DENVER — Colorado Republicans have far outpaced Democrats in submitting their ballots for next week’s primary election, even though the Democratic presidential race is hotly contested and the Republican nominee is a shoo-in.
Figures released by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office show that 573,707 ballots had been returned as of Monday ahead of the March 3 Super Tuesday primary, with 43%, or 247,202, cast by Republican voters.
Democrat voters turned in 161,434 ballots, or 28%, while unaffiliated voters cast 165,067, or 29% of the ballots.
“[I]t is clear that even though there is not a contested race on the Republican side, Republican voters are thus far returning their ballots at a higher clip than Democratic voters,” said the analysis by Magellan Strategies in Louisville, Colorado. “In fact, at this point there have actually been more votes cast by Unaffiliated voters than by Democrats.”
Of course, Colorado Democrats may be waiting to see how the volatile primary field shakes out before checking the box for any of the 17 candidates — many of whom are no longer active — listed on the Democratic ballot.
“It would make sense if Democratic voters are simply waiting to see what happens this week in the form of the daily news cycle, [Tuesday’s] debate or the actual results from South Carolina on Saturday,” said Magellan. “A whole lot can change in a week, and we fully expect ballots to come pouring in over the weekend as well as next Monday and Tuesday.”
The Republican ballot includes six candidates, but President Trump is expected the capture the GOP nomination for a second presidential term in a walk.
Fourteen states, including Colorado, are slated to vote on March 3, Super Tuesday, representing about 40% of the U.S. population.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.