Decision 2024: The Stakes for Colorado

The 2024 presidential election is quickly approaching. As Coloradans decide who they’ll vote for, Next with Kyle Clark is taking an in-depth look at how America’s choice for president will impact the state. 

During the Republican National Convention, Next focused on policies former President Donald Trump said he would implement in a second term. The information comes from Trump’s written campaign platform, the RNC’s official platform and the governing blueprint put together by Trump allies at the Heritage Foundation, a 900-page policy plan meant to the be the foundation for the next Republican administration.

During the Democratic National Convention, Next did the same in-depth analysis of Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies and the potential impact on Colorado.  The information comes from the policy proposals she’s rolling out, the record of the Biden-Harris administration and the positions she took as a presidential candidate in 2020. 

We’ll take the same approach with other candidates and issues between now and November. 

In 2016, former President Trump ran with a promise to build a border wall and tighten immigration policies. Many of his plans met challenges in the higher courts and never fully came to fruition. On a third election bid, Trump has promised even more stringent immigration policies. 

On his campaign website, Trump shared in a video he would ban automatic citizenship for children born to parents without legal authorization to be in the United States. He has also vowed to terminate all work permits for undocumented people while also beginning a mass deportation effort of as many as 15 million people. 

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As the Democratic National Convention gets underway, Vice President Kamala Harris will likely begin laying out her strategy on major issues, including her immigration plan. Besides an ad created by Harris’ campaign, she has shared little on how she would like to approach immigration. Her backers and critics are pointing to her track record during her time as a prosecutor in California and as vice president during the Biden administration. 

Republicans have referred to Harris as Biden’s “border czar,” despite never being in charge of border security or reducing or stopping border crossings. Harris was instead put in charge of the “root causes” of immigration, specifically focusing on three Latin American countries: El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The number of people crossing the border from those three countries did decrease. Many don’t attribute the change to Harris due to a long-term approach that likely would not have any impact in the short term. Migration from other South American countries like Venezuela increased at the same time, leading to historic high numbers at the southern border. 

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It’s no exaggeration to say the president can have an impact on the air we breathe, the water we drink and where we can set foot in Colorado. The president has the power to set aside land – limiting how Coloradans can use it.

“Nobody has more liquid gold under their feet than the United States of America, and we will use it and profit by it,” Trump said in a video on his Agenda 47 campaign website.

Utilizing federal public lands for energy independence was the focus of the Department of Interior section of Project 2025, a collection of conservative policies that are being recommended for Trump to follow if re-elected.

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Harris’ presidential campaign website does not have what most campaign websites include: an “issues” tab or a place to find what the candidate stands for.

The Harris campaign is already walking back a comment Harris made when first running for president in 2019, about fracking.

“There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking and starting with what we can do on day one around public lands, and then there has to be legislation,” Harris said during a 2019 CNN town hall. “This is something I’ve taken on in California. I have a history of working on this issue. We have to just acknowledge that the residual impact of fracking is enormous in terms of the impact on the health and safety of communities.”

The Harris campaign now says that she does not want to ban fracking, which would require help from Congress, particularly if trying to ban it on public lands.

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Trump is promising a radical change to America’s trade policy that would impact how Colorado’s agriculture industry works.

On Colorado’s eastern plains, politics can impact business. Justin Lewton’s family has farmed there since 1919. He knows how tariffs can impact profits. 

“As a farmer in Colorado, something like 85% of our products are exported,” Lewton said. “So, tariffs make a big difference that way.”

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Kamala Harris has released little information about the specific policies she’d enact as president. One of the few topics she has talked about is her economic agenda.

In a state that keeps getting more expensive to live in, Harris has promised to make everything from groceries to housing to having children more affordable. Whether her policies will actually do that is up for debate.

“I will work to pass the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on food,” Harris said in a speech in August. “My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules, and we will support smaller food businesses that are trying to play by the rules and get ahead.”

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Under a second Trump presidency, Coloradans’ rights could change. If Republicans control the presidency and Congress, personal rights could be more restricted than they are today. 

In 2022, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed into law abortion access rights for people in Colorado. Nothing changed, it was just solidified in state law.

In November, a ballot issue will ask Colorado voters to put those same rights in the state constitution, making it harder to change in the future.

Another focus under another Trump presidency could be LGBTQ rights. Trump has called for punishments for teachers and educators that allow gender neutrality.

Part of the Trump platform calls to “keep men out of women’s sports.”

“I do believe that if you are biological male that you should participate in men’s sports, not women’s sports,” said state Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock.

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Even before she ran for president, Vice President Kamala Harris was clear on her stance on social issues: same-sex marriage, abortion and gun control.

For the most part, it seems her positions have not wavered, though on gun issues, it is a little more difficult to know, particularly since she hasn’t presented her policy positions since taking over as the Democratic candidate for president.

There have been several statements made by speakers at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that leave out a key caveat. One of those speakers was former President Obama.

“…and sign a law to guarantee every woman’s right to make her own health care decisions,” Obama said on the second night of the DNC.

To sign a law to guarantee every woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, Harris, as president, would need Congress to send her a bill to sign. Right now, the Republicans control the House. Unless Democrats control both the House and the Senate, getting a bill expanding abortion rights seems unlikely.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court should consider reviewing previous decisions, including same-sex marriage.

When she was California’s attorney general, Harris refused to defend Proposition 8, a ban on same-sex marriage that was passed by voters. When it was overturned by the courts in 2013, she was on the phone with county clerks to make sure the marriages took place.

On the topic of guns, Harris was clear about her goals while running for president in 2020. Everytown, a left-leaning gun violence prevention organization, hosted the Democratic candidates for president at a forum in Las Vegas one year after the Vegas Route 91 Harvest Music Festival mass shooting that killed 60 and injured hundreds.

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Colorado has become a destination for people seeking abortions from states that now outlaw the procedure.

Cobalt is a local nonprofit that has a fund to help those who come to Colorado seeking abortions and reproductive rights.

The group is also significantly funding the ballot measure to put abortion access into the state’s constitution. Cobalt has contributed $2.3 million to get Amendment 79 passed.

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Donald Trump has vowed to reshape the federal government into a powerful force loyal to him. And to use that power against his enemies.

Purging anti-Trump civilian federal employees is a major part of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, created by Trump advisors and allies as a blueprint for his second term. Trump is trying to distance himself from Project 2025 after previously praising Heritage’s strategy.    

A Heritage-funded project is now investigating civilians who work for the federal government, promising to publish a list of federal employees who are disloyal to Trump. 

Mario Nicolais, an election law attorney in Colorado and former Republican who is now general counsel for the Never Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project, said Trump’s plan isn’t just a purge of anti-Trump federal employees, but a wider campaign of vengeance.

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Crime is a top issue for voters this year, and Democrats are leaning into Kamala Harris’ experience as a prosecutor. 

Violent crime has gone down nationwide, including in Colorado, yet it’s still a flashpoint in this presidential campaign. 

Harris is contrasting her record as a district attorney and attorney general in California to Donald Trump who was convicted of felony crimes. 

“So, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type. I’ve been dealing with them my whole career,” Harris said at a campaign rally in Detroit on Aug. 7. 

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