Making Democracy Better: BoCo Home Rule & Getting Money Out of Politics

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Release Issued by: Best Democracy

Event: “Home Rule in Boulder County and Problem of Big Money in Politics”

1001 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder CO

Organization Contact: Jesse Kumin, [email protected]. 720 443-7542

Media Contact: Elizabeth Marsis, [email protected] 401 261-3426

Boulder County, CO– It is time to rethink our political marriage to a two-party system. For the first time in Colorado history, registered voters affiliated with no political party are the majority of voters at 50.3%ⁱ, while the party membership of both major parties is below 47.2% of registered voters.

Our democracy has devolved to the point where all of our leaders represent less than 25% of us. There are options for making it function better than it does now.

On Wednesday evening October 8^th, from 5 – 6:50 PM, BestDemocracy.org will host a public presentation and discussion on a local strategy (home rule for Boulder County) for improving our political system.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ColoradoBestDemocracy

Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Time: 5:00 to 6:50 PM

Place: Boulder Creek Room, Boulder Public Library

Special guest speaker, Karen Breslin, an attorney and political science instructor at University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver), will discuss a related topic: the negative impact of large money donations on U.S. democracy and solutions to corruption caused by the outsized influence of wealthy donors.

“Massachusetts had dissolved all of its county governments because there is no longer any unincorporated land,” stated Jesse Kumin, founder of Best Democracy. With recent growth in Boulder, residents of unincorporated areas of Boulder County, such as some parts of Gunbarrel, which has over 10,000 residents, have the right to initiate a citizens’ ballot initiative on a limited range of topics as compared to residents of the county’s incorporated cities and towns, including those as small as historic Ward (population of 130). “Boulder County needs to update its governance to keep current with the times,“ Kumin continued.

Best Democracy, a local 501 (c)3 organization, that regularly hosts open discussions on citizen-led ballot initiatives, online petitioning, proportional representation in voting and other ways of making democracy more representative of everyone it represents.

All county residents and those interested in a more perfect democracy are welcome at this and future events hosted by Best Democracy. Organizations with similar goals are encouraged to contact [email protected] to collaborate on events.

This event is not sponsored or endorsed by Boulder Public Library District. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Access to free meeting rooms is a service of Boulder Public Library District.

https://www.axios.com/local/denver/2025/09/17/colorado-registered-voter-unaffiliated-democrat-republican. Statistics widely reported based on Colorado Secretary of State data released 9-5-2025. https://www.coloradosos.gov/pubs/elections/VoterRegNumbers/VoterRegNumbers.html