During a recent interview on Independence Institute’s* public affairs tv show “Devil’s Advocate with Jon Caldara,” philanthropist and former DaVita CEO Kent Thiry describes what he sees as a growing “tyranny of the minority” in Colorado politics—where highly motivated ideological factions dominate party primaries and, as a result, shape political outcomes that don’t actually represent most voters.
As Thiry explains it, the core problem is structural: in Colorado, general election turnout is fairly high, but most legislative seats are effectively noncompetitive, making the primary the decisive election in the majority of districts. Yet primary turnout is much lower, meaning the far-left and far-right end up wielding disproportionate influence on who is elected to the legislature.
Much of the discussion centers on previous election reforms Thiry has backed, such as expanding open primaries. Thiry explains why a fully open primary (one ballot for everyone, voting for people rather than party) could produce better candidates for the general election, and thus better representation. He notes that last year’s Proposition 131, which combined open primaries with ranked-choice voting, fell short largely because voters found the package too complex, despite substantial support.
The interview widens into Colorado’s current political trajectory, infighting among majority Democrats, and Trump-era polarization.
You can view the entire interview below, or watch it here.
