This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.
DENVER | As Colorado Democrats push to redraw the state’s congressional map in response to an unprecedented wave of mid-decade redistricting kicked off by Republicans, they could face opposition on the November ballot in the form of one or more counter-measures backed by two different groups of GOP operatives.
Two different versions of the Democratic redistricting proposal, which would create a temporary map likely to give the party a 7-1 split of Colorado’s House seats, won initial approval from the state’s Initiative Title Setting Review Board last month. One, Initiative 240, is a constitutional amendment that would need 55% of the vote to pass, while two other measures, Initiatives 241 and 242, would establish the new map if both receive a simple majority.
But the Title Board on Wednesday also heard a half dozen competing measures Republicans want to put on the November ballot — including a measure, , that’s nearly identical to the pro-Democratic constitutional amendment but would establish a temporary map tilted towards the GOP.
“The proponents will only be advancing this map on the ballot if (Initiative) 240 or the combination of 241 and 242 appear on the ballot,” Scott Gessler, an attorney and former Colorado secretary of state, told the three members of the Title Board during a hearing.
The GOP-backed map would increase the party’s advantage in the 3rd, 5th and 8th Districts, all currently held by Republicans, according to a Newsline analysis. The boundaries of the solidly Democratic 7th District would be drastically redrawn to extend across Denver’s south suburbs to include the conservative Elbert County, making the seat roughly a toss-up, and giving the GOP a chance to win a 5-3 split of Colorado congressional seats.
Like the Democratic measures, Initiative 327 would apply to the maps used for the 2028 and 2030 elections. But it replaces language justifying the new mid-decade maps on the grounds that “President Trump and Republicans are attempting to … rig the outcome of future congressional elections” — blaming “both major political parties” instead.
“This language, as a rationale, discusses both parties and a more generalized approach, without blaming any one particular person or political party,” Gessler said. “Aside from those two differences … the vast majority of it is identical.”
Trump-backed redistricting spree
Congressional maps are typically drawn once a decade after the decennial census. But a dozen or more states could now join the mid-decade gerrymandering spree that began in July with Republicans in Texas, whom Trump had pressured into redistricting to give the GOP an advantage in the 2026 midterm elections.
A month later, California Democrats moved forward with their own redistricting effort in response. Republicans have also completed redistricting in North Carolina and Missouri.
Democrats are seeking to redraw maps in Virginia through a ballot measure next week, while a push by Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore to redraw the state’s maps recently fell short.
Colorado’s current eight-seat congressional map was drawn by its inaugural independent redistricting commission, established by a pair of anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendments passed by voters in 2018. The current congressional delegation is split 4-4 between Democrats and Republicans, with four seats rated as solidly Democratic, three leaning towards Republicans and one toss-up.
The Democratic-affiliated group Coloradans for a Level Playing Field says Republicans nationwide are “openly capitalizing on the inability of their opponents to fight fire with fire.” Under its proposal, Colorado would revert to maps drawn by the independent commission after the 2030 census.
The Title Board’s approval of all three of the group’s initiatives has been appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court. Initial briefs in those proceedings are due by April 22.
Advance Colorado measure
Advance Colorado, the conservative dark-money group that has bankrolled a host of ballot measures in recent years, is also backing a counter-measure that aims to block the new Democratic-backed maps.
Initiatives 252 and 256 are both constitutional measures that would require any mid-decade redistricting effort to be approved by both the independent redistricting commission and the state Supreme Court, and prohibit the approval of a map that “has been drawn purposefully to favor one political party.”
Under Colorado’s initiative laws, the Title Board — consisting of representatives of the secretary of state’s office, the attorney general’s office and the Legislature — determines whether measures meet the single subject requirement, and it drafts the paragraph-length “title” of each initiative that appears on ballots and signature petitions.
The Title Board approved and set titles for both the Advance Colorado measures and Gessler’s Initiative 327 on Wednesday. To qualify for the ballot, backers of statutory initiatives must submit at least 124,238 valid petition signatures to the secretary of state by Aug. 3. Constitutional measure efforts must additionally submit signatures equal to at least 2% of the number of registered voters in each of Colorado’s 35 state Senate districts.