Aurora Voters Face a Statewide Ballot With an Open Governor's Race
An open governor's race, a U.S. Senate seat, and every U.S. House seat are on Colorado's 2026 ballot, giving Aurora voters statewide decisions alongside their local ones.
Aurora voters deciding this election are choosing more than city and county leadership. Colorado's 2026 ballot includes an open race for governor, because Gov. Polis is term-limited, a U.S. Senate seat, because Sen. Hickenlooper's seat is on the 2026 ballot, and all of Colorado's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is a cycle that reshapes the state's representation at several levels at once.
For a city as large and diverse as Aurora — a place of immigrants, military families connected to Buckley Space Force Base, health care workers at Anschutz, and commuters across the metro — statewide questions arrive with local accents. Growth, housing costs, transportation on I-70 and I-225, water, and public safety are discussed in statewide campaigns, but they are lived on Aurora's specific streets, from Colfax to Southlands.
Colorado's voting system remains centered on the mail ballot. A ballot is mailed to every active registered voter, and it may be returned through the mail earlier in the cycle, at a 24-hour drop box, or in person at a Voter Service and Polling Center. Voters returning a ballot should sign the return envelope, because mail ballots are verified by signature.
The Election Day rules are the ones to act on now. Ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3; a postmark does not count, and election officials advise voters not to rely on the mail in the final days. Most Aurora voters are in Arapahoe County, whose Clerk and Recorder runs local drop boxes and VSPCs. VSPCs are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, anyone in line at 7 p.m. may vote, and same-day registration is available through 7 p.m.
In-person voting requires an acceptable ID, such as a Colorado driver's license, a U.S. passport, or certain government or student IDs. GoVoteColorado.gov is the official resource for registration, locations, and ballot information. Aurora has the population to influence every statewide race on the ballot. Whether it does so depends on ballots received — not intended, not mailed late — by Tuesday evening.
