Progressive Reps. Elisabeth Epps, Tim Hernández trail in early Democratic statehouse primary results

Progressive Denver Democratic Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernández were trailing their primary challengers Tuesday night amid a broader series of disappointing results for more left-wing candidates for state legislative seats.

Those were among a series of contested statehouse races that were billed as a struggle for the direction of the Democratic Party.

Outside spending aimed at influencing the outcomes of the Democratic House and Senate primaries has approached $4 million.

Here’s a look at key Democratic primaries in results posted to the Colorado secretary of state’s website as of 9 p.m. Tuesday:

Denver’s House District 4: Rep. Tim Hernández 44%, Cecelia Espenoza 56%.
Denver’s House District 6: Rep. Elisabeth Epps 35%, Sean Camacho 65%.
Lakewood’s House District 30: Kyra deGruy Kennedy 41%, Rebekah Stewart 59%.
Thornton’s House District 31: Rep. Julia Marvin 45%, Jacque Phillips 55%.
Aurora’s House District 36: Michael Carter 61%, Bryan Lindstrom 39%.
Fort Collins’ House District 52: Ethnie Groves Treick 38%, Yara Zokaie 62%.
Boulder’s Senate District 18: Rep. Judy Amabile 78%, Jovita Schiffer 22%.
Arvada and Westminster’s Senate District 19: Rep. Lindsey Daugherty 65%, Obi Ezeadi 35%.
Aurora’s Senate District 28: Rep. Mike Weissman 55%, Idris Keith 45%.

The outside spending in those hotly contested races pit charter school supporters against the Colorado Education Association, trade unionists against the AFL-CIO, and traditional Republican backers against longstanding Democratic boosters.

Much of the nearly $4 million, spent to boost more moderate candidates against more progressive opponents and vice versa, has been opaque, with its original sources hidden.

With the exception of Weissman and Zokaie, the candidates winning in those races were backed by last-minute spending by a group backed by Kent Thiry, the Denver millionaire, or by a network aligned with One Main Street, a nonprofit with mostly hidden donors that said it was promoting “pragmatic” Democrats.

Zokaie, Weissman and several other more left-wing candidates were generally backed by the AFL-CIO and the Colorado Education Association, who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting them. Weissman, who’s worked extensively on consumer protection measures as a House member, had also faced hefty spending by a fully opaque dark money group seemingly created solely to oppose his bid for the state Senate.

Epps, a first-term incumbent in central Denver who’d drawn the ire of party leaders and fellow legislators for her intra-party criticism and disruptions during a November special session, was down more than 2,200 votes as of 9 p.m., giving her a difficult deficit to overcome. Hernández, like Epps one of the most left-wing members of the General Assembly, was closer to his opponent, Espenoza, but likewise needed to make up ground.

Hernández defeated Espenoza in a vacancy committee selection last year. Marvin similarly beat Phillips, whom she now trails, to be appointed to represent Thornton in the House earlier this year. In another vacancy re-match, Boulder Democratic Rep. Junie Joseph was ahead of her 2022 opponent. Unlike Hernández and Marvin, though, Joseph’s vacancy win only put her on the general election ballot two years ago, rather than sending her directly to the Capitol.

The focus on Democratic primaries — particularly from business groups who’d previously gotten involved in GOP races — has increased as Republican power in the state has waned and Democrats have jockeyed for influence over the now-dominant party, which holds large majorities in both chambers.

The total outside spending includes more than $1 million in last-minute buys from a brand-new group backed by Thiry, the former DaVita CEO and millionaire who’s pushing for a voter-approach overhaul of the state’s elections system.

That late cash infusion, revealed for the first time four days before Election Day, has gone to back eight Democrats and five Republicans; the Democrats were largely the same as those who’d benefited from dark money spending by other business, trade unionist and education reform groups.

The candidates have also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars themselves.

The contests are considered — by both many of the candidates and the organizations backing them — part of a broader struggle for the control and direction of the Democratic Party in Colorado. As the state has turned blue in recent years, a growing contingent of left-wing lawmakers and elected officials have pushed for more significant changes, particularly in an increasingly progressive state House.

The emerging left and the more established center have not been shy about criticizing each other as they compete for influence and take divergent approaches on how to address housing, criminal justice and economic challenges.

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