Colorado's 2nd congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. The district is located in the north-central part of the state, and encompasses the Front Range northwest of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, mainly centered around the college towns of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

and Fort Collins. The district also includes the mountain towns of

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the nume ...

, Granby, Steamboat Springs, and Idaho Springs. Redistricting in 2011 moved

Larimer County Larimer County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 359,066. The county seat and most populous city is Fort Collins, Colorado, Fort Colli ...

, including the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland, to the 2nd from the 4th district. Meanwhile, redistricting in 2021 moved Loveland back to the 4th district and Broomfield and western Jefferson County to the 7th district. The district is currently represented by Democrat Joe Neguse. He was elected in 2018 to replace

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...

, who retired after being elected

governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of Government of Colorado, Colorado's state government and is cha ...

History

1890s

Following the 1890 U.S. census and associated reapportionment of seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, Colorado gained a second congressional district. The first representative elected to this district was John Calhoun Bell of The Populist party.

1990s

Following the 1990 U.S. census and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 2nd congressional district consisted of

, Clear Creek, and Gilpin counties, as well as portions of Adams, and Jefferson counties.

2000s

Following the 2000 U.S. census and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 2nd congressional district consisted of Broomfield, Clear Creek,

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

, Gilpin, Grand, and

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

counties, as well as portions of Adams,

, Jefferson, and Weld counties.

2010s

Following the 2010 U.S. census and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 2nd congressional district consisted of Broomfield, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand and

counties; most of

and Jefferson counties; and portions of

, Larimer and Weld counties. Following the census, the 2nd district stretched further north to the

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

border while losing the western portion of Eagle County.

2020s

Redistricting in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

moved Loveland back to the 4th district and Broomfield and western Jefferson County to the 7th district. Also the 3rd congressional district lost Jackson County, Routt County, and most of Eagle County to the 2nd district.

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities: : Boulder County (34) : Allenspark, Altona, Bark Ranch, Bonanza Mountain Estates,

, Coal Creek (shared with Gilpin and Jefferson counties), Crisman, Eldora, Eldorado Springs, Erie (shared with Weld County), Glendale, Gold Hill, Gunbarrel, Hidden Lake, Jamestown, Lafayette, Lazy Acres, Leyner, Longmont (shared with Weld County),

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, Mountain Meadows, Nederland, Niwot, Paragon Estates, Pine Brook Hill, St. Ann Highlands, Seven Hills,

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, ...

, Sunshine, Superior, Tall Timber, Valmont,

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Clear Creek County (14) : All 14 communities Eagle County (10) : Avon,

, Edwards, Fulford,

Gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

(part; also 3rd), McCoy, Minturn, Red Cliff,

, Wolcott Gilpin County (4) : All 4 communities Grand County (8) : All 8 communities Jackson County (1) :

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is an 1854 book by American transcendentalism, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. T ...

Jefferson County (2) : Arvada, Coal Creek (shared with Boulder and Gilpin counties) Larimer County (5) :

Estes Park Estes Park () is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town, statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropo ...

, Fort Collins, Laporte, Red Feather Lakes, Timnath Routt County (5) : All 5 communities Summit County (9) : All 9 communities Weld County (2) : Erie (shared with Weld County), Longmont (shared with Weld County)

Recent election results from statewide races

Characteristics

This district is anchored in Boulder and Larimer counties which have the bulk of population in the district: both counties are anchored by the large college towns consisting of Colorado's two main state universities -

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

and

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

in Fort Collins, providing Democratic strength in the district. The other parts of the district are diverse, ranging from far western Denver suburbs to agricultural areas and mountain towns.

and

counties, home to the ski resort towns of

and Breckenridge and other tourism dependent towns such as Avon, Frisco and Silverthorne, are Democratic strongholds: however Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, while also being tourism dependent and Democratic leaning, do not vote as strongly for the Democrats. Grand County leans Republican, though the ski resort areas of the county in Winter Park are heavily Democratic. While the district included Denver's northwestern suburbs for a long time, redistricting caused Jefferson and Broomfield counties to be mostly moved to the 7th district outside of a small part of Arvada that remains in the 2nd.

List of members representing the district

Previous election results

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Historical district boundaries

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{coord, 40, 08, 53, N, 105, 44, 40, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title 2 Adams County, Colorado Boulder County, Colorado Broomfield, Colorado Clear Creek County, Colorado Eagle County, Colorado Gilpin County, Colorado Grand County, Colorado Jefferson County, Colorado Summit County, Colorado Weld County, Colorado 1893 establishments in Colorado