Facing Voter Discontent, Lawmakers Skip Town Halls

Claudia Garcia had never watched a televised presidential debate. On September 10, she tuned into ABC News’ showdown between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris and was stunned to hear the Republican nominee repeat lies about Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. “I was like, what?” Garcia recalls.

John Mertz’ family is a microcosm of Colorado’s electorate — it leans to the left in the aggregate but contains a generous splotch of purple. Mertz, his wife and a daughter are voting for Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election, while another daughter and son support former President Donald Trump.

It’s Election Day in Colorado. That means time is running out for voters to make their voices heard in the 2024 presidential election, in congressional and state legislative races, and on a bevy of statewide and local ballot measures. The deadline to cast a vote is 7 p.m. That includes dropping off a ballot at a 24-hour drop box. For voters still intending to vote using a ballot that was mailed to them, it’s too late to ship them back through the mail.

The Denver City Council voted down eight proposed amendments to the city’s 2025 budget on Monday night, including rejecting a request to give another $2.5 million to the Denver Basic Income Project, a program that is gauging the impact of providing direct cash assistance to homeless or formerly homeless Denverites. The final vote on that proposed change was a 6-6 tie with one member, Councilwoman Flor Avlidrez, absent for the latter part of the meeting. Even some council members who felt the project showed promise in improving participants’ lives and housing outcomes felt that the ask was too much.

By Zeke Miller, Michelle L. Price and Will Weissert, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancor approached its finale on Election Day as Americans decided whether to send Donald Trump back to the White House or elevate Kamala Harris to the Oval Office. Polls opened across the nation Tuesday morning as voters faced a stark choice between two candidates who have offered drastically different temperaments and visions for the world’s largest economy and dominant military power.

In the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election, GOP consultants were fighting over strategy: Would going all-in on anti-trans messaging deliver then-President Donald Trump the suburbs in his race against former Vice President Joe Biden? Or should his campaign stay away from the issue, given widespread support among the electorate for LGBTQ rights like same-sex marriage?