Politics Reporter

Alex Burness

Alex Burness covers politics for The Denver Post after previous work for The Boulder Daily Camera, Colorado Independent and Loveland Reporter-Herald. He is a Maryland native and a graduate of Northwestern University.

Politics |
How crime, Polis, and a workforce shortage shaped Colorado lawmaking in 2022

May 12, 2022 at 2:58 p.m.

Wednesday marked the 120th and final day of Colorado's 2022 legislative session, and the fourth straight year of total Democratic control of state government. It may also have marked an...

Politics |
On opening day of session, Colorado lawmakers vow to address crime, housing costs, omicron and more

January 12, 2022 at 5:16 p.m.

Colorado's 2022 legislative session started Wednesday under the shadow of a still critical pandemic, and with party leaders primed to spend months debating how to apportion a historically flush state...

It was a scaled-back event, with less notable speakers and a smaller venue. Here’s what our reporters saw Friday and Saturday.

Politics |
Four scenes from this year’s Western Conservative Summit

June 20, 2021 at 5:05 p.m.

It was a scaled-back event, with less notable speakers and a smaller venue. Here’s what our reporters saw Friday and Saturday.

The Colorado State Capitol on Tuesday, ...

Politics |
10 things to know about the 2021 Colorado legislative session

January 13, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.

A batch of new Colorado state lawmakers and leaders will be sworn in Wednesday when all eyes will be on Washington. But state laws arguably matter more than most, and...

Representative Alec Garnett speaks before Governor ...

New Democratic leaders emerge in Colorado House

November 6, 2020 at 1:54 p.m.

On Thursday, the Democratic caucuses of the Colorado House and Senate elected leaders.

The Spot: Lingering state confusion about federal eviction moratorium, and rehashing secession effort

September 4, 2020 at 12:34 p.m.

I was sitting at my desk Tuesday afternoon, streaming the governor's press conference on COVID-19, when I saw a Bloomberg article: White House Says CDC Will Halt Evictions Using Quarantine...

The Spot: Leslie Herod’s chat with Kamala Harris about criminal justice reform

August 14, 2020 at 7:00 a.m.

I heard an interesting, small-world anecdote on Colorado Public Radio yesterday: in conversation with host Ryan Warner, state Rep. Leslie Herod said that Kamala Harris had advised her on SB...

Colorado Governor Jared Polis makes a ...

The Spot: What changed Gov. Polis’ mind on mask mandate, and why Colorado is seeing presidential ads now

July 23, 2020 at 5:10 p.m.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' announcement Thursday that he will require masks statewide took longer than many fellow Democrats would have liked given weeks of increasing coronavirus case numbers here, but...

Amid protests, Colorado lawmakers float bill to counter police brutality

June 1, 2020 at 4:51 p.m.

Some lawmakers, already swamped by a myriad of coronavirus-related challenges, say that the message of the protests and periodic riots is not lost on them, and that they intend to...

The Spot: Coronavirus changes almost everything; Hickenlooper ethics hearing delayed

March 19, 2020 at 2:19 p.m.

It was two weeks ago to the day that the governor announced the state’s first two known cases of the coronavirus. Don’t panic, Jared Polis said at a news conference....

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