Colorado State Senate elections, 2026

2026 Colorado Senate Elections
Primary	Pending
General	November 3, 2026

2026 Elections
Choose a chamber below:

Elections for the Colorado State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026.

The Colorado State Senate is one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2026. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas

Party	As of March 2025
	Democratic Party	22
	Republican Party	12
	Other	0
	Vacancies	1
Total	35

Candidates

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

• Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
• Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

This list will be updated after the candidate filing deadline has passed and the official list of candidates becomes available. Please contact us if you notice an official candidate missing from the list or the inclusion of a candidate who withdrew.

Primary

General election

Voting information

See also: Voting in Colorado

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Competitiveness

This section will be updated with information about the competitiveness of state legislative elections in Colorado. For more information about Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Colorado

See statutes: Title 1, Article 4 of the Colorado Revised Statutes

There are different types of candidates in Colorado: major party candidates, minor party candidates, Qualified Political Organization (QPO) candidates, unaffiliated candidates, and write-in candidates. Ballot access methods differ according to the type of candidate.

Requirements for all candidates

There are a number of requirements that all candidates must follow. These include the following:

1. A candidate for a state office must publicly announce his or her intention to run for office by means of a speech, advertisement, or other communication reported or appearing in public media or in any place accessible to the public. This includes a stated intention to explore the possibility of seeking office.^[1]
2. Each candidate for a state office must submit an audio recording of the correct pronunciation of his or her name.^[2] Unaffiliated candidates must submit their audio recordings to the Secretary of State's office within 117 days of a general election.^[3]

The qualification of any candidate may be challenged by any eligible elector within five days of the candidate qualifying for the ballot.^[4]

Major party candidates

In order to run as a major party candidate, one must have been affiliated with his or her party by the first business day in January of the year of the election, unless party rules say otherwise. The candidate must be nominated in the primary election to move on to the general election as the nominee of the party. There are two methods by which a major party can place candidates on the primary election ballot: nomination by an assembly and nomination by petition.^[5][6][7]

Nomination by an assembly

Major parties may hold party assemblies to nominate candidates. At these assemblies, delegates vote on possible candidates and may place up to two candidates per office on the primary ballot. Delegates to party assemblies are chosen at yearly precinct caucuses. The process by which assemblies are held is determined by the individual parties.^[8][9]

A major party must hold a nominating assembly no later than 73 days before the primary election. A candidate must receive 30 percent of votes cast by assembly delegates for that office. If no candidate receives 30 percent, a second vote must be taken. If no candidate receives 30 percent at the second vote, the top two vote-getters will be nominated. Within four days of the assembly, a successful candidate must file a written acceptance of candidacy with the presiding officer of the assembly. The presiding officer of the assembly must file a certificate of designation by an assembly, along with the written acceptance of candidacy, with the Colorado Secretary of State. This certificate must state the name of the political party, the name and address of each candidate, and the offices being sought. It must also certify that the candidates have been members of the political party for the required period of time.^[6][10][5]

Nomination by petition

A candidate who attempted to be nominated by assembly and failed to receive at least 10 percent of the delegates' votes may not be nominated by petition for that same party.^[11]

The nominating petition must be signed by eligible electors who reside in the district the candidate seeks to represent. Candidates who collect the required number of signatures are placed on the primary election ballot. The signature requirements are as follows:^[11]

Petition signature requirements for political party candidates
Office sought	Number of signatures required
Member of the United States Senate or state executive official	1,500 from each congressional district
Member of the Colorado State Legislature or United States House of Representatives	1,000, or 30 percent of the votes cast in the district in the most recent primary election for the same party and the same office, whichever is less. If there was no primary election, general election numbers should be used.

Minor party candidates

In order to run as a minor party candidate, one must have been affiliated with his or her party by the first business day in January of the year of the election, unless party rules say otherwise. Minor parties nominate their candidates for placement on the general election ballot. If there is more than one candidate nominated for a given office, those candidates are placed on the primary ballot.^[12][13]

There are two methods by which minor parties can nominate candidates to be placed on the ballot.

Nomination by assembly

The minor party must hold an assembly no later than 73 days before the primary election. A successful candidate must receive at least 30 percent of the delegates' votes for that office at the assembly.^[13]

Nomination by petition

A minor party candidate may be nominated by petition. The petition must be signed by eligible electors in the same district the candidate seeks to represent. The signature requirements are listed in the table below.^[12]

Petition signature requirements for minor party candidates
Office sought	Number of signatures required
Member of the United States Senate or state executive official	1,000
Member of the United States House of Representatives	1,500, or 2.5 percent of the total votes cast for that office in that congressional district in the last general election, whichever is less
Member of the Colorado State Senate	1,000, or 3.33 percent of the total votes cast for that office in that senate district in the last general election, whichever is less
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives	1,000, or 5 percent of the total votes cast for that office in that house district in the last general election, whichever is less

Qualified Political Organization (QPO) candidates

In order to run as a Qualified Political Organization (QPO) candidate, one must have been affiliated with the QPO for one year. Alternatively, if the organization has not been qualified for one year, the candidate must have been registered as unaffiliated for one year. QPO candidates must petition to be placed on the general election ballot. Each petition must include an affidavit signed under oath by the chairperson and secretary of the QPO and approved by the Colorado Secretary of State. Signature requirements are the same as those for minor party candidates, which are listed above.^[12][14][15]

Unaffiliated candidates

In order to run as an unaffiliated candidate, one must be registered as unaffiliated by the first business day in January of the year of the election. An unaffiliated candidate must petition to be placed on the general election ballot. Signature requirements are the same as those for minor party candidates, which are listed above.^[12]

Write-in candidates

Write-in candidates are permitted in both the primary and general elections. A write-in candidate must file an affidavit of intent with the Colorado Secretary of State no later than the close of business on the 67th day before a primary election and the 110th day before a general election. No write-in vote will be counted unless the candidate filed an affidavit of intent.^[16][17][18]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article 5, Section 4 of the Colorado Constitution states: No person shall be a representative or senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not be a citizen of the United States, who shall not for at least twelve months next preceding his election, have resided within the territory included in the limits of the county or district in which he shall be chosen; provided, that any person who at the time of the adoption of this constitution, was a qualified elector under the territorial laws, shall be eligible to the first general assembly.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024[19]
Salary	Per diem
$43,977/year for legislators whose terms began in 2023. $41,449/year for legislators whose terms began in 2021.	For legislators residing within 50 miles of the capitol: $45/day. For legislators living more than 50 miles from the capitol: $237/day.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Colorado legislators assume office on the first day of the legislative session after their election. The legislative session must begin no later than 10:00 AM on the second Wednesday of January.^[20] The state constitution requires the newly elected governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and secretary of state to take office on the second Tuesday of January.^[21] In the year after those offices are elected, the legislative session must begin before the second Tuesday of January to declare the winners of those races.^[22][23]

Colorado political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

Colorado Party Control: 1992-2025
Thirteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Four years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Presidential politics in Colorado

2024

See also: Presidential election, 2024

2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020

2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016

Colorado presidential election results (1900-2024)

• 14 Democratic wins
• 18 Republican wins

Redistricting following the 2020 census

On November 15, 2021, the Colorado Supreme Court approved the state legislative redistricting plans approved by the state's Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission on October 11 and 12, 2021.^[24] These maps took effect for Colorado’s 2022 state legislative elections.

See also

Colorado	State Legislative Elections	News and Analysis
Colorado State Executive Offices Colorado State Legislature Colorado Courts	2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 Colorado elections: 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015	Party control of state government State government trifectas Partisan composition of state legislatures Partisan composition of state senates Partisan composition of state houses

External links

• Colorado State Senate

Footnotes