Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks at at an election party for Amendment 66 in Denver on Nov. 5. Voters in Colorado voted down Amendment 66 that would
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks at at an election party for Amendment 66 in Denver on Nov. 5. Voters in Colorado voted down Amendment 66 that would have created wholesale changes for how Colorado funds public education. (Ed Andrieski, Associated Press)

A rather sleepy off-year election was anything but inconclusive or inconsequential. Three headlines dominate as we dissect the clear, convincing message voters delivered and set the table for an intense political year ahead.

There is no "morning after" when it comes to school finance.

Over the final weeks, as the likelihood of Amendment 66's defeat became clear, much of the conversation turned to the question of "what next" in trying to fund the Senate Bill 213 school finance legislation.

But those conversations were predicated on a narrow, manageable defeat. The 2-to-1 drubbing completely changes that equation and kills the appetite to come back again another year.

Amendment 66 was the product of a grand bargain in which the civic leadership got elements of reform while the education establishment got revenue. Expect that alliance to now wither. The focus will shift to how student achievement can be bolstered without vast new funding. That is not all bad given the lack of real correlation between dollars and outcomes.

However, the inequities of Colorado's dated finance formulas are likely to remain in place. Individual school districts will continue to pursue local mill levy requests. Though in a considerable irony, Amendment 66 backers, fueled with $4 million of teachers union money, have to consider the possibility that their measure actually galvanized opposition, drained resources from local races, and swept reformers onto school boards in many locales, including Jefferson County in the night's biggest surprise.


We're purple, folks, not blue. Big difference.

Based on how Gov. John Hickenlooper and the Democratic legislative majority governed over the last year, it's evident that they interpreted recent election results as signaling that Colorado had become a reliably blue state.

That is the only explanation for the breadth of their legislative agenda during the past session. Were they still thinking of Colorado as purple, they would have enacted a couple of items on their wish list. It would have been a restrained, targeted agenda.

Instead, they went for the whole, unedited list (minus only fracking restrictions due to Hickenlooper's objection), connoting a confidence that Colorado had become as unassailably blue as, say, California.

Between the September recalls (dangerous in their precedent), the secession movement (no matter how theatrical and over-played) and now the wholesale rejection of Amendment 66, Colorado voters have reasserted their status as very much of the swing variety, up for grabs and with no permanent attachments.

Hick and the Democrats have a year to correct course and make amends.

The bad news for the governor and his party is that they over-reached, and the bloom is off the rose. The good news is that their election was not held this week.

Look for the coming legislative session to be far more restrained. Beyond that, what's really left on the Democratic agenda after the expansiveness of 2013? Look for abundant outreach to rural Colorado and plenty of photo ops far beyond the Denver-Boulder corridor.

Challenges notwithstanding, Hickenlooper enters his re-election year with substantial advantages. These include a finely tuned political ear, which will lead him to adjust and adapt, and a Republican Party with a 10-year history of nominating unelectable candidates and/or forcing those candidates to tack so far right as to become off-limits for most centrist voters.

Voters are again in an angry, alienated mood. Consider it the new normal. Animosity is high; partisanship is intense; patience and civility are in short supply. That's the condition on the ground entering a high-stakes election year. Far beyond that, it's the challenge to a political system that seems to thrive on generating heat but comes up woefully short in producing light.

Eric Sondermann (EWS@ is an independent political analyst based in Denver.