C passed in both Jefferson and Arapahoe counties so it appears there is more to it. I'm guessing too many Republicans decided to pass it and get the budget funding problem over with. To our own peril, but that's what happened, IMHO.
Two Republican, but not politically aware, coworkers voted for C & D. One because she believed college tuition would skyrocket by the time her 16 year old gets to college. The other because Owens was for it, so it must have been good.
However, I prefer to place the blame exactly where it belongs: on the governor.
Owens not only struck a Faustian deal with the tax-lovin' Democrats and campaigned for "C" and "D", he signed into law the bill authorizing the vote to suspend the Constitution for five years, minimum.
Had he not given away the farm last spring, there would never have been a referendum for Democrats (and a minority of Republicans) to vote their approval on.