MAY 2018 | 5280 | (^95)
The top contenders (as of
press time) to become the Centennial
State’s next leader.
Cynthia Coffman (R), Denver
Top Issues: Infrastructure, health care,
and the economy
Mike Johnston (D), Denver
Top Issues: Education, gun safety,
and growth
Cary Kennedy (D), Denver
Top Issues: Education, health care,
and growth
Donna Lynne (D), Denver
Top Issues: Health care, education,
and the environment
Victor Mitchell (R), Castle Rock
Top Issues: Health care, regulations on small
business, and infrastructure
Jared Polis (D), Boulder
Top Issues: Education, renewable energy, and
health care
Doug Robinson (R), Englewood
Top Issues: Transportation, education, and
health care
Walker Stapleton (R), Greenwood Village
Top Issues: The economy, transportation, and
ending sanctuary cities
Movements emerge in election cycles that define campaigns, forge
history, and change politics. What will drive voters this year?
Shifting Tides
THE HOPEFULS
Quick takes on
perennial issues.
4
GUNS
The Second Amendment
will remain a touchstone topic for
gubernatorial candidates, who will
weigh in on everything from high
schoolers walking out of class to
Denver’s bump stock ban.
5
MARIJUANA
Although Attorney Gen-
eral Jeff Sessions isn’t convinced
Colorado’s marijuana legalization
experiment is a good thing, most
Centennial State voters are: 65
percent approve, according to the
latest Colorado Political Climate
Survey by the American Politics
Research Lab at CU Boulder.
6
OLYMPICS
Déjà vu. Just more than 40
years after Colorado rejected the
games, we’re back to discussing the
perceived merits (improving I-70)
and demerits (building soon-to-be-
vacant infrastructure) of hosting.
7
ENERGY
The environment, oil and gas,
and energy are all issues that will
drive many voters to return ballots
in June and in November.
8
IMMIGRATION
The decision to reinstate the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arriv-
als (DACA) policy is a national issue,
but it will be a central discussion in
Colorado, especially during the pri-
maries—and in sanctuary cities.
9
WATER
We never seem to have
enough of it, and after a dry winter,
water—how we get it, how we use
it, how we protect it—will remain a
hot topic.
10
HEALTH
INSURANCE
Just because Washington, D.C.,
failed to repeal or replace the
Affordable Care Act, that doesn’t
mean you won’t hear about this
issue again and again and again,
especially as politicians focus con-
versations on the state’s Connect
for Health Colorado exchange.
ON WINNING
“We’ve had
Republicans
who’ve failed in
their campaigns
for governor
because they
ran on the very
narrow ideologi-
cal campaigns
that appeal to
the hardcore
conservatives
in the primary,
but that make
them absolutely
unelectable in
the general
election.”
—Dick Wadhams, former
Colorado Republican
Party chair
From #MeToo to #BlackLivesMatter to
#TakeAKnee, social awareness movements
are shaking up the political world. But they
are doing so independently, without relying
on one or more of the major political parties
for support. Based on the sheer numbers of
people participating in these movements—
there were reportedly more than 100,000
people at the 2017 Women’s March on Den-
ver—candidates cannot ignore these voters or
the reasons they’ve chosen to march, tweet, or
take a knee. he next governor will have an
opportunity to lead these ongoing conversa-
tions—in a manner that doesn’t necessarily
need to adhere to partisan politics.
INSIDE THE 2018 GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION
From top: Amanda Croy; Courtesy of Alaina Young; Courtesy of Mike Johnston for Governor; Courtesy of Cary Kennedy; Courtesy of Lynne for Colorado; Courtesy of Victor Mitchell; Courtesy of the U.S. House Office of Photography; Courtesy of Doug for Colorado; Courtesy of Wikipedia
grace
(Grace)
#1