# Byron Pelton

Byron Pelton is a Republican member of the Colorado Senate for district 1.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Colorado Senate, district 1
- Serving since: 2023-01-09
- Current term: CO 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/2d0d060c-6d5f-45da-a069-fe2be14547eb

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/2d0d060c-6d5f-45da-a069-fe2be14547eb (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

39% of Pelton’s statements criticize a policy, 4.2 times the State Senate Republican average of 9.5%.

## What Pelton says (CO 2025–26 session)

365 classified statements: 365 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Pelton | State Senate Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 3.3% | 2.3% | 91 of 354 |
| Policy criticism | 39.5% | 9.5% | 3 of 354 |
| Policy discussion | 54.8% | 37.3% | 66 of 354 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.5% | 2.3% | 242 of 354 |
| Credit claiming | 6.3% | 15.4% | 255 of 354 |
| Extreme labels | 1.6% | 1.3% | 85 of 354 |

Most discussed policy areas: Agriculture and Food 21% (State Senate Republicans 6.2%); Economics and Public Finance 19% (State Senate Republicans 12%); Taxation 14% (State Senate Republicans 7.1%); Transportation and Public Works 13% (State Senate Republicans 6.0%); Health 12% (State Senate Republicans 9.1%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.25 (standard error 0.02), from 114 donors and 582 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 33% of State Senate Republicans score lower.

## Votes (CO 2025–26 session)

1,666 roll calls. Attendance 99.1% (Colorado Senate 97.2%). Party unity 95.6% (94.2%). 62 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · CONCUR · SB 187 Establishing Commission on Medicaid · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB187/
- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · BILL · HB 1425 Applied Behavior Analysis Services · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1425/
- 2026-05-13 · voted nay · REPASS · SB 42 Revenue Classification Taxpayers Bill of Rights · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB42/
- 2026-05-13 · voted nay · BILL · HB 1141 Discriminatory Practices in Public Schools · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1141/
- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · CONCUR · SB 78 Changes to Institutions of Higher Education Statutes · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB78/
- 2026-05-13 · voted nay · BILL · HB 1309 Abuse in Cases of Separation · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1309/
- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · REPASS · SB 165 Species Conservation Measures · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB165/
- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · CONCUR · SB 115 Post-Conviction Relief for Certain Offenders · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB115/
- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · AMEND (L.081) · HB 1289 Modification of Certain Tax Expenditures · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1289/
- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · CONCUR · SB 3 End-of-Life Management of Electric Vehicle Batteries · pass · https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB3/

## Legislation (CO 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 78 bills: 70 reached committee, 52 passed one chamber, 49 passed both, 41 became law. Cosponsored 185. 84.6% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Colorado Senate 94.3%; rank 34 of 35).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HCR 1003: Nonmortgage Property Tax Exemption (in committee, 2026-04-28) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HCR1003/
- HCR 1004: Person's Rights Related to Their Children (in committee, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HCR1004/
- SB 152: Changes Automated Vehicle Identification System Usage (became law, 2026-06-02) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB152/
- HB 1304: History Colorado to Dispose of Mineral Rights (became law, 2026-06-03) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1304/
- HB 1299: Reducing Regulatory Burden on Education Providers (became law, 2026-06-01) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1299/
- SB 131: Sports Betting Protections (became law, 2026-06-01) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB131/
- SB 121: Overtime Threshold for Agricultural Employees (became law, 2026-05-04) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB121/
- HB 1266: Repeal Retail Delivery Fees (in committee, 2026-03-10) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1266/
- HB 1200: Armed Services Member Motor Vehicle Taxes & Fees (became law, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/HB1200/
- SB 101: Local Government Landfill Methane Emission Reduction Regulations (became law, 2026-05-21) https://openstates.org/co/bills/2026A/SB101/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $37.9K (State Senate Republicans median $46.2K). 89% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-10-16 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2110908359780245934
- 2026-10-08 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2108197469670797493
- 2026-09-28 · Post on X · labels: policy criticism, policy discussion · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2104702237406908541
- 2026-09-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2102726971818201546
- 2026-09-23 · Post on X · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2102908712008769828
- 2026-09-17 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2100419115525743093
- 2026-09-11 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2098539819035136172
- 2026-09-09 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2097663512864850039
- 2026-09-01 · Post on X · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2094929069188190295
- 2026-08-28 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/commish_pelton/status/2093169889917759683

## Links

- Official site: https://leg.colorado.gov/legislators/byron-pelton
- Campaign site: https://www.byronpelton.com/
- X: https://x.com/commish_pelton
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byron.pelton
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/State-Senator-Byron-H-Pelton/100077389907121/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peltonbyron/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/2d0d060c-6d5f-45da-a069-fe2be14547eb