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Across polls, Colorado ranks nationally as one of the most highly educated, liberal leaning states. These two correlations are why Coloradans enjoy many civil rights and aid programs, even though they continue to be cut back on a national scale.

For all our progressive identity, we keep electing establishment politicians who act more like little corporate suck-ups than representatives for the people of Colorado — not that we have a choice. Colorado’s progressive electorate consistently votes these people into power, and then progressive ideas are consistently underrepresented.

Many of us know that we don’t love establishment politicians, and we know they usually receive lots of PAC money, but what does an establishment Democrat actually say, do and support?

When our elected officials rely on millions of dollars from PACs, they’re not only persuaded but also incentivized to cater to corporate interests to win reelection; the PAC donors effectively become their constituents.

According to Colorado Newsline, Sen. John Hickenlooper’s senate votes align with U.S. President Donald Trump and the GOP about 30% of the time — a 15% higher than average rate for Democrats. This becomes a glaring red flag when compared to known centrist and Trump sympathizer Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania who, somehow, has the same exact score as Hickenlooper. Sen. Michael Bennet has similar scores.

When you look at the political demographics in Pennsylvania and Colorado, this shouldn’t be close to the case. Hickenlooper won his last election by 9% in a safe blue state, whereas Fetterman won by roughly 5% in a consistently purple swing state that frequently sees elections with moderate politicians. How could the statistics be so similar in such different political climates?

You guessed it — Bennet and Hickenlooper, as well as Rep. Joe Neguse, receive hundreds of thousands of dollars from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and related pro-Israel lobbying groups, like most of U.S. Congress. Large donors and PACs make up a whopping 88.53% of Neguse’s campaign money in 2024, versus just 8.75% of our measly small donor contributions.

Many people don’t realize just how much accepting PAC money like this alters a politician’s ability to make their own decisions on legislation, as well as what legislation they create. This is how million-dollar defense contracts are passed to Israel regularly and how tax and healthcare cuts squeeze their way into unrelated bills.

Bennet recently announced his run for Colorado governor, where he is already favored to win the state. Essentially, wait your turn, be a good boy, sell your soul and we’ll help you climb the political ladder to further our agenda even more. Perfect — it seems like we are trapped in this cycle forever. No Zohran Mamdani is coming to save us here.

This isn’t just about Bennet and Hickenlooper — it’s about the system and ways in which politicians keep themselves in power. When our elected officials rely on millions of dollars from PACs, they’re not only persuaded but also incentivized to cater to corporate interests to win reelection; the PAC donors effectively become their constituents. This is why it is nearly impossible for grassroots candidates and initiatives to surface and entrench themselves deeper among establishment figures, election after election.

It also spells out a familiar problem that Democrats are facing all over the country: People are unregistering from the party in droves, are largely unsatisfied and feel the party doesn’t represent their values anymore.

Where do we go from here?

Measures that would seek to make it easier for diverse and third-party candidates to run, like ranked-choice voting and open primaries, were sent to Colorado voters last year. The problem was that Proposition 131 was a nightmare, millionaire-backed initiative that sought to give private corporations more influence in our elections. It’s important to note that many political groups with aligned interests took widely different stances on the proposition.

When done in a noncorrupt way, though, ranked-choice voting usually makes it easier for third-party candidates and other democratic challengers to build a platform and even succeed. Fort Collins will use ranked-choice voting for the first time in the upcoming November election, becoming the fifth city in the state to adopt the practice and leaving questions of another statewide attempt looming.

Many of the minor political parties in Colorado call for ballot reform measures such as ranked-choice, approval voting and open primaries.

Andrew Yang’s Forward Party takes a centrist platform, advocating for things like ranked-choice voting, independent redistricting committees and open primaries. Similarly, the Unity Party is a centrist political party calling for election reforms like open ballot access and proportional representation.

The Approval Voting Party in Colorado is a single-issue party backed by the Center for Election Science, which seeks to advance approval voting, in which you select all candidates you support. This system allows voters to put their support behind a candidate without also throwing the election to a candidate with opposing political views.

As registered Democrats flock to the GOP across the country, Colorado is one of few states to defy that trend. While registered Democrats declined in the state, it didn’t see an increase in registered Republicans.

Between the 2020 and 2024 elections, Democrats lost nearly 2.1 million voters in the states that allow political party registration, with Republicans gaining around 2.4 million.

This is the fatigue that ripped through swing states in 2024 and likely cost Kamala Harris the election. But whether it’s out of fatigue, protest or shifting ideologies, this mass exodus is one the Democratic National Committee cannot ignore.

Even though it’s now a massive rarity, there are still Democrats who are not willing to accept big donor or PAC money, including from AIPAC.

A newcomer, Graham Platner, is challenging Maine’s long-time establishment Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, for her Senate seat. This seat is a big deal nationally, as Collins was one of three Republicans to vote against the Big Beautiful Bill.

Platner is cool as hell. An ex-marine who is now a fisherman, Platner made a big splash with a resurfaced photo from high school where he is holding a “Free Palestine” sign. He has proclaimed not to take any corporate PAC money and vows to fight fascism the way we have been calling on Democrats to for years.

I bring this up to end this article like a David Muir broadcast. Platner is a feel-good moment for you after all that bullshit. It’s also a reminder that politicians are out there at every level — even where you think they aren’t — and want to represent you and their constituents over Israel or United Healthcare.

Reach Caden Proulx at letters@collegian.com or on social media @cadenpru.