Colorado Gubernatorial Race

The election cycle for 2018 is getting started early for the Gubernatorial Seat.  John Hickenlooper is term limited and a large cast of hopefuls are vying for the seat. Grand County was a focus for our US Representative Jared Polis who is making a bid for the position.

Polis, a long time Colorado advocate for the outdoor lifestyle, holds the 2nd Congressional District’s seat. He is a wealthy tech entrepreneur who has a long history of Colorado politics. Some of the hot topics Polis is pushing forward; 100 percent renewable energy by 2040, ensuring parents can access full-day preschool or kindergarten, and encouraging companies in the state to provide stock options to employees. His inclusion in the race tests how far to the left the state has shifted in the past decade.

If any state is poised to lead the charge toward a freer, more inclusive America, it’s Colorado. Polis stated, “While other states were moving backward, we enacted comprehensive protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Here in Colorado, on the same night that Donald Trump was narrowly elected to the presidency, I was overwhelmingly elected as a state representative, becoming the first openly LGBTQ person ever to hold office in Colorado.”

In his political messaging remarks at Casa Mexico in downtown Winter Park, the fifth-term lawmaker said “This is a campaign of big, bold ideas, and I’m trying to make them happen,” Polis said. “We want a Colorado that works for everybody.”

Recently, Polis introduced a bill to ease pot regulations and has unveiled a plan for his early education vision.

The Obama years were filled with historic victories for the LGBTQ community, and Polis played a part in virtually all of them. His career has been defined by taking bold ideas that once seemed unthinkable and making them a reality.

His entry further scrambles a contest that already lacks a clear favorite, and it all but guarantees that the 2018 race to replae Gov. John Hickenlooper will be one Colorado’s wildest elections in years. Polis’ run is notable too, given that the onetime Internet wunderkind can use his sizable fortune to fund his campaign and — if he wins — Polis would make history as the state’s first openly gay governor.   Polis is consistently ranked among the richest members of Congress; his net worth recently was estimated at more than $90 million.