We were just starting to recover from 2016, 2018 and 2020 when all of a sudden 2022 came in swinging hard. With 76 days left until the election and a lot of us are starting to feel the tell-tale signs of burnout.

What is PoliticalBurnout?

According to the National Institute of Health burnout is defined as "a psychological syndrome emerging as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors. The three key dimensions of this response are an overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment, and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment."  

So when you are politically engaged you can start to feel the symptoms of burnout due to the extreme emotional and mentally demanding nature of politics.

How to Fight Burnout?

Take Care of Yourself: Self-care is a lot more than doing a facemask. Make sure you are eating well, sleeping well and moving your body to help process and release stress.

Take a break: Feeling like it's all too much? Take a break! Go for a walk, drink some water, dance - all of these things can help. Even 5 minutes to breath or meditate can make situations feel more clear. 

Stop Scrolling: They don't call it doom scrolling for nothing, but luckily there are tools out there to help you monitor how much time you are spending on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

Get Local: The way the media frames politics can feel overwhelming -- so get local. Support your state house or senate representative, go to a city council meeting, volunteer for your Congressional candidate. The more local the politics the more direct impact you will see in your life and community!

You Are Not Alone: You are not alone in this fight! We are here, your representatives are here, and your fellow Dems are all here to help and support you. You got this we are in this together.

Have Hope: While at times the world can feel bleak, we must never give up hope. We are all out here working hard everyday to make a better future for you and every other Coloradan. 

So please remember to take care of yourself and we are in the fight together for ourselves and the future!

The Colorado Democratic Party issued the following statement from Chair Morgan Carroll:

“On behalf of the Colorado Democratic Party, I warmly welcome Senator Kevin Priola to the Democratic family.

The Republican Party, including the Colorado GOP, has long left behind any roots of principled conservatism, and instead has embraced conspiracy theories and fealty to Donald Trump.  They have followed Trump down a moral black hole. We know many Republicans are finding themselves without a political home.

The Democratic Party is a big tent, united by our desire to lift up all Coloradans and responsible policies to ensure that Colorado’s brightest days are ahead. We know Senator Priola will make a strong addition to the party and that our fellow Democrats will welcome him with open arms.”

You can view Sen. Priola’s statement here.

Top Talking Points:

• With the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden and Democrats are siding with working families over special interests. 
  
• The Inflation Reduction Act is going to do just what its name says– reduce inflation and lower costs for working families. 
  
• What are the details? It means:
• A cap on out of pocket prescription drug costs for seniors at $2,000, which will make sure they don’t pay more than that for lifesaving prescription drugs. 
  
• Locked-in lower health insurance costs – $800 on average – for 13 million Americans who get their insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. 
  
• A lower federal deficit – which will help fight inflation.
  
• Lower energy bills — hundreds of dollars lower on average for many families – and less emissions from your home with more affordable, renewable energy. 
  
• As we lower energy costs, we’re also making the largest investment in history to combat the climate crisis, taking historic steps to lower emissions and protect our country from the effects of climate change. 
  
• Medicare will be protected for current and future generations, keeping the program secure.
  
• More, good-paying jobs here in America to help build and work on renewable energy projects that will reduce emissions and combat the climate crisis.

And how is it paid for?

• Making big corporations pay their fair share – without raising taxes on families making under $400,000 a year. 
  
• Mitch McConnell himself said it’s true that the Inflation Reduction Act will have “no new tax rate increases” for the middle class – instead, the new law helps lower inflation, cut families’ costs, and reduce the deficit by making big corporations pay their fair share in taxes. 
  
• And economists and experts agree this bill will bring down costs. Former IRS commissioners and five former Treasury secretaries who served under Republicans and Democrats announced their support for the bill, and 126 top economists released a letter saying the bill would put “downward pressure on inflation.”  
  
• While Democrats are focused on fighting inflation and tackling the climate crisis, Republicans have repeatedly voted against legislation to help lower costs:
• They voted against measures to lower prescription drug prices and cap insulin costs, siding with big pharma over families. 
• They voted against bills to help prevent oil companies from price gouging and help cut food and fuel costs. 
  
• And they are pushing plans that would cut Medicare and Social Security, putting Americans’ hard-earned benefits at risk. 
  
• While Republicans are siding with Big Pharma and voting against lower costs for working families, with this bill, Democrats are taking on special interests for American families – and winning.

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration delivered on yet another campaign promise providing up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients as well as extending the federal student loan pause through the end of the year. These actions build on the already $32 billion in loan relief to 1.6 million borrowers.

With nearly 90% of relief dollars going to borrowers who make less than $75,000 a year this will impact those who need it most. 

From Morgan Carroll, Colorado Democratic Party Chair:

“We understand a lot of people are struggling under the weight of student loan debt.  We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for keeping yet another campaign promise and putting the people of this country first over corporations. The GOP only wants to give tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy and stopped caring about everyday Americans. Here in Colorado, we know this will impact our younger generations, allowing them to achieve the same things their parents and grandparents did.”

Targeted student loan forgiveness – like the president and Department of Education is announcing today – is popular with the American people. 

Tom Sullivan grew up the son of two veterans of the US Air Force, and while their service moved Tom around the globe during his childhood, he settled in Rochester, New York.

Upon completing high school, Tom entered the US Air Force in 1974 at the end of the Vietnam conflict and served as a crew chief on KC-135's until honorably discharge in 1977.

Tom married his high school sweetheart, Terry, a year later and in 1980 they moved to Colorado. Tom worked various jobs in the Denver metro area until 1986 when he was hired by the United State Postal Service (USPS). Tom used his GI Bill to get his degree at Metropolitan State College of Denver in 1988 in journalism and accounting and used that degree in his work with the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). He helped to start an award-winning newsletter "Aurora News" and served three terms as Secretary and Treasurer of the Aurora Local while also being a shop steward.

Tom and Terry started a family in 1985 and moved to what is now Centennial in 1992. The two Sullivan children, Alex and Megan, attended Cherry Creek Schools until graduation from Grandview High School. Terry got a job with Cherry Creek Schools driving buses for special needs kids and is entering her 18th year of service.

Tragedy struck Tom's family in the early morning hours of July 20, 2012. His son, Alex, was celebrating his 27th birthday with friends and co-workers at the Century Theater in Aurora and was one of the twelve who was murdered that night.

That life-changing night has led Tom down the path of advocating for victims rights and empowered him to speak up for working families in Colorado.

During his brief time as a recent retiree of the workforce Tom has stepped up his activism with the Colorado American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), recently being selected for their executive council. He has been active with workers represented by the AFL-CIO on topics such as equal pay, the minimum wage and teacher's rights. He has also been active at the Colorado State Capitol by attending committee hearings and testifying for the passage and the defense of common sense gun violence prevention laws.

During the 5+ years since his son's murder and the recent completion of a nearly six-month trial, Tom has been involved with a myriad of concerns over that case. He has been personally involved in the judicial system, worked with law enforcement (both local and federal), a death-penalty case and victims of crime rights. He has been a regular at Colorado Victims for Justice monthly meetings. He testified during the summer of 2017 at the interim committee hearings on sentencing reform.

As a veteran, Tom has become a part of Colorado’s United Veterans Committee legislative committee and recently spoke on giving women veterans a voice in their health care and benefits. He has been a regular at Congressional and Senate town halls wherever they are held in our community.

In 2018, Tom became the first Democrat elected to represent House District 37. In his first term in the State House, Rep. Sullivan sponsored Colorado’s Extreme Risk Protection Order law, which is already saving lives across the state. Rep. Sullivan has also fought tirelessly for victim’s rights, worker protections, veterans, and expanding access to mental health treatment during his first term. In the 2020 session, Rep. Sullivan sponsored a Whistleblower Protection bill to ensure that workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic can use their own Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and report unsafe working conditions.

Tom's goal is to take this education he has been given not only these past 5+ years but his entire life and use it to be a voice for change and action for the citizens of Colorado's House District 37. Please join Tom however you can and let us get to work.

Who would’ve thought that a skinny kid born in a small town in eastern Wyoming — whose family consisted of public educators, ranchers, and farmers — would end up in politics?

There have been a few detours in getting to where I am today.

When I was five years old, my father, who was in the oil business, came home one day and said we were getting transferred to Tripoli, Libya. I believe that those 4½ years in Africa gave me my appreciation and respect for different cultures. Although we may look, speak, and pray differently, we share so many human similarities. When we returned to the States, I spent four summers working on my uncle’s ranch in Wyoming. After graduating from high school, I moved to Tempe, Arizona, and attended Arizona State University.

It was there that I fell in love with the restaurant industry. For the next 25 years, I held a leadership role in the corporate restaurant world, in executive management, overseeing multimillion-dollar operations with large staff and management teams.

I also owned my own restaurant in Lake Tahoe for 2½ years, then in 2001, I started an executive management search firm with no clients or candidates. Over the next 20 years, Pro Management & Associates had grown to 5 offices in 5 states, and my company placed over 800 executive managers with Fortune 500 companies. Unfortunately, my business could not withstand the two-year COVID-19 pandemic, and we closed in 2021.

My wife, Bobbie, and I moved to Montrose in 2014, where we have since bought a home and put down roots. Our son and his wife are both in the Navy, stationed in San Diego with our 6-year-old granddaughter. Our daughter currently lives in Missoula Montana and is a structural engineer. We enjoy most outdoor activities, including playing with our dogs and tending to our beautiful property.

I believe that the scope of leadership and organizational experience I’ve gathered in my life has brought me to where I am now. I have worked tirelessly with hundreds of volunteers for the past four years, building a vibrant Democratic Party in Montrose County. More recently, my work for the Colorado Democratic Party has taken me to all four corners of the state as the State Precinct Organizer Program Director, as well as the Regional Field Organizer for southwestern Colorado.

From Olathe to Slick Rock, from Dove Creek to Telluride, and all the towns and rural areas in between, we are a diverse group of people who must unite to have a strong voice in our state government. Together we can and will be heard.

I respectfully ask for your vote to represent District 58 in the Colorado State House of Representatives.

Please feel free to download and share these graphics as well! You can download them here.

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Colorado regulators have signed off on a plan by Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility company, to phase out its coal-fired power plants and replace them with cleaner energy sources.

Xcel pledged to cut its carbon emissions by 85 percent from 2005 levels before the end of the decade.

While the company likely will appeal sections of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission’s order, here's what the plan includes:

Read the full story here.

The Coordinated Campaign is looking to hire for a few positions! 

Campus Organizers

Coalitions Organizers

Field Organizer

Deputy Voter Protection Director

Distributed Organizer

Calling all Poll Watchers!

We are looking for Democratic poll watchers for when Voter Service and Polling Centers open in October all the way through Election Day (and the few days after as ballot counting happens). There are a variety of options to choose from so please sign. up below!

Count me in!  I want to be a Colorado Democratic Party Poll Watcher

Democratic poll watchers are the eyes and ears of a thriving democracy and the Colorado Democratic Party depends on this effort to ensure that all voters can participate.  Thank you for your interest in and commitment to democracy!

Please email [email protected] with any questions

Join us for our 2022 Democracy Tour this summer! See when the Party will be in your Colorado community. We look forward this summer!

Now more than ever we need your help to fight the extreme Republican candidates running for office this mid-term. With your help we can keep Colorado Blue in 2022 and keep our majorites here at home and in Washington.

Please join our Big Tent Big 10 Donors by giving just $10 a month you can help us fund our Win Plan.

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