cost of up to $650 million, financed through an additional property tax. Projects include the South and North Boulder recreation centers, Fire Stations 1 and 5, a new Public Safety Building and 911 dispatch, Penfield Tate II Municipal Building, and the Municipal Service Center.
Debt Limit Increase
Referred / Expected on City of Boulder Ballots — Recommendation: Pending
Amends the city charter so Boulder's debt limit is calculated as no more than three percent of the actual value of taxable property rather than assessed value. The city says this is consistent with how most municipalities and the state calculate debt limitation.
Vacancy Excise Tax
Referred / Expected on City of Boulder Ballots — Recommendation: Pending
Imposes a $4,000 annual tax on residential properties occupied for 183 days or fewer per year. The amount would increase annually with the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood consumer price index, but could not fall below $4,000 or exceed $7,000. The city estimates $6 million in revenue in 2028, the first full collection year; revenue would support general city services.
Charter Change for Collective Bargaining for Firefighters
Referred / Expected on City of Boulder Ballots — Recommendation: Pending
Adds a charter-guaranteed right for full-time fire department employees to bargain collectively over safety, wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment, subject to specified management rights. Impasse would proceed to non-binding factfinding and, if necessary, a vote of qualified city electors.
Looking for Additional Election Resources?
If you'd like to get more perspectives, we recommend these in-depth and comprehensive voter guides:
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