He successfully passed direct primary, recall, home rule and labor control laws against strong opposition of the Democratic machine in Denver and Colorado corporations.

Taft won the nomination at the 1912 Republican National Convention in Chicago, causing Roosevelt to found the Progressive and run as a third-party candidate.

In many other national and state elections in the year 1912, candidates ran against the Democratic and Republican nominees under Roosevelt's "Progressive" or "Bull Mouse" Banner.

[10][11] After the massacre, Governor Ammons was torn between the interests of the striking miners, which had political support by some Democrats like State Senator Helen Ring Robinson,[12] and the mine owners under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and decided to request the deployment of federal troops to calm the violent clashes.

[13] After massive criticism and nationwide outrage, Ammons decided to not run for reelection in the 1914 Colorado gubernatorial election and subsequently retired from public life.