Turning the Centennial State Crimson:

Lessons from Shad Murib's Blueprint

Colorado Republicans cannot simply wait for voters to grow tired of one-party rule. They must earn their way back to majority status the old-fashioned way: through relentless grassroots advocacy, door-to-door conversations, and a laser focus on the everyday struggles of working Coloradans. While Democrats boast about their volunteer armies and data-driven turnout machines, the Colorado GOP’s most powerful weapon remains the authentic voice of neighbors talking to neighbors about skyrocketing housing costs, failing schools, and a government that too often feels distant from the Kitchen-table concerns of families.

Exposing the Dark Money Advantage That Fuels the Blue Machine

Colorado Democrat Party Chair, Shad Murib’s success did not happen in a vacuum. Behind the polished messaging and the “army of volunteers” sits an avalanche of out-of-state dark money that has tilted the playing field for years. Independent expenditure committees tied to George Soros’s Open Society network, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and other far-left national organizations poured tens of millions of dollars into Colorado races between 2018 and 2024 alone. These shadowy groups (often registered at shared Washington, D.C. mailboxes) funded attack ads, mailers, and digital campaigns that dwarfed Colorado GOP spending in battleground districts.

In the 2024 cycle, for example, one Soros-linked entity spent more than $4.2 million on a single state Senate race in Jefferson County, while similar national progressive funds propped up school-board and municipal candidates who ran as “nonpartisan” moderates. Local Democratic organizations then laundered credibility through coordinated turnout efforts, giving the appearance of a purely grassroots movement when much of the fuel came from coastal billionaires and Arabella Advisors (Now Sunflower Services)-managed pass-throughs.

Republicans must make this financial asymmetry a central campaign theme. Every town hall, every county fair booth, and every door knock should include a simple contrast: “Our campaign is funded by Colorado families who live here, pay taxes here, and raise their kids here. Theirs is bankrolled by out-of-state billionaires who will never set foot in Pueblo, Grand Junction, Montrose, Durango, Walsenburg or Alamosa.”

A Grassroots Rebuild: Earning Trust One Conversation at a Time

The path back to power runs through living rooms, VFW halls, and high-school football games, not just television studios. Here is the updated five-pronged plan, now explicitly anchored in grassroots authenticity and exposure of dark-money influence:

Strategy #1: Train 10,000 volunteer “kitchen-table captains” by mid-2026. Goal: 500,000 earned voter contacts through personal conversations, not paid phone banks.

Why it Works and How it Counters the Democrats: Replaces dark-money air cover with genuine human connection; voters trust neighbors more than slick ads funded from Manhattan.

Strategy #2: Launch “Follow the Money CO” website and mobile app that tracks every out-of-state dollar in real time, with county-by-county breakdowns and printable flyers.

Why it Works and How it Counters the Democrats: Turns Democrats’ financial advantage into a liability; independents hate the idea that their vote is being bought by outsiders.

Strategy #3: Invest first dollars and volunteer hours in school boards, city councils, and sheriff races. No paid consultants until grassroots infrastructure is in place.

Why it Works and How it Counters the Democrats: Blocks further leftward drift at the most local level while proving Republicans show up and listen before they ask for votes.

Strategy #4: Tie every policy proposal (parental rights, school safety, tax relief) to the question: “Who does this actually help: Colorado families or out-of-state billionaires?”

Why it Works and How it Counters the Democrats: Frames the cultural fight as an economic fight; resonates with unaffiliated voters who feel priced out and culturally ignored.

Strategy #5: Monthly “Heartland Listening Tour” and listening to understand what Coloradans actually need and want, featuring GOP legislators and candidates working a shift at feed stores, diners, and factory floors across the state. Live-streamed, no script.

Why it Works and How it Counters the Democrats: Demonstrates humility and work ethic; directly contrasts with Polis flying in on private jets to ribbon-cuttings funded by the same dark-money network.

These strategies can be duplicated in similar fashion on a smaller scale across towns and counties all across Colorado to take back our state.  We need to and CAN reject the left-wing influence that is degrading our values and overall way of life, but it will take effort and consistency. 

The message is straightforward and repeatable: “We don’t have George Soros’s checkbook, but we have Colorado values, Colorado neighbors, and Colorado grit. And that’s enough.”

Coloradans are fair-minded and fiercely independent. When they see one side fueled by unlimited national dark money and the other side powered by volunteers who shovel their own sidewalks, the choice becomes clear. Republicans don’t need to outspend the left; they need to out-work and out-truth them, one front porch at a time.

The red revival will not be gifted. It will be earned, conversation by conversation, until the Centennial State remembers who has always had its back.