Purplish is coming back to help you prepare for Colorado's 2024 election, including contentious congressional races and 14 statewide ballot measures.

Tune in for the stories behind those initiatives, and to hear arguments for and against them. Also, why Coloradans will choose new representatives in all the congressional seats Republicans hold. Episodes start October 4.

Plus, you can participate in the first Purplish live taping on October 8 in Denver. Get tickets here: cpr.org/purplishlive.

Our hosts discuss the big themes that emerged from Republican primary results and what they mean for the future of the party, and for the general election.

Spending limits make it hard for the legislature to put new priorities in the budget. But the tax code is another matter altogether.

The legislative session is on hiatus, but politics, governing, and Purplish all definitely go on. In fact, policy-making is going on at warp speed, as Gov.

Lawmakers aren't getting ready for 100 years of solitude. Just two weeks or so.

When is an election like a bad night of speed dating? When you’ve gone through five candidates and still aren’t so sure about the one you’re finally matched with.

Democrats in the state legislature say they’re ready to step into two big areas where they don’t think Coloradans are being well served: with the cost of their health insurance, […]

With presidential candidates -- and the president himself -- flocking to Colorado, we take a look at the state of the race here, and its implication for Cory Gardner's hotly contested Senate seat.

It's one of the most passionate fault-lines in state politics: how to balance the authority of parents with the need to protect children and advance society's interests. And people at the Capitol have a LOT to say about it.

We're a month into session, and Capitol newbie Andrew Kenney is starting to realize it's not all pithy quotes and snappy debates. Lawmakers are getting to wrestle with some of the session's most contested proposals.

Colorado’s 2019 legislative session is over. The last four months of frantic lawmaking were a test for Democrats, who took complete control of the state Capitol last November. This episode, we look back at everything they were able to achieve — and why arguments over process at times got in the way of their biggest goals. And how Republicans, who lacked the votes to block legislation, found other ways to make their voices heard. The result was a session that showed passing bills isn’t as simple as just having a majority.

Ken Crumb’s story likely sounds familiar. A Front Range resident sees oil and gas drilling in his community. He doesn’t like it and organizes his neighbors to pass a local drilling ban. The thing is, in Ken’s case, this all happened more than 30 years ago. And that community he rallied was Greeley -- not exactly a hotbed of anti-fracking sentiment today. This episode, we look back at perhaps Colorado’s first fractivist. What Ken did ended up limiting local control of oil and gas development. Now, Democratic lawmakers have passed a bill to tilt the scales back in the other direction.

Colorado is on the verge of becoming the 12th state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The plan could someday commit all of Colorado’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who gets the most votes nationwide -- no matter who wins the state.

Each year, hundreds of Coloradans with terminal illnesses use medication to aid their deaths. But guardrails put in to prevent abuse can turn into major roadblocks for patients. Now lawmakers are considering some changes to the policy.

The last couple months have shown the depths of congressional dysfunction. Many think the problem isn’t so much the people who serve there. It’s a process that funnels all power to party leaders, stifling debate among the ranks. In 1988, Colorado voters recognized a similar issue in their state legislature. The remedy was something called the GAVEL Amendment -- an acronym for Give A Vote To Every Legislator.

After eight years as Colorado’s governor, John Hickenlooper appears to be gearing up for a presidential run. On the campaign trail, he’s almost certain to emphasize gun control laws he signed in 2013. He led a purple state as it beat back the gun lobby to pass two controversial measures. But what did he do -- or not do -- to make that happen? And what does the story of those laws say about how Hickenlooper leads? CPR Public Affairs Reporter Bente Birkeland breaks it down. And keep an eye on this podcast feed! It’s where we’ll tell you more about the return of Purplish for the imminent legislative session.

Now that ballots have been cast and counted, CPR is trying to figure out what the future holds for Purplish.

The midterm election has come and gone. In Colorado, what occurred wasn't a blue wave, it was a blue avalanche. It was a signal so strong that you could wonder if this is even a purple state anymore.

Colorado boasts some of the highest voter turnout in the country. Seventy percent of eligible adults submitted a ballot in the 2016 election, putting the state fourth in the country for voter turnout. But that still means 30 percent of eligible adults sat it out. Why? Many of the common barriers to voting don’t exist in Colorado. The process is easy. The elections are competitive. So we’re turning to one group that can help with some answers: nonvoters themselves.

Security experts say Colorado is one of the most reliable places to cast a ballot. That’s largely because of an old technology: good, old-fashioned wood pulp.

Unlike in other states, convicted felons in Colorado who have completed parole are allowed to vote. New laws require people leaving the criminal justice system to learn about their voting rights and give parolees the chance to pre-register. A bipartisan coalition is behind those changes, but how far is it willing to go toward re-enfranchising people within the criminal justice system?

Democratic presidential candidates are on a winning streak in Colorado. The state voted for Barack Obama twice and for Hillary Clinton in 2016. It’s been even longer since Colorado elected a Republican governor. Those results have led some to wonder if the state shouldn’t be considered purple anymore. On the electoral map, it might now be more of a light blue. One expert says not so fast.

Gerrymandering is on the Colorado ballot this November. Amendments Y and Z promise to take the politics out of the drawing of congressional and legislative boundaries. To do it, they would hand the responsibility to a pair of commissions made up of heavily screened citizens -- not politicians or their hand-picked representatives. This week on Purplish, we look back at the troubled 2011 redistricting process and how it led to the current calls for reform. And we discover the amendments aren’t just about putting politicians in line. They also try to balance voters' dueling desires for electoral power and community.

Neglect can be a powerful political force. Southern Colorado spent a century mostly voting for Democrats, but in 2016 many countries in the region voted for President Trump. It was the first time some had supported a Republican in decades. The reason many voters cited was a sense of feeling forgotten by state and national politicians too focused on urban and suburban corridors. Reporters Nathaniel Minor and Allison Sherry recently visited Southern Colorado as a part of CPR’s election road trip series. They talked to voters about whether they feel like politicians are listening now--and what that could mean for November and beyond.

Denver is cutting its budget to keep up with the cost of sheltering the steady flow of arrivals from the southern border, and that's leading to strain between cities, and questions about what role the state should play.

A name can be a tricky thing for a politician. For Walker Stapleton, the Republican nominee for governor, his name does double duty, tying him to both a controversial Denver mayor and the Bush dynasty. Stapleton trumpeted both those ties at the beginning of his political career. Today, he’s running more as his own man. CPR’s Ann Marie Awad dives into both the legacies embodied in Walker Stapleton’s name--and examines whether either might matter on Election Day.

Congressman Jared Polis has spent an unprecedented amount money on his campaign for governor. By the latest count, he’s donated $18.3 million of his own money. That’s more than the total candidate spending in the 2014 gubernatorial race. The Democratic nominee says self-financing buys him political independence. Unlike his opponent, he refuses donations from corporations and special interests, which he argues frees him to push bold proposals. Meanwhile, Republican nominee Walker Stapleton accuses Polis of trying to buy the election. These opposing talking points raise bigger questions. What does it mean for democracy when someone is ready, and able, to spend whatever it takes on a campaign? How does that change the dynamics of a race? And where does it leave voters? This episode looks back at the origin of the candidate’s fortune and how it’s long been a potent force in Colorado politics. And we’ll explore why he’s likely to be far from the last wealthy candidate in the state or the country.

In Colorado, voters have incredible power to pass laws at the ballot. The initiative process was born out of the Progressive Era. Reformers hoped that by giving people a say in state government, they could check special interests and their influence over lawmakers. Things haven't gone exactly as planned. Today, the initiative process is often Colorado's highest-stakes political poker game, attracting a wide range of corporations and wealthy donors. So has direct democracy made Colorado voters into scientists in the laboratory of democracy? Or the test subjects?

“Purplish” is a show about Colorado's democracy ahead of the 2018 election. The podcast, hosted by Colorado Public Radio reporter Sam Brasch, goes behind the headlines to ask big questions about state government. Each episode hones in on a puzzling piece of news around the election. Explanations come from CPR reporters, experts and voters. The goal is to provide the context that’s often left out of election coverage. Rather than cover the horse race, it tells stories about how democracy works in Colorado and where it might be headed next.

The session started with a protest over the war in Gaza and the issue has continued to reverberate.

From fateful tarmac conversations to contentious committee hearings, Colorado leaders tell the inside of story of their years'-long fight to ensure the high tech command stays in the state permanently. And why it may not be over yet.

The Mesa County clerk is accused of breaching the security of her office's election computers in order to hunt for evidence of massive fraud. How did Peters, a political novice who ran on lowering DMV wait times, become such a pivotal figure in the ongoing campaign to prove false claims that American elections are rigged?

Lawmakers start their annual session Wednesday, after an off-season that contained more than the usual number of bumps and bruises.

We break down the electoral courtroom drama playing out in Denver right now.

The state collected more money from new tobacco and nicotine taxes than it expected, and now voters must decide what to do.

Wondering what this Prop. HH measure you see on your ballot is all about? We explain what this proposal would mean for your finances, and the state's.

How a pair of two-man races in El Paso County and along the northern Front Range are illustrating the increasingly bitter divisions in Colorado's Republican Party.

Yes, politics may be shifting in this conservative bulwark, but that's only one part of the story.

The end of session brought dramatic developments, bruising disagreements and a few goofy moments.

Here’s a math problem for you: how do you get hundreds of different bills to add up to one balanced budget?

Single-family homes have ruled Colorado development for a century, but Gov. Jared Polis and his allies believe the future needs to look very different.

As Republican lawmakers adapt to their ‘super-minority’ in the House, they’re grappling with a big question: is it better to negotiate when they can, or dig in on delays?

Sky-high utility bills and record corporate profits have many Coloradans — and lawmakers — asking if it’s time to rethink Xcel’s business model.

Housing, recreation, government -- advocates for people with disabilities say there are a lot of ways Colorado could be doing more to make those things accessible to all.

The policy has been banned in Colorado for four decades, but that could all change this year.

From the founding of the state to modern mass shootings, we look at the forces that have driven changes to Colorado law over the years, and what it means for this year's brewing debate.

In the first State of the State speech of his second term, Gov. Polis picked a big fight with local governments, while saying little on a major priority for many in his party.

With Rep. Lauren Boebert out of the running, which of the half dozen Republicans trying for the seat is likely to win the primary and take on Democrat Adam Frisch?

State lawmakers have returned to session in Denver. We cover a bit of DC-style drama on opening day, and hear from congressional reporter Caitlyn Kim how the actual DC drama went down with the many, many Speaker votes.

Yes, we know what happened Tuesday, but we're still not changing the name of the podcast.