The CPI's latest poll: how Colorado's growing population of unaffiliated and independent voters feels about potential 2024 presidential candidates.
Unsurprising to anyone who knows the dubiously purple state, people are much more likely to go for Democratic candidates next November, including President Joe Biden. It's the people who back the CPI research that may shock some.
Social entrepreneur and investor David Carlson founded the institute, with Republican consultant Tyler Sandberg and Democratic consultant Curtis Hubbard coming on board as senior advisers. The CPI's founding board also includes public school nonprofit leader TeRay Esquibel and former Denver City Council rep Kendra Black.
Previously, the CPI didn’t release the names of its donors, but it's now decided to list them on its website, with there being political heavy hitters on both sides of the aisle.
“Talking about donors or expenditures in public sidetracks us from our work,” Hubbard said during a September 8 press briefing. “Our hope is to become a trustworthy outlet for public opinion.”
In addition to the other four founding boardmembers, the donors’ ranks include education sector experts like Denver Public Schools principal Brent Applebaum, former DPS Foundation board chair Brooke Brown, Allison Lipp and two employees of Rachel Carlson’s company, Guild Education: Chandler Koglmeier and Zachary Rowe.
The 21 listed donors also include plenty of Colorado business owners and philanthropists, such as Todd Applebaum, Douglas Carlson, Russell Clarke and Susanna and Tim Shannon. Lastly, there are other big names from the political space, including Travis Berry — who founded lobbying group Politicalworks in 2002 and was Governor Romer’s deputy legislative director — and Dan Aschkinasi, who is now a public affairs consultant after running the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s COVID-19 rapid testing program.
Damion LeeNatali, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s former chief of staff, who also worked with Johnston at Gary Community Ventures and founded Urban Leaders Fellowship with him, is a donor, too. Rounding out the list are Gabe Cohen and Josh Scott, whose names are too common for Westword to definitively identify.
“We're pleased to have the support of civic, philanthropic and business leaders from across the political spectrum,” Hubbard tells Westword. “As a nonpartisan, independent 501(c)3 nonprofit that’s committed to transparency, we'll happily accept donations from members of the public who might be interested in year-end charitable giving — but we do not and will not take contributions from political parties, political action committees or corporations."
“Talking about donors or expenditures in public sidetracks us from our work,” Hubbard said during a September 8 press briefing. “Our hope is to become a trustworthy outlet for public opinion.”
A prime example of the bipartisan CPI backing is shown in the contrast between Carlson and donor Tiffany Coolidge. Carlson was married to Rachel Carlson, the granddaughter of Democratic governor Roy Romer; he also worked for campaigns for Democrats Mark Udall and Joe Neguse and has a background in health care. Coolidge, on the other hand, is a political consultant who served in Republican Governor Bill Owens’s administration.
In addition to the other four founding boardmembers, the donors’ ranks include education sector experts like Denver Public Schools principal Brent Applebaum, former DPS Foundation board chair Brooke Brown, Allison Lipp and two employees of Rachel Carlson’s company, Guild Education: Chandler Koglmeier and Zachary Rowe.
The 21 listed donors also include plenty of Colorado business owners and philanthropists, such as Todd Applebaum, Douglas Carlson, Russell Clarke and Susanna and Tim Shannon. Lastly, there are other big names from the political space, including Travis Berry — who founded lobbying group Politicalworks in 2002 and was Governor Romer’s deputy legislative director — and Dan Aschkinasi, who is now a public affairs consultant after running the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s COVID-19 rapid testing program.
Damion LeeNatali, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s former chief of staff, who also worked with Johnston at Gary Community Ventures and founded Urban Leaders Fellowship with him, is a donor, too. Rounding out the list are Gabe Cohen and Josh Scott, whose names are too common for Westword to definitively identify.
“We're pleased to have the support of civic, philanthropic and business leaders from across the political spectrum,” Hubbard tells Westword. “As a nonpartisan, independent 501(c)3 nonprofit that’s committed to transparency, we'll happily accept donations from members of the public who might be interested in year-end charitable giving — but we do not and will not take contributions from political parties, political action committees or corporations."
For CPI's most recent poll, 652 likely 2024 general election voters were asked about the presidential race between November 26 and 27 by Republican pollster Cygnal and Democratic pollster Aspect Strategic. Of those surveyed, 38.7 percent identify as independent or unaffiliated, 31.4 percent identify as Democrat and 27.1 percent identify as Republican. But no one is 100 percent satisfied with either party, according to the poll.
Unaffiliated voters picked Biden or a generic Democratic candidate over Trump or a generic Republican by a ten-point margin — 40 to 30 percent for generics, and 42 to 29 percent on Biden verses Trump.
“Voters have similar sentiments toward both parties when thinking about whether Republicans’ and Democrats’ ideas and policies generally move Colorado in the right direction or are dangerous,” the CPI said in a press release.
The poll showed that 30 percent of people think Republican policies move the state in the right direction, while 35 percent think Democratic policies do. On the flip side, it’s also pretty even — with 35 percent of people saying Republican ideas are dangerous and 33 percent saying the same about Democratic ideas.
Voters aren’t jazzed about MAGA ideas or those of Democratic Socialists, either, though they are slightly less worried about the latter, with only 41 percent of people saying their ideas and policies are dangerous and 50 percent saying the same about MAGA ideology.
“Unaffiliated voters are particularly concerned about the MAGA movement: 56 percent say MAGA isn't just misguided, it's dangerous,” Aspect Strategic pollster Kevin Ingham said in a press release. “That is significantly more concern than they express about the danger of Democratic Socialists (39 percent), and it goes a long way towards explaining why Colorado has shifted blue over the past several election cycles.”
