The first returns of election night arrived from Florida with the hint of a crimson tide that frightened Democrats across the country. While a faint pink stain spread across the state line to Alabama and Georgia, (where its Senate race now proceeds to a December runoff between Raphael Warnock, and a fading football gladiator who acknowledges he is rarely the smartest guy in the room), the anticipated red tsunami shriveled to a mere ripple. Hats should be tipped in the direction of Florida Governor Ron “DeSanctimonious”, who has clearly corralled his electorate. For Democrats, it’s now time to order popcorn, restock the liquor cabinet with powerful adult beverages in order to enjoy the impending cage match between Trump and DeSantis for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Perhaps the most interesting midterm election result, including Colorado, was the wholesale rejection of “Big Lie: election deniers or, as Jonathan Chait observed on New York magazine’s Intelligencer website, “despite everything, there is still a robust constituency in this country for leaders who are not overtly crazy.” Although we may not learn who will represent our 3rd Congressional District before December, subsequent to a nearly certain recount, Lauren Boebert would be well advised to recognize her “Pistol Packing Mama Without A Clue” shtick isn’t really working for her. She might also consider permanently severing her “sister from another mother” BFF partnership with Marjorie Taylor Greene. MTG is just the kind of bad girl her mother warned her to avoid in middle school.

It is tempting to exult in the fact that I expected, even predicted, the Republican wipeout which occurred here this week. Yes, I listened to the laments and admonitions that radical Democratic majorities in both chambers at the Capitol were drifting too far to the left — that Coloradans were quaking fearfully in their beds at night terrorized by the rhythm of Socialist hordes wearing Vibram-soled hiking boots as they marched and howled during Denver’s George Floyd demonstrations. Predictably, there are Republicans who will argue their repeated election failures can be resolved by nominating candidates even further to the right — more conservative, more aggressive. And, who’s to say this argument won’t prevail, assuring a third consecutive thrashing from voters in 2024?

Heidi Ganahl’s farewell letter to her supporters this past week declares, “this Mom on a Mission is proud to have given voice to the army of mad moms, dads and grandparents of Colorado who are scared about what the future of our beautiful state holds for our kids and grandkids.” Even if every Ganahl voter were truly as scared as Ganahl claims she is, we now know they represent no more than 40% of the electorate. While she proceeds to wish Jared Polis well, she specifically advises him to, “make sure those in power understand that the many decisions that they believe should occur in Denver should really be made at the kitchen table.” This advice may have been true during the pandemic, but many of the state’s policy challenges were necessarily deferred while Polis struggled to protect public health.

Looking forward, rather than staring transfixed at images glimpsed in the rear-view mirror, Governor Polis should properly focus on his legacy. Though the successful implementation of universal Pre-K education was both noteworthy and commendable, his efforts to contain family medical insurance premiums has recently stumbled over persistent market failures intrinsic to our health delivery system — a subject for another, far longer discussion. Whatever other goals he may have desired to pursue in his first term were understandably derailed by the fiscal uncertainties that accompanied the pandemic. With renewed Democratic majorities returning to the legislature and a strong balance sheet, he should tackle Colorado’s most pressing issues.

These issues are no mystery: affordable housing, climate change, water, living wages, reasonable tuition at state colleges and transportation maintenance leap immediately to mind. The last of these offers an opportunity to build for the future. High-speed, Front Range rail service connecting Fort Collins and Pueblo could be implemented in the next four years. It’s utility and value would increase significantly if coupled to an I-70 Mountain Corridor Advanced Guideway System that rapidly shuttles skiers to slopes in winter and hikers, campers and anglers to recreation sites in summer (before daily congestion at the Eisenhower-Johnson tunnels gridlocks Front Range access as early as 2030).

Polis will hand off such initiatives to his successor, just as Mayor Federico Peña passed DIA’s completion over to Wellington Webb, but he can only turn that first first spade of dirt after he persuades voters to finance his vision for our kids and grandkids. Carlos Lozada recently wrote, “… the lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election has grown so powerful because it is yoked to an older deception… that American politics is a joke.” Not so. Elections matter.

Miller Hudson is a public affairs consultant and a former Colorado legislator.