Governor of Colorado

The Governor of Colorado is somewhat like a Presidential position for the State of Colorado, although not exactly. Governors are elected for four-year terms, and elected Governors are limited to two terms in office. Gubernatorial candidates select a running mate, who would serve as Lieutenant Governor if the ticket wins. There are multiple candidates in the 2022 race, and the candidate with the most votes wins. There is no need to reach 50% or more to win.

There are a few very important structural responsibilities and attributes regarding the Governor’s position, regardless of who the Governor actually is:

• The Face of the State: The Governor literally represents Colorado on visits or interactions with other states or nations, or in the media.
• Judicial Appointments: This includes the Colorado Supreme Court and other lower-level courts. It’s a little different in Colorado compared to the U.S. Supreme Court, since the Governor must appoint justices from a judicial nominating commission’s list.
• Veto: The General Assembly can pass the best bills ever drafted, but the Governor has the Constitutional power to kill them with one signature.
• Cabinet: The Governor’s Cabinet includes executive directors for some of Colorado’s most important departments, and executive directors shape direction for the agency.
• Executive Orders: The Governor can issue executive orders, which carry the force of law, though they can be stricken down in the courts.
• Succession: The Governor chooses a Lieutenant Governor, who succeeds the Governor should he or she becomes unable to finish a term. Then, the ex-Lieutenant would choose a new Lieutenant. Also, the Governor nominates replacement officers if the Treasurer, Attorney General, or Secretary of State cannot finish his or her term.
• Emergency Powers: The Governor has the Constitutional power to call out the militia to “execute the laws, suppress insurrection or repel invasion.” He or she can also declare states of emergency.

Of course, personalities and personal attributes matter, so here is some information about the candidates running in 2022.

Jared Polis / Dianne Primavera, Democratic

Jared Polis

Jared Polis was elected to his first term of Governor in 2018, when he beat former Treasurer of Colorado Walker Stapleton 53.4% to 42.8%. Before becoming Governor, he was elected to a six-year term on the Colorado State Board of Education in the year 2000, and was elected to five two-year terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District from 2008-2016.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in politics from Princeton University, and went on to enjoy a successful career as a tech entrepreneur. He co-founded and sold at least three companies for significant amounts of money – American Information Systems, bluemountain.com, and ProFlowers. With net wealth estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Polis has been able to use his assets to fund personal campaigns and other political efforts.

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera, a vocational counselor and government manager, was elected to represent House District 33 near Broomfield from 2007-11 and from 2013-17. She was Polis’ running mate in 2018, and is running with Polis again in 2022.

Governors typically have large amounts of influence over state policy and how state departments operate. The Governor (whether Polis or not) delivers a budget request in advance of the legislative session, which identifies spending priorities – many of which often get adopted to a large extent in the final yearly budget. The Governor also delivers a State of the State address at the beginning of each session, which normally sets the tone for legislative priorities in the coming session. Here’s a link to Polis’ 2022 State of the State, and these speeches tend to be different every year based on special circumstances, like the Marshall Fire that happened shortly before this year’s speech.

Governors do not have carte blanche authority to pass bills, which is the ultimate responsibility of the legislative branch. However, hands-on Governors may be very influential in expressing the need for bills or language that winds up in the final versions, and as a former federal legislator Polis is anecdotally known to be hands-on. Some bills need to be drafted and passed relatively quickly, while others might be the product of extended process like task forces, so the next few paragraphs are largely about how Polis and his administration influenced the workings of our state government, along with his policy leanings.

Executive Orders: The COVID-19 pandemic started while Polis was in his second full year as Governor. The state General Assembly is typically only in session from January – May every year, and that’s the legislative body that can pass laws and budgets. However, the pandemic needed a year-round response, since public health decisions had to be made regardless of the date, plus there was an economic side to the pandemic as people were in danger of losing housing, while many businesses and individuals had a tough time making ends meet.

Not everyone agreed with Polis’ use of executive orders during the pandemic, but he took action attempting to keep Colorado healthy with as strong an economy as reasonably possible. Readers can find a full list of all the executive orders Polis issued at this link.

Greenhouse Gas Roadmap: The Polis administration (including many state agencies) tackled Colorado’s response to the climate crisis with the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, a voluminous plan to help reduce carbon emissions in Colorado. In very short, it’s an outline of tangible actions the state could take to meet carbon goals laid out in House Bill 19-1261, including emissions reductions from the energy and transportation sectors, transitioning away from fossil fuels, and moving toward electric vehicles large and small.

Task Force on Collaborative Conservation: Polis recently signed the State of Colorado onto this task force, which will take a regional approach to priority conservation programs and policies, including those affecting wildlife corridors, wildfire and drought resilience and response, and forest and rangeland restoration.

Preschool Expansion: During Polis’ 2020 State of the State address, he said “I’m committed to achieving universal access to quality preschool for 4-year-olds by the end of my first term.” The actual access might not arrive by Jan. 2023, but the Polis administration can take its fair share of credit for leadership on expanding preschool, beginning soon. The General Assembly passed a bill that referred Proposition EE to voters, who passed EE in 2020 with about 67.5% voter approval. EE implemented a new tax on tobacco and tobacco products to help fund K-12 and preschool education, and the General Assembly passed HB 22-1295 this year to establish duties for the Department of Early Childhood. Polis began his career in elected office as a member of the State Board of Education, and he delivered on this issue.

Pandemic Results: By no means is the Governor solely responsible for what happened after the pandemic hit, but Polis did set general directions along with the Colorado Department of Public Health. Polis is known to have a small-l libertarian streak, and after the earlier days of the pandemic often made statements like saying in late 2021 that people who are fully vaccinated should “feel comfortable living life as normal.”

How has it worked? This is awfully tough to answer in a short sentence. We rank 44th among states in COVID deaths per 100,000 people, according to statista.com, which is pretty good, relatively speaking. The Colorado Health Institute has published a series of reports on components of the pandemic, such as vaccine equity, impacts on mental health, effects of social distancing, and availability of public funding for public health efforts. If readers want to see the multiple dimensions at work, check the reports out here.

The economic impacts of the pandemic, especially in the early going, threatened the very existence of some businesses and cost a lot of jobs, but Colorado has undergone economic recovery. There are many economic rankings out there, but Wallet Hub recently ranked Colorado’s economy at number six in the nation. State information from late September said Colorado’s current unemployment rate of 3.4% is slightly better than national averages.

Abortion: Polis supports the right of women to obtain an abortion or other types of reproductive health care. He signed the Colorado Reproductive Health Equity Act (CREA, HB 22-1279) into law this spring, and followed that with an executive order protecting people who come to Colorado for an abortion from legal consequences. The Dobbs decision striking down Roe v. Wade happened just months after the legislature passed CREA, and part of the uncertainty around that decision included whether people who traveled to other states to escape a state’s restrictive abortion laws might be prosecuted or otherwise penalized.

Criminal Justice and Crime: One editorial comment, take it or leave it: treating the issue of crime as a dichotomy ignores a ton of detail and context. After the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, Colorado legislators passed one of the most sweeping policing reform bills in the nation (SB 20-217), and after many amendments Polis signed it into law. There were also a host of criminal justice reform bills signed into law in 2021.

But it’s impossible to deny that certain crime statistics have increased in recent years, and whether it was recognition that Republicans would use crime as a 2022 campaign issue or not, Polis worked the line “fighting crime and promoting public safety” into his State of the State. This year, the state passed bills to make it tougher to sell stolen catalytic converters, a couple of community safety bills, funding for crime victims’ services, and of course a 73-page fentanyl bill that was controversial regarding legal penalties for possession but included many other sections to combat trafficking and get help for people suffering from addiction.

Campaign Website: https://polisforcolorado.com/

Heidi Ganahl / Danny Moore, Republican

Heidi Ganahl

Heidi Ganahl is an elected member of the CU Board of Regents and an entrepreneur. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and a graduate degree from the University of Denver. Ganahl founded Camp Bow Wow, which provides doggie day care and dog boarding services. According to prnewswire.com, Camp Bow Wow is a “$160+ million company,” and just opened its 200th location in early 2022. Ganahl also founded the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation, which helps sick and injured dogs by funding urgent medical care and aiding with veterinary bills for serious conditions.

In 2013, Ganahl founded Moms Fight Back in attempts to address family court reform in the interest of protecting children who are victims of child abuse and domestic violence. She also launched the Fight Back Foundation, which provides consulting and other services for organizations working on issues including youth safety, women’s health and wellness, and free speech on campuses.

In 2016, she was elected to a statewide (at-large) seat on the University of Colorado Board of Regents, defeating former state legislator Alice Madden by 52.1% to 47.9%. As a Regent, she chaired the Board’s finance committee, audit committee, co-chaired the 2018 search committee for a new President of CU that eventually selected Mark Kennedy, and led initiatives around campus free speech (more on that to come), diversity and addressing the cost of college. The CU system has a roughly $5 billion budget and more than 30,000 employees, and Regents provide oversight and make final voting decisions on a wide range of issues pertaining to the CU system.

During this election cycle, Ganahl qualified for the Republican primary ballot through the GOP State Assembly, then beat Greg Lopez 53.3 – 46.7% in the Republican primary.

Ganahl’s running mate Danny Moore earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management from Colorado Christian University and an MBA in International Business from the University of Phoenix. He served 24 years in the U.S. Navy, worked as a Program Manager and Director of Global Operations for BAE Systems Inc., and is is President and Owner of DeNOVO Solutions, which provides scientific, engineering, technical, and operational support services to the Department of Defense.

For some brief outlines of Ganahl’s top issues, past and present:

Abortion: Ganahl says she opposes abortion except in case of rape, incest, and when the health and life of the mother and child are in danger. She believes Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act (HB 22-1279) should be “repealed and replaced,” and calls this bill a “late-term abortion law” despite widespread opinion saying late-term is not a medical term – and despite that abortion later in a pregnancy is exceedingly rare compared to those performed earlier in a pregnancy. Before Roe v. Wade was overturned, she was quoted saying she believed it should have been overturned.

Crime: Ganahl has been making being tougher on crime a centerpiece of her candidacy, citing increases in property crime, assaults, and drug crimes among others. She supports strong parole boards, truth in sentencing so “criminals actually pay the price for committing crimes, and bail reform that does not allow for the release of repeat offenders.

Free Speech: There is a difference between a generic notion of “free speech” and drafted opinions or policies titled as being about “free speech.” Ganahl worked toward a free speech policy in 2018 with the Regents, but told the Daily Camera “I’m doing this in response to hundreds of conversations I’ve had with students over the last year who lean conservative or libertarian and just don’t feel comfortable expressing themselves. My goal is to have feisty, collaborative debate and make them feel like they’re able to speak their minds.” In fairness, the Regents passed a new policy unanimously in 2018, with only a narrow Republican majority on the Board at that time. Readers might be interested in learning more about a national movement to protect conservative speech on campus dating perhaps back to the 1970s with the Nixon-era Powell Memo, but certainly back to the early “aughts” with David Horowitz’ Academic Bill of Rights.

Guns: She often mentions protecting the Second Amendment when asked about guns, and has questions about the constitutionality of Colorado’s “red flag” law under which the courts can order removal of firearms from the possession of people known to be threats to public safety.

Energy: Ganahl’s statements typically support an “all of the above” energy policy, though when asked at a Colorado Water Congress forum how she would combat climate change, she replied that “she would get oil and gas workers back to work.” According to Colorado Newsline, she told attendees of the recent Club 20 forum in Grand Junction that “Green New Deal” policies under the Polis administration hurt the energy industry, make it harder for home builders and affect infrastructure decisions.

State Finances: She claims she would cut the cost of government 10% per year for her first term, though without details on how that would be done. She said this year that she would eliminate the state income tax – which makes up more than 60% of the state’s General Fund – and again had no specific details about how this would work in relation to funding typical government services. (NOTE: Polis has also been quoted saying the state income tax “should be zero.”) In mid-September, she announced a $10 billion transportation plan that involved repealing a fee-based state transportation bill in SB 21-260, and going to the voters with a tax proposal to fund transportation – despite Colorado’s history of usually not passing statewide transportation tax measures. On a separate note, she has supported cutting the state’s fuel tax in half, again despite that gas taxes represent the lion’s share of non-federal revenue for the Colorado Department of Transportation.

Elections: Ganahl has spent the last year or so searching for a palatable answer on whether the 2020 election was legitimate, often pivoting away from questions with non-answers like when she gave Marshall Zelinger of 9News a “Why all the divisive questions?” She has given soft answers to the question of election legitimacy along the lines of admitting Joe Biden is the President (there’s a similar statement from her spokesperson at this link), but typically stopping short of calling the election legitimate.

Ganahl eventually chose for her running mate Danny Moore, who according to the Denver Post said on social media that President Joe Biden was not “elected by the people,” but rather “elected by the Democrat steal”; claiming without evidence that mail-in ballots can increase fraud; and calling on Republicans to use the court system to “erase those gains” made by Democrats in 2020. Moore got some bad press before Ganahl chose him for her running mate, since he was removed from his position as chair of the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission (though allowed to remain a Commission member) because of his past statements about the 2020 election. Moore has tried to walk the former statements back, penning a guest opinion for the generally conservative Colorado Springs Gazette and telling people at the time that the column would be his final official statement on the issue.

Campaign Website: https://www.heidiforgovernor.com/

Danielle Neuschwanger / Darryl Gibbs, American Constitution Party

Danielle Neuschwanger started running for Governor during this election cycle as a Republican, but did not qualify for the GOP primary ballot after finishing third behind Ganahl and Lopez in the GOP State Assembly, and switched after the assembly to run with the ACP.

She grew up in Longmont, attended the University of Colorado, earned an associate’s degree from Rasmussen College with a Psychology emphasis, and earned a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from CSU Global. She then worked in “various criminal justice positions,” and landed a position in healthcare security as a project coordinator and “safe tactics & verbal de-escalation instructor.” She got married in 2014, she and her husband launched an HVAC company, and she started her real estate business Wild Buck Realty in 2019.

Darryl Gibbs, Neuschwanger’s running mate, is a 16-year Air Force Veteran, currently serving in the Air Force Reserves. He has more than 40 years of experience in the trucking industry, and is currently working as a full-time owner-operator truck driver.

Here is a brief outline of some of Neuschwanger’s policy positions:

• Elections: Neuschwanger wants audits of elections and would clean up voter rolls, end electronic voting systems, and implement stronger voter ID laws.
• Abortion: She is anti-abortion except for in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency. She is opposed to late-term abortions.
• Guns: Neuschwanger would overturn Colorado’s “red flag” law, believes every state should be a “constitutional carry” state, and does not support limits on firearm accessories.
• Policing: She says some recent state legislation has “tied the hands” of law enforcement, allowing criminals to run free. She would bring back qualified immunity (a partial shield against the personal liability of law enforcement officers committing misconduct while on duty), insist on more tactical training, and partner with disadvantaged communities to ensure fair policing.
• Sanctuary State: Neuschwanger believes there should not be sanctuary state and city policies, partially because she says they enable cartels and trafficking.

Campaign Website: https://danielleforco.com/

Kevin Ruskusky / Michele Poague, Libertarian

Kevin Ruskusky grew up in Boulder, graduated from Boulder High School, and received his bachelor of arts degree in in History from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, and then his Education degree from Regis University.

Kevin began his career as an elementary school teacher, grades K-4. More recently he taught History and US Government to grades 7-12, and currently teaches high school aged students about U.S. History and Government at Colorado Early Colleges Charter School and Yeshiva Torahs Chaim. As of early September, his list of issues on his website was minimal, but below are some excerpts:

• Education: “Diversity in education is essential and cannot be achieved by federal mandates requiring all students be educated identically. We should encourage variety in education, including home schooling, co-ops, and charter schools. In 2022 Colorado budgeted $7.2 billion for education, the resources are there, they just need to be distributed in a more efficient way, to meet the needs of Colorado’s students.”
• He’s critical of excessive attention given to current controversial issues in education, including Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law and Critical Race Theory. He said, “CRT was started in the early 1970’s to investigate the impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1965, that’s it!”
• Lockdowns: “Lockdowns are a gross overreach of Government authority and damaging to humanity.”
• Gun Policy: “If you know how to use a gun responsibly then you can have a gun. If you don’t, then you can’t.”

Michele Poague, Ruskusky’s running mate, is a science fiction author and business manager. She ran unsuccessfully for the Colorado State Senate in District 29 in 2012 and 2016.

Campaign Website: https://www.kevin4colorado.com/

Paul Fiorino / Cynthia Munhos de Aquino Sirianni, Unity Party

Well, it wouldn’t be an election without Paul Fiorino. In recent years, he’s run for Denver City Council, Mayor of Denver, U.S. Senator in 2016; and U.S. House of Representatives in 2020.

Unfortunately, as of early September there wasn’t anything on his website about why he’s in his current race for Governor of Colorado. I’ll keep an eye out for more information.

According to a story posted on his website, he’s a “longtime member of the Denver arts community with a particular focus on dance (he’s also served in a wide variety of roles for local boards, organizations and agencies)…”

Sirianni, Fiorino’s running mate, is President and Owner of Creative Cleaning.

Campaign Website: https://fiorinoforcolorado.com/

Richard’s Take

Vote Polis / Primavera. Even if readers have differences on one or a few issues with Polis (I disagree with him every once in a while too), the consequences of him not winning this race would be dire if you’re a centrist, liberal, progressive, or of another left-leaning identity. This race is very much about the list of bullet points I started with – court appointments, the veto, succession if something happens, cabinet appointments, and executive orders. Win this seat and you enjoy those spoils, but lose and you hand some real power over to your opponents for at least four or eight years.

And in my opinion, Polis has done a very strong job as Governor. He’s managed and led the state through a very tough time with the pandemic, along with disasters including the Marshall Fire and mass shootings. The state has a reasonably strong economy right now, and we’re paying attention to climate and energy issues even if actions aren’t strong or fast enough for some of us. With his six years’ experience on the State Board of Education, 10 years in Congress, and a full term as Governor, he’s got a wealth of insight and good connections to turn to in case of problems or challenges.

Ganahl’s campaign, on the other hand, will not be one political scientists of the future turn back to as an example of how to run for elected office. She’s been evasive on tough questions, she’s reflexively blamed the media for bias far too often, and she made a really questionable choice for running mate with Moore (an extremely talented person, but the optics surrounding his election comments couldn’t have helped her campaign that much).

There’s nothing wrong with being a CU Regent, but it’s just not a natural jump from Regent to Governor even if she did win that relatively low-profile statewide race in 2016. Ordinarily, this resume item would have been a really positive attribute, but while with the Regents, she operated as a partisan. She played a role in the selection of former Republican congressman Mark Kennedy for CU President – and was the only Regent to vote against Kennedy’s termination package when he left the position after only two years. She publicly opposed Colorado’s Proposition CC that could have helped provide funding for the CU system, spent inordinate time and energy on campus “free speech” efforts common to national operatives in the interest of protecting conservative speech and speakers, plus praised John Eastman, the architect of a legal memo on how Trump could overturn the election who became a visiting scholar on the CU campus.

When asked by Colorado Public Radio if Eastman’s actions were offenses that he should have been fired for, she replied “I advocated for academic freedom and letting it play out in the public.” There’s a time and place for letting things play out, but an attempt to overthrow an election isn’t one of them. This alone is enough for a hard “no” on Ganahl’s campaign for me.

But there’s more – after winning the primary, she went on Steve Bannon’s podcast and credited Trump advisors Boris Epshteyn and Brad Parscale for her primary win. I’m hoping readers will agree with me when I say Coloradans just don’t need a Governor with these kinds of associations in the state’s most powerful political position.

Ganahl has never really seemed like a natural to lead the state, and frankly struggled to make that case even to fellow Republicans participating in the assembly and primary process. I don’t think she has much of a chance to win this race, but must admit she’s talented and has been very successful in life. Whether her next step after the election is giving full focus to the private sector, her various foundations, or working in some sort of conservative think-tank or operative role, she might be better suited for whatever comes next.