Political funder aims to change primaries

Kent Thiry has poured millions into ballot measures

BY JESSE PAUL AND SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN

Kent iry, who has poured millions of dollars into democracy-related initiatives in Colorado intended to boost the power of moderate voters and make political contests more competitive, is advocating for major changes to the state’s primary election process to address what he calls gaps and inequities.

e former CEO of the dialysis giant DaVita’s next political act is backing an e ort to do away with Colorado’s caucus and assembly process through which candidates can make the primary ballot. He also wants the legislature to nd a way to prevent Coloradans from throwing away their votes by casting primary ballots for presidential candidates who later drop out of the race.

If successful, the changes could be iry’s most transformative work yet.

“I’m passionate about democracy,” he told e Colorado Sun in a recent in- employees. He is pushing

In recent years, iry has personally bankrolled e orts of the initiatives he has supported have passed. e legislation would also let una liated voters sign partisan candidate petitions. iry called the caucusassembly nominating system “blatantly unfair and blatantly inequitable.” e measure, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, and Rep. Mary Brad eld, R-Colorado Springs, is up for its rst hearing ursday in the Senate State, Military and Veterans Committee. And it’s likely to be quickly rejected despite recent polling commissioned by a group associated with iry showing that measures since 2011, and all the proposed changes are popular with Coloradans.

Right now, iry is “extremely supportive” of Senate Bill 101, which would end Colorado’s caucus and assembly process of selecting primary candidates and make signature gathering the only way to make the ballot.

“It’s unfair because a small group of party insiders control all the management around it and it’s inequitable because there’s lots of voters who can’t, on a weeknight or a weekend, leave work or leave their kids or leave their military base to go participate,” he said.

Opponents of the measure argue it would make it hard for anyone but those who can a ord to collect signatures to run for o ce.

Candidates for U.S. Senate and governor in Colorado must collect 1,500 voter signatures in each of the state’s eight congressional districts. ey can’t reasonably collect all of those on their own, so campaigns pay rms tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars to collect signatures on their behalf.

Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat who sits on the Senate State, Military and Veterans Committee, said she will vote “no” on the measure.

“Both of these processes reward the people who do the work,” Gonzales said, noting that she went through both the caucus and assembly as well as the signature gathering process to make the ballot in her rst legislative election.

Senate President Steve Fenberg, DBoulder, said Senate Bill 101 would mean “you have to pay to get on the ballot.”

“I’m not comfortable with a process that says the way to get on the ballot essentially is by paying to get there,” he said. “Caucus has its aws, for sure. But I think it’s an important option to have. I don’t know why we would remove options. Instead we should talk about expanding options for voters and candidates.” e Colorado Democratic Party and America Votes, a liberal national nonpro t, both oppose the bill. Grassroots Republicans and the Colorado Libertarian Party are also encouraging supporters to voice opposition to the legislation. iry is also pushing for alterations to Colorado’s presidential primary elections after votes cast for Democratic candidates such as Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who dropped out of the contest between when ballots were mailed to voters and Election Day, ended up being meaningless. ere’s interest in, at a minimum, requiring the disclosure of how many votes are cast in presidential primary elections for candidates who are no longer in the race. at information wasn’t shared in 2020. Another idea that has been discussed among lawmakers is moving Colorado toward Alaska’s election model. iry said he’s also concerned about undisclosed political spending by political nonpro ts, which don’t have to disclose their donors. e Sun refers to those organizations as dark-money groups. e legislative session runs through early May. e earliest a measure changing Colorado’s primary process could go before voters is November 2024. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Voters First Colorado, part of the national, nonpartisan group Unite America, supports Senate Bill 101. Unite America was a proponent of Alaska’s switch to an open primary where both Democratic and Republican candidates are on the same ballot and voters’ top four choices advance to the general election. Voters then use ranked-choice voting — in which they order their preferred candidates — to select the winner. Nevada voters approved a similar system last year.

Kirkmeyer said she’s open to amending her bill to lower the signature requirements for candidates to make the ballot, but she thinks her bill is a reasonable way to make ballot access more equitable.

Right now, she argues, it’s too easy for third-party candidates to get on the ballot. Kirkmeyer lost a 2022 congressional bid by less than 1 percentage point in a race where the Libertarian candidate picked up 4% of the vote. And she said it’s unfair that una liated voters, who make up the largest voting bloc in Colorado, aren’t allowed to sign partisan candidates’ ballot-access petitions.

“For those people who say, ‘now you’re making people pay-to-play,’ my response to that is if a 63-yearold woman can get volunteers and go get her signatures — me — without having to pay for them, I think anyone can do it,” she said.

(Kirkmeyer had to collect 1,500 signatures to make the ballot in the 8th Congressional District last year.)

Barbara Kirkmeyer talks to a District 8 voter with election 2022 banners behind her.

Kirkmeyer’s position is notable because some in the Colorado GOP want to ban candidates from gathering petition signatures to make the primary ballot. A right-wing contingent in the party is pushing for a rules change because they view candidates who make the ballot by gathering signatures as less ideologically pure than those who go through the caucus and assembly process.

“ e Secretary of State and the legislature should x this problem, and we think there are a number of ways to do that,” iry told e Sun. “We’re very much hoping that they will pick one.” iry declined to endorse a speci c solution.

“If we suddenly started advocating for one, that would distract attention from the fact that what needs to be solved is the problem,” he said.

Sen. Je Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, is leading the push on the presidential primary front.

“I’m working on a way to make sure that Coloradans’ voices are heard in the presidential primary,” he said. “Last election, more than 150,000 votes were just thrown away. at’s unacceptable and we’ve got to x it.” He said speci c policy proposals were still in the works.

Finally, iry is interested in campaign nance changes.

“I think Colorado’s contribution limits are too low and actually hurt our democracy,” he said.

Candidates for four state-level, statewide o ces in 2022 could raise up to $1,250 from individual donors and state lawmakers were allowed to collect up to $400. ose limits are set to rise for the next two election cycles to re ect in ation.

“I think anybody who’s spending money on a campaign ought to have to disclose what they’re doing with their money,” iry said.

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