The first presidential debate is tonight at the University of Colorado in Denver at 8:00–9:30 p.m. CT. President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney will debate domestic policy.

But Colorado is more important to this election than just the location of the first debate. It’s a swing state with many undecided voters. According to NPR, one-third of the state's voters are Republican, one-third are Democrat and one-third are unaffiliated, and that unaffiliated vote has “…the presidential candidates returning to the state again and again.”

In Colorado Politics and Policy: Governing a Purple State by Thomas E. Cronin and Robert D. Loevy dives into Colorado’s major election trends, chief public policy and budget challenges, and the distinctively unique political history.

John Straayer, a political scientist at Colorado State University called the book “An excellent comprehensive volume on Colorado’s government and politics by two of Colorado’s premier scholars.”

You can hear Straayer talk about the upcoming election on "It's All Politics" from NPR.