The A-B-C’s and the 1-2-3’s of the Mile High AOC

Colorado likes to pretend it’s a chill purple state: smoke a little weed, ski a little powder, vote for the guy who seems “nice enough” and won’t scare the wine moms in Highlands Ranch. But the state, which is one step from Marxism, has just lifted that foot to take the final step.

State Senator Julie Gonzales is now primarying U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, and national outlets are already framing it as “leading progressive voice vs. business-friendly moderate.” If you’ve ever thought, “She kind of feels like AOC with altitude,” you are not hallucinating from the edibles. That’s basically the lane she’s chosen.

It scares me – a bunch – because I think she just might win. The likable, beer-brewing rock nerd that was Denver’s Mayor and Colorado’s Gov now just seems old, in line with D.C., and out of touch with Colorado. This will be an interesting statement for a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative like me, but compared to Lord Polis, I miss Hick as Co GOV.

But Julie Gonzales?! Wow.

This piece won’t tell you how to vote. I’ll do plenty of that in future pieces. It will, however, walk through her public record and affiliations – with receipts – so you can decide for yourself whether “Mile-High AOC” is an insult, a compliment, or a flashing warning light.

1. Who She Is, On Paper

Let’s start where campaign bios start, before we get to the part where she tries to turn Colorado law into a DSA vision board.

• Current role: Democratic state senator for SD-34 – north, west, and downtown Denver – in office since January 2019. (Wikipedia)
• Leadership: She doesn’t just sit in the back and push the green button:
  • Chair, Senate Judiciary Committee
  • Vice chair, Local Government & Housing
  • Member, Appropriations and Finance
  • Co-chair, Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus
    (Colorado Senate Democrats)
• Background:
  • Born on the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona
  • Grew up in south Texas
  • Undergrad at Yale – because, obviously. (Wikipedia)

Her official caucus bio literally labels her a “progressive Democrat” who has “dedicated her life to organizing for justice,” and highlights work on affordable housing, immigrant protections from ICE, repealing the death penalty, and marijuana regulation. (Colorado Senate Democrats)

In other words: she’s telling you she’s on the left flank. You don’t need to squint.

2. Ideological Lane: From DSA Roots to “Progressive” Rebrand

If you tried to 3D-print a movement-left Democrat, you’d probably end up with Julie Gonzales.

Former Democratic Socialist, Now “Just Progressive”

• Her Wikipedia entry notes she was formerly a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). (Wikipedia)
• In 2019, she signed a DSA National Electoral Committee letter backing teacher strikes in Oakland, LA, West Virginia, Chicago, and Denver – explicitly tying Colorado fights into a national left organizing project. (Wikipedia)
• KeyWiki-type trackers list her as:
  • Endorsed by Denver DSA
  • An endorser of the Working Families Party “People’s Charter,” a very left-populist program straight out of the AOC/Bernie wing. (KeyWiki)

Now that she’s running statewide, the branding gets a little… softer:

• Colorado Pols notes that she’s dropping or downplaying her formal Democratic Socialist affiliation as she challenges Hickenlooper – same basic politics, just a less scary label for normie suburbs. (Colorado Pols)

Classic pattern: movement-left origins, then a “progressive Democrat” paint job once you want more than a safe Denver district.

3. The Record: Where the Receipts Pile Up

This is where the nickname “Mile-High AOC” stops being Twitter snark and starts sounding like a job description.

A. Immigration & “Sanctuary” Policy

If there’s one area where she is unmistakably on the organized left, it’s immigration.

• Limiting ICE cooperation (HB19-1124):
  In 2019, she helped push HB19-1124, which restricted how much local law enforcement can cooperate with ICE – making it harder for sheriffs and police to assist in federal immigration enforcement. The Colorado Sun describes it as aimed at limiting immigration-related cooperation by local law enforcement. This is the bill that puts Colorado Statute at odds with federal statute – but no one seems to care because, Colo-RAD-OH. (The Colorado Sun)
• Housing benefits regardless of legal status (HB21-1054):
  In 2021, she co-sponsored HB21-1054, allowing people to access state and local housing benefits regardless of immigration status. (Colorado Newsline)
  Translation: if you’re here, you can qualify – legal status not required.
• Immigrant “data and protections” bill (SB25-276):
  She’s the Senate sponsor of SB25-276, which:
  • Expands protections for immigrants here without legal status
  • Cracks down on how state and local agencies share data with ICE
  • Is explicitly justified as a response to Trump-era “mass deportation efforts,” ICE raids in Denver, and activist arrests
    She argued, “We’ve seen the Trump administration wield attacks against immigrants… with less and less regard for due process.” (News From The States)

Axios, covering the broader context, notes that lawmakers – with Gonzales in the middle of it – are expanding safeguards for people here illegally, helping cement Colorado’s image as a “sanctuary state,” even as the feds sue Colorado and Denver over their policies. She frames it as necessary because “due process is no longer a guarantee depending on the color of your skin or where you were born.” (Axios)

Bottom line: She’s not nibbling around the edges. Gonzales is leading efforts to shield people here illegally from federal enforcement and open more doors to state and local benefits – YOUR tax dollars.

B. Abortion: RHEA and the Maximalist Model

On abortion, she’s not “personally pro-choice” or “moderate with exceptions.” She’s the architect of Colorado’s abortion-on-demand law.

• In 2022, Gonzales served as the Senate sponsor of HB22-1279, the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA). The law:
  • Declares abortion a fundamental right under Colorado law
  • Bars state and local government from “denying, restricting, interfering with, or discriminating against” that right
  • Explicitly states that a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus has no independent rights under Colorado law (Colorado Newsline)
• The bill does not include gestational limits. Proponents, including Gonzales, made that choice on purpose – arguing any limit could be weaponized to restrict access if the national legal climate shifted. (Colorado Newsline)
• Abortion-rights groups COLOR and Cobalt hailed her as an “absolute champion for RHEA.” (Colorado Newsline)
• Axios described the bill as designed to ensure “unrestricted abortion access” in Colorado even if Roe fell, quoting Gonzales:
  “In a world in which Roe v. Wade falls we want to make it clear… that access to abortion care in Colorado is protected.” (Axios)

So if you’re trying to place her:

She’s not “pro-choice like most Democrats.”
She’s on the furthest-left end of the spectrum: no gestational limits, explicit rejection of fetal personhood, and maximum legal shielding for abortion.

C. Guns: Waiting Periods and an “Assault Weapons” Ban

If you’re in the camp that thinks “Colorado is blue, but my AR-15 is red,” this is where the discomfort sets in.

• Waiting period (HB23-1219):
  Gonzales was a leading Senate sponsor of HB23-1219, which created a mandatory waiting period between firearm purchase and delivery. Colorado Public Radio listed it as one of the big new gun restrictions taking effect in 2023. (Colorado Public Radio)
• Assault-weapons ban attempt (HB24-1292):
  She later co-sponsored HB24-1292, a broad “assault weapons” ban that would have outlawed the sale and transfer of a wide class of semi-automatic rifles and other firearms. The bill died in committee, but gun-rights groups called it one of the most sweeping bans they’d seen introduced. (Rocky Mountain Gun Owners)
• Other gun-control pushes:
  Rocky Mountain Gun Owners also tie her to related efforts like legislation aimed at homemade automatic weapons and additional gun restrictions. (Facebook)

So we’re not talking about “expanded background checks and call it a day.” Gonzales is willing to raise new barriers to purchases and support banning entire categories of commonly owned firearms.

D. Criminal Justice & Policing: Abolish, Restrict, Reveal

On criminal justice, she’s squarely in the decarceration / civil-liberties lane.

• Death penalty repeal:
  Gonzales played a leading role in the push to abolish the death penalty in Colorado, building on earlier failed repeal attempts she was also part of. Coverage from Colorado Public Radio and allied groups highlights her as one of the key faces of repeal. (Colorado Public Radio)
• Police lying to kids:
  She sponsored legislation to ban law enforcement from deceiving juveniles during interrogations and to require those interrogations to be recorded. Her soundbite:
  “Kids shouldn’t lie to cops and cops shouldn’t lie to kids.” (Colorado Politics)
• Police transparency & accountability:
  She has supported amendments expanding public access to internal affairs records, body-camera footage, and Brady lists, pushing for more scrutiny of police practices. (CFOIC)

The through-line: less maximum punishment, more rights for defendants and youth, more pressure on police procedures. Again, that’s the national progressive template.

E. Housing: Tenants in the Main Character Chair

If you’re a renter, she’s writing you love letters. If you’re a landlord, she’s writing you new legal obligations. But geez, I wonder why the cost of housing is so high?

• Tenant-rights bill (2021):
  Gonzales was a prime sponsor of a major tenant-rights bill in 2021. When industry groups and lobbyists hacked it down, she complained that lawmakers were doing the bidding of “a couple of narrow special interest groups” instead of “the people of the state.” (Colorado Newsline)
• Stopping evictions late in the process:
  She backed reforms that allow renters to stop an eviction at essentially any point in the court process – even up to two days after a judge orders eviction – by paying what they owe. Her summary:
  “We believe that renters should be able to stop the eviction process by just paying the landlord what they owe.” (Colorado Public Radio)
• Limits on “no-cause” evictions:
  A property-management explainer notes that recent changes, backed by Gonzales and allies, limit evictions without cause and add clarity for landlords while significantly expanding tenant protections. (Colorado Realty)
• Wider housing pattern:
  Profiles describe her as sponsoring multiple bills to increase legal protections for renters and expand affordable housing, placing her firmly in the renter-first camp.
• Internal Dem split:
  A Colorado Pols write-up describes a split in the party:
  • One camp, including Gonzales, focuses on strong renter protections and designated affordable housing;
  • Another, more aligned with Gov. Polis, emphasizes deregulation and incentives for more construction. (Colorado Pols)

She’s clearly in the “regulate and protect renters hard” faction, not the “loosen land-use rules and let building solve it” crew.

F. Democracy & Voting

Just in case you thought she might skip one progressive pillar – nope.

• Gonzales is the Senate sponsor of SB25-001, the Colorado Voting Rights Act, a bill the League of Women Voters of Colorado urged members to support as a major expansion of voting-rights and anti-discrimination protections in state election law. (The Soft Edge)

That’s right in line with the national progressive playbook: more protections, more enforcement mechanisms, more scrutiny of how elections are run.

G. Economic & Tech Populism

Her own U.S. Senate campaign platform reads like it was written in a room where Elizabeth Warren and AOC were tag-teaming the bullet points:

• “Take on price-gouging”
• Go after tech CEOs whose algorithms she says are dividing people
• Expand housing supply and renter protections
• “Restore reproductive freedom”
• Fight for a “fair deal for Colorado that puts people before corporate lobbyists.” (Julie for Colorado)

She’s also plugged into bills like Colorado Senate Bill 4 (2025) on algorithmic transparency, focused on reining in how algorithmic systems are used – exactly the kind of tech-accountability line national progressives love.

If you follow AOC, the Squad, or the Sanders wing, this is all very familiar.

4. How Scorecards & Media See Her

It’s not just conservatives saying she’s way left. The media framing and scorecards agree on the basic picture; they just disagree on whether that’s good.

Limited-Government Scorecards

• The Freedom Index, a scorecard that rates lawmakers on limited-government and constitutionalist criteria, gives Gonzales a 17% “pro-liberty” score in Colorado. (The Freedom Index)

You don’t have to buy their ideology, but directionally, it tracks: she votes for more regulation, more state intervention, more programs more often than not.

Mainstream & Local Media

On her Senate bid, coverage isn’t confused about who’s the progressive and who’s the moderate.

• Colorado Newsline frames her race as a clash between a “leading progressive voice at the state Legislature” (Gonzales) and a “business-friendly moderate incumbent” (Hickenlooper). It notes she’s trying to tap liberal and progressive dissatisfaction with Democratic leadership to upset him in the 2026 primary. (Colorado Newsline)
• Axios Denver describes her as a progressive challenger and reports that she:
  • Criticizes Hickenlooper for supporting some Trump nominees
  • Knocks his skepticism of universal health care
  • Casts him as too moderate and too cozy with corporate interests. (Axios)
• A separate Axios piece places her race in the broader fight over the Democratic Party’s future in Colorado, pointing out that the state’s large independent voter bloc tends to prefer centrist candidates, making statewide progressive bids an uphill grind. (Axios)
• Colorado Politics likewise introduces her as a progressive Democratic state senator and longtime organizer launching a primary challenge against a sitting U.S. senator. (Colorado Politics)

So if your read is, “This is the activist left coming for the establishment moderate,” you’re seeing the same thing reporters are.

5. So… Is “Mile-High AOC” Fair? Too Progressive for Colorado?

That’s your call. I’ve already made mine, and the answer is a resounding yes!. Here’s what the receipts show:

• Ideological roots: Former DSA member with ties to the Working Families Party “People’s Charter” and national movement-left campaigns. (Wikipedia; KeyWiki)
• Immigration: Lead player on sanctuary-style laws, reduced ICE cooperation, data protections and benefit access for people here illegally. (The Colorado Sun; Colorado Newsline; News From The States; Axios)
• Abortion: Senate sponsor of RHEA, which:
  • Makes abortion a fundamental right
  • Has no gestational limits
  • States that fetuses have no rights under Colorado law. (Colorado Newsline; Axios)
• Guns: Sponsor of a waiting period law and co-sponsor of a far-reaching assault-weapons ban bill that died in committee but shows where she’d like the law to go. (Colorado Public Radio; Rocky Mountain Gun Owners)
• Criminal justice: Leader on death penalty repeal, limits on police interrogation tactics with juveniles, and expanded police transparency. (Colorado Public Radio; Colorado Politics; CFOIC)
• Housing: Champion of strong tenant protections, expanded cure rights in evictions, and tighter rules on no-cause evictions — often clashing with industry and even some fellow Democrats. (Colorado Newsline; Colorado Public Radio; Colorado Realty; Colorado Pols)
• Voting & democracy: Sponsor of the Colorado Voting Rights Act to expand protections and enforcement. (The Soft Edge)
• Economic & tech populism: Campaign platform focused on price-gouging, tech regulation, renter protections, and “people before corporate lobbyists.” (Julie for Colorado)
• Perception:
  • Rated 17% by a limited-government scorecard. (The Freedom Index)
  • Cast by media as a “leading progressive” taking on a moderate in a state where independents lean centrist. (Colorado Newsline; Axios)

Listen up, Normies, if your idea of Colorado is “purple with a blue tint,” this may look like way too much left-wing gasoline in a state that still likes its governors boring and its U.S. senators vaguely inoffensive.

If your idea of Colorado is “we should be the next national progressive showcase,” then she probably looks like the future.

Either way, you’re not nuts for seeing “Mile-High AOC” when you look at Julie Gonzales. That’s not spin – that’s the record.

What you do with it in the voting booth is on you.

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Some additional Axios links you may find useful:

• Axios
• Axios
• Axios
• Axios