DENVER -- It's a day of celebration for Colorado Democrats as party leaders feel the approval of everything from a new WiFi system in Fort Collins to bonds in Denver for projects at Denver Health, the library and parks. These recent victories point to a strong platform in the Democratic party.
"I think you saw Democratic priorities winning at the ballot box. That means money for schools, money for healthcare, money for transportation, money for public safety. Those are democratic initiatives, those are the ones that succeeded at the ballot box,” said Colorado Democratic party spokesman Eric Walker.
Republican leaders know some voters may have shifted left, including the Douglas County School board race, yet they don't feel Tuesday night's turnout means their party is dead in Colorado.
"I think people when they're thinking locally, in these very intimate type of election, I think they think differently from when they're in partisan races, where we're thinking more statewide for example, in the governor's race or something of that nature,” said Colorado Republican party chair Jeff Hays.
For the future, expect Colorado Democrats to make an even stronger appeal to middle class voters. They'll also be sending a strong message to Independents who are open to conservative candidates. Republicans will be crunching the numbers.
"Do you recognize the Republican party from 25 year ago or 30 years ago? That party seems to be gone," said Walker.
"We're going to do some in-depth analysis on this particular election, extract whatever lessons we can learn in terms of party relevant things, how do we drive turn out, how do we reach out to more voters,” Hays added.
