Image: A wide photograph of people voting at white voting booths marked “VOTE,” with small American flags on the booths and a large U.S. flag behind them.
BY STACIA FOREMAN
A major election is approaching in Colorado on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with voters deciding races for U.S. Senate, all eight congressional districts, statewide offices including governor and attorney general, and control of the state legislature.
But 2026 represents more than another election cycle—it comes at a potential transition point for Colorado politics. Beyond the partisan balance of the General Assembly, the election will determine the size of the legislative majorities and reshape the ideological composition within those caucuses. Together, those shifts could meaningfully change the balance of power at the Capitol and the policy debates that follow.
For our industry, the concern is not simply that Democrats will control Colorado. It is what Democratic control looks like after November—and whether there are fewer institutional reasons for the majority to accommodate moderates. The size of the majority matters, but so does who makes up that majority.
All 65 seats in the House and 18 of the Senate’s 35 seats are on the ballot. Republicans currently hold enough seats to prevent Democrats from reaching a two-thirds supermajority, making a relatively small number of competitive races particularly consequential.
One of those races is SD-3 in Pueblo, where Republican Dana Charles and Democrat Aaron Gutierrez are competing for the open seat currently held by Democratic State Sen. Nick Hinrichsen. The race matters beyond a single seat: it is part of the larger fight over the size of the Senate majority and how much leverage more moderate members will have in the next legislature.
With whispers of rent stabilization measures and additional eviction restrictions on the horizon, the ideological shift within the legislature matters significantly for our industry. Brownstein noted that the 2026 primaries produced an “unprecedented number of progressive or, in some cases, self-avowed socialist candidates,” particularly in Boulder and the Denver metro area. Several candidates for state legislative seats have also received support from local Democratic Socialists of America chapters, reflecting the growing influence of an organization whose housing priorities include tenant organizing and expanded tenant protections.
The combination of potentially larger legislative majorities and a more progressive caucus could meaningfully shift the direction of housing policy in Colorado. For our industry, that could mean additional layers of regulation, greater complexity for housing providers, and a policy environment that makes new development and investment more difficult and more expensive.
Also important to underscore is that Colorado will elect a new governor after eight years under Governor Jared Polis, whose free-market bent and willingness to bridge divides at times brought balance to the General Assembly. With a new governor will come a different political and pressure dynamic at the Capitol.
Right now, the electoral math favors Attorney General Phil Weiser becoming Colorado’s next governor and holding the veto pen. Where our industry can find common ground with Weiser and his administration, that relationship will be important. But the changing composition of the legislature could also create significant pressure on a new governor—even on issues where there may be agreement. Rent control is one example: Weiser has publicly expressed skepticism about changing Colorado’s existing prohibition.