The Continued Work of Defending Our Democracy
Photo by Rob Toftness
When I was running for Colorado Attorney General in 2018, I often talked about our democracy being at stake. Since my election, I have fought to preserve the rights of Coloradans, including the right to vote. After the events of the last several months, it is clear how vulnerable our democratic norms actually are—and how much work we need to do to defend the rule of law and our democratic institutions.
Because of my deep commitment to defending our democracy, I am running for re-election to build on our work together.
In 2020, we witnessed unprecedented attacks on our democratic institutions. To protect our democracy, we went all the way to the Supreme Court—and won. We brought a case involving the threat that “faithless” Presidential electors would disregard the will of the people. Last May, in the final case heard by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we prevailed in a unanimous decision. This victory proved important last fall when we faced the threat that electors from some states would be pressured to go against the will of the voters, in defiance of the results in our Presidential election. And we once again stood up for our democracy and the rule of law this fall in opposing a petition by Texas at the Supreme Court that attempted to override how other states manage their elections, as explained in this op-ed.
Last summer, we also went to court here in Colorado (and joined a multistate effort) to stop the US Postal Service’s plans that would have undermined the delivery of ballots by mail. This effort was a true partnership between the Attorney General’s office and the people we serve. When we asked you to share stories of degraded mail delivery, we received scores of stories. We used several of them to make our case successfully and to secure relief. We fought for our voting rights together, and Colorado won. And we successfully sued the Postal Service a second time—and won again—to address the sending of misleading postcards to Colorado voters.
We also witnessed the threat—and use—of voter intimidation during the last election. We stood strong with leaders across our state to make clear that it would not be tolerated. And when one landlord resorted to such tactics, threatening vulnerable individuals, we took action and secured relief.
In the future, we need other states to adopt Colorado’s pro-democracy measures, making it easy and safe to vote at home. We also must work together to address the holes in our campaign finance system created by the dangerous and wrongly decided Citizens United case. Working with other State AGs, we sought to challenge that decision at the Supreme Court last year. The Court declined to take this opportunity, but we will persevere in this fight.
I am committed as ever to serving as the “People’s Lawyer” as your Attorney General. This means that all we do in our office will be inspired by President Lincoln’s definition of democracy: a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
As you have often heard me state, our democracy is a team sport. That means that all of us must continue to be out on the field, doing the work of moving our nation toward a more perfect union, and defending, renewing, and rebuilding our institutions that have come under attack. Together, we still have important work to do. Please join me in continuing to stand up for our state and our country as I run for reelection. Together, we can prevail in this election, and we can make sure that we continue to defend our democracy in 2022 and beyond.