94 |^5280 |^ MAY 20^18
Credits Tk1
GROWTH
It is the best of times...or is it the worst
of times? hat depends a lot on how you
feel about Colorado’s growth. “Normally,
the economy would be the highest issue for most vot-
ers,” Paul Teske, a dean at CU Denver, says. “here will be
a lot of talk about sustaining the boom.” But, adds DU’s
Seth Masket: “here are a lot of diferent areas of the state
that are adversely afected by this growth.” Transportation
has become a perennial funding battle at the Capitol and
could beneit from strong gubernatorial inluence (read:
political pressure) to make Republicans and Democrats
ind bipartisan ways forward. Meanwhile, the unemploy-
ment rate in Colorado is three percent (it was 8.9 percent
at the end of 2010), which on its face is great news, but
that near-full employment causes woes for companies
desperate to ill jobs. Wages—particularly in the metro
area—haven’t kept up with cost-of-living expenses, which
means that although people are inding work, they may
not be able to pay bills. And the biggest expense for many
voters is rising housing costs. Mix that all together, and the
moment is prime for a gubernatorial candidate to stand
out by creating a unique vision for Colorado’s future.2
EDUCATION
his may seem like a topic that matters most to people
who are raising families, but this year, candidates will
compel everyone to think about Colorado’s education
system (funding here ranks in the bottom third of all states in the
country). Which makes sense: Property owners help pay for schools,
employers beneit from a well-prepared workforce, and we all want
the best for society’s youngsters, right? But how we ensure we have
a strong education system is quite a bit more complicated. Magellan
Strategies’ David Flaherty
says Republican candidates
should be talking about
education right now and
through November.
“It’s the one issue we
completely give to the
Democrats,” Flaherty says.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s
one of the top two issues
for unailiated voters.”3
TABOR
Conversations about addressing growing pains or
giving more money to teachers inevitably evolve
into talks about what to do about Colorado’s
Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), which limits government
spending to match population growth and inlation increases.
Under TABOR, which passed in 1992, leftover revenue is
returned to the taxpayers. Proponents herald the limits on gov-
ernment spending; detractors warn that TABOR isn’t robust
enough to respond to real-time needs, like shifting populations
in schools due to high housing costs. But Coloradans tend to like
the control TABOR gives them: A January 2018 report from the
American Politics Research Lab at CU Boulder found that “sup-
port among Coloradans outpaces opposition,” with 45 percent of
respondents supporting TABOR. hat number has fallen since
2016, and the study notes that more than a quarter of respon-
dents had “uncertainty
about a position.” In short,
there’s room for candi-
dates to make TABOR
the issue of the campaign.
Republican candidates are
likely to support working
within TABOR’s con-
straints. Democrats will
probably talk more about
reform or repeal.The topics that will dominate candidates’
messaging throughout the campaign season.JobsWagesHousingTransportationGrowthIN FOCUS
TALKING POINTS
From top: Benjamin Rasmussen; Chuck Bigger