Colorado’s governor has filled commission that determines who he appoints to state’s highest courts with Democrats, Democratic donors

For nearly six decades, Colorado has tried to tamp down on the kind of partisan politics that shapes the federal court system by using judicial nominating commissions — made up of lawyers and nonlawyers with a mix of party affiliations — to select finalists for vacant judge jobs. 

The governor then chooses one of those finalists to serve on the bench.

But the governor also has the power to pick who sits on the judicial nominating commissions. And Gov. Jared Polis has filled the panel that helps determine who he places on the state’s two most powerful courts — the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals — with politically connected Democrats and unaffiliated voters who have donated to Democratic candidates and causes. 

Of the 10 judges Polis has placed on the Colorado Supreme Court and Colorado Court of Appeals since taking office in 2019, all but one is either a Democrat, a former Democrat or has been a donor to Democratic candidates and causes, according to a Colorado Sun analysis of state voter and campaign finance records.

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