Edward P. Costigan, later a Democrat appointed to office by President Woodrow Wilson and eventually serving as a United States Senator for the same party, helped to found the Colorado Progressive Party in 1912, but lost his bid for the governorship of that state. The major platform of the Progressive Party included major governmental reforms at almost every level of government, from election reforms that included women's suffrage to the redefining of the judicial role away from dependence on oral arguments and precedents in favor of careful consideration of the factual information on hand, and even extending down to the reorganization of city and local politics to prevent the "boss" system that existed in so many localities. In Colorado specifically, many the Democratic governor elected in 1908, John F. Shafroth, incorporated much of the Progressive platform into his campaign and the actions of his administration, which is at least partially responsible for the incumbent's defeat of Edward P. Costigan. The reformative requirements urged by the progressive party were given serious consideration and much implementation in Colorado's state government during this time; under Shafroth's administration, corruption was heavily cracked down on and brought to very low or non-existent levels, and both primaries and the election of senators were moved to a direct process.

These were all things that were a part of the national, state, and local Progressive movements. Though many of the prominent figures of the Progressive Party were looking for personal achievement in addition to the governmental reforms they stood for, part of the Progressive strategy was also to force the major parties to deal with the issues that the Progressive Party was raising. This role of the third party has been cited many times throughout this nation's history, and Colorado during this time is a prime example, on a smaller scale, of exactly how this strategy worked. By engaging voters in the idea that government could be changes, and that in a democracy there were still many choices to be made that were up to the voters, the Progressive Party was able to gain enough statewide support that the Democratic governor, who had already proved himself to be fairly progressive, was forced to incorporate even more drastic and extensive reforms into his campaign promises as a way of maintaining power.

Only an incredibly cynical view of this period of Colorado and national politics could claim that the progressive movement, or the official Progressive Party, was a failure. Though the did not succeed in winning positions of great power in the executive branches of either the state or federal governments, the issues that the movement and Party raised became a part of the national political dialogue, and many reforms were accomplished because of the interest and attitudes advocated by Progressive Party members. The several iterations of the Progressive Party continued to affect national politics for several more decades, not winning any offices but helping to set the agenda.