Democratic Congressman Jared Polis won a significant victory over Republican Treasurer Walker Stapleton Tuesday to become Colorado's next governor, a result that puts a successful businessman and entrepreneur into the top state office but worries company leaders particularly in the oil/gas and health-care sectors because of his promises to re-imagine how the state operates in those crucial areas. 

Driven by massive voter turnout, the 2018 midterm election was both a blue wave and a red wave. It just depended on which map you were looking at. Democrats blazed a suburban trail to wrest control of the House from Republicans, easily winning the popular vote in a national rebuke of President Donald Trump that is likely to yield a gain of more than 30 seats. And yet the party lost ground in the Senate, giving Trump and GOP leader Mitch McConnell more breathing room for the next two years - and possibly even longer. Democrats also fell short in some of the most sought-after gubernatorial races, including the biggest prize of the night in Florida. 

Colorado voters rejected requiring oil and gas wells to be at least 2,500 feet from homes and other occupied buildings, allowing the state's oil industry to breath a sign a relief Tuesday. Proposition 112, which would have made the half-mile buffer the law everywhere statewide except federal lands, was failing by a vote of 58 percent to 42 percent at the time the race was called by KUSA-9News. 

The blue wave that led Colorado Democrats to take back the state Senate and to keep the governor's mansion Tuesday also rolled down the statewide ballot, giving the party control of the attorney general's office, treasurer's office and secretary of state's office as well. That sweep of statewide offices gives Democrats control of all four statewide offices and both chambers of the General Assembly for the first time in at least 70 years. And it could have significant implications for the business community. 

The Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation has produced Toward a More Competitive Colorado (TMCC) annually since 2004. TMCC is a longitudinal study of Colorado's competitive position as tracked by over 100 indicators grouped into eight major categories. The data stretches back to 2000, providing a look at how Colorado's business environment fared during some of the best and worst years in the state's economic history. TMCC provides data and trend lines for policy makers, businesses, and other community leaders to consider as they deliberate future policies and programs.