It’s well known that taxes and death are the only certainties in life, but in Colorado, add another inevitability—the need to vote on ballot issues that 90 percent of the time are asking you to raise taxes on yourself. So…

Stephen Ludwig–Democrat voteregentludwig.nationbuilder.com Best campaign gimmick: Ludwig spent 10 days of his vacation visiting all of Colorado’s 64 counties touting his at-large campaign for re-election…and more often than not, explaining to people what a “regent” is and that you can…

Ann Fattor–Republican fattor4stateboardofeducation.com Pedigree: It’s rare that a non-incumbent candidate comes to the ticket with such a hefty resume. Fattor is an eight-year veteran of the Gilpin County BOE, a four-year member of the Colorado Association of School Boards (serving…

Maureen Denig–Republican maureenforbouldercounty.com Soccer mom stats: A relatively new resident of Boulder County, Denig moved from Massachusetts four years ago. She quickly became the president of her HOA, an active Rotarian, a member of the Longmont Senior Citizens Advisory Board…

Shane Hampton–Libertarian facebook.com/ShaneHamptonForCountyCommissioner The accidental candidate: Twenty-two-year-old CU student Hampton is running for commissioner purely because the Libertarian Party needed a candidate on the ticket, and “it sounded like a cool idea.” On fracking: Hampton believes county open space should…

Rollie Heath–Democrat senrollieheath.com No IOUs: For Heath, most of the issues facing Colorado can be traced to a need to adequately fund the core functions of government, most importantly for education. With Colorado having fallen to last place in per-pupil…

Matt Jones–Democrat mattjonesforcolorado.com Background: Jones might be new to the race for state senate, but he’s no stranger to politics, having served as state representative for House District 12. But as much as he touts his legislative experience, he says…

Cherylin Peniston–Democrat cherylinpeniston.com Show me the money: If anyone is acutely aware of the dire state of the economy, it could well be those incumbents who served during better times, such as Peniston, who has served House District 35 for…

Dianne Primavera–Democrat primaveraforcolorado.com A mile in her shoes: Primavera, a legislator in District 33 for the past eight years, is convinced that she’s walked the district farther and more frequently than any of her opponents, past and present. The former…