It’s no secret that Republicans don’t generally do well in urban areas, and are particularly endangered in big cities. Denver hasn’t elected a Republican mayor in over 50 years, and its city government is dominated by Democrats and the political left. In the near-past, Republicans held their own in various outlying suburban areas, but in the last election once reliably competitive, and increasingly urbanized places like Jefferson and Arapahoe counties went mostly blue, at least for now. So what’s the city-dwelling GOP do to?
Denver’s own Joshua Sharf recently laid out a path to taking back some political real estate in his piece, “The Way Back for Urban Republicans.” As Sharf describes it, urban progressive governance is hardly benign, and he lays out the litany of quality of life issues that have come home to roost as a result. He also acknowledges the hard work ahead: “…we’ll have to meet people where they are, sympathize with their frustrations, regain their trust, and show them we can govern and solve the problems that government legitimately is there to solve.”
Sharf recently sat down with Independence Institute* president Jon Caldara on his public affairs tv show, Devil’s Advocate (airs Friday nights at 8:30 on Colorado Public Television) to discuss how Republicans might gain some urban ground. That video is below.
*Complete Colorado is a project of the Independence Institute
