Why did Colorado shift so far to the left?

[Person Man]

I remember pre election when many people said Colorado would be within 10 and closer than New Mexico. I also remember people saying Virginia would vote to the left of CO, for instance (VA was D+10 and CO D+14-15).

However CO swung 9-10 points Democrat, and was a 14 point win for Biden. This is way more than anyone expected, and at this rate I think CO will vote to the left of many historically Dem states in the NE by the end of the decade.

Seriously, the only reason why that state isn’t D+20 is because of old school Republicans who are still hanging around in the suburbs in places like El Paso, Pueblo, and Douglas County, and GOP improvements among Hispanics, and also in Southern Colorado which probably helped stop the bleeding.

Was it really weed legalization or Bay Area Californians moving to the Denver area? If anyone can explain this, I’d be happy.

That's probably a lot of it. I'm just amazed how Republicans have collapsed in El Paso. It's the reverse Miami-Dade. It's become like the anti Missouri.

[Person Man]

It'd be one thing if Trump won it by 7-10%. But despite all the "GOP favored" counter trends you listed, it still swung nearly 3.5% to the left.

Texas still voted 10.3 points right of the NPV, compared to 12.2 in 2016.  And thats with Biden, the best candidate for sun-belt suburban voters with a college degree against Trump, one of the worst fits.  So Texas did trend right, but only by about 2 points over 4 years.

Trends>swings

You mean left? So sure. Maybe you can make the argument that Texas was still "SAFE R" this year but if the trends continue, it will not be any more Republican than Colorado was as late as 2000.

Unless there's another reshuffle coming up, it could be considered no more than "LEAN R" by 2028. I definitely expect the next Democratic president to carry it and it could be that one state that pulls them over the top in another election where an unpopular Democratic party struggles, but is ultimately successful, against another completely unacceptable Republican administration.