Editor’s note: The Herald Editorial Board invited Democratic and Republican candidates for Colorado governor to submit guest columns for publication. Columns are published as submitted, subject to editing for length, clarity and style. Republican candidates' columns are scheduled to appear next week.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of traveling across Colorado, often in Southwest Colorado, and wherever I go, I hear the same thing: Housing is too expensive. Healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Childcare is impossible to find.
But Colorado has an opportunity to lead the country in building a future that creates opportunity for everyone and drives a stake through the divisive politics practiced by President Donald Trump. That’s why I’m running for governor.
We are living in a profoundly reactionary period. We’re facing an economy that only works for those at the very top. Families and businesses are being pushed out of Colorado. Our state budget is in crisis. And Trump is doing everything he can to make matters worse. He has sent masked agents into our communities, attacked Colorado and trampled over the rule of law, as we saw in Durango when his agents brutally separated a family last fall.
I believe Colorado can turn this around to build a better, stronger future for us, for our kids and grandkids. To do that, we need a governor who is not just willing to take on Trump but who will not let our future be defined by him.
I’ve spent the past 10 years standing up for Colorado in the face of Trump’s lawlessness. I led the charge against dangerous Cabinet nominees like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard. I won the fight to stop the sale of the public lands we value so much. And time and again, I’ve stood up for Americans’ healthcare, fighting against every disastrous attempt to gut the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid.
I’ve also worked side by side with Southwest Colorado to deliver real results. Together we’ve protected more than 700,000 acres of public lands in Colorado, including Hermosa Creek and Chimney Rock. We banned oil and gas drilling on public lands near Durango and made it harder for the Bureau of Land Management to sell or transfer that land. We’ve made real investments in expanding broadband, getting the Colorado Ute Tribes the resources they earned, upgrading our infrastructure – including the Durango-La Plata County Airport – and delivering more affordable housing. And there’s still more work to do.
There is a real difference between the candidates in this race. I have a vision to build a Colorado that serves the entire state, not just the Front Range.
When the median housing cost in Durango is pushing $1 million, we need action. I’m the only candidate with a goal to ensure no Coloradan pays more than 30% of their income on housing.
I’m the only candidate who will launch a real public option for healthcare to drive down costs, and invest in patients and providers rather than in insurance and private equity.
Southwest Colorado is on the front lines of climate change that threatens our water and way of life. I’m the only candidate with an economywide solution, called cap-and-invest, that will require corporations to cut pollution, or pay for us to invest in communities and clean energy to help us meet our climate goals.
We don’t have time for more commissions and studies that take months or even years to tell us what we already know. Colorado is getting too expensive, and we need to restore the American Dream.
Colorado needs big ideas, real results and someone willing to make the hard decisions and tell the truth – even when it’s inconvenient, even to my own party. That’s what I’ll deliver.
Southwest Colorado doesn’t need a governor dictating solutions from Denver. You deserve a true partner who shows up, listens and fights for you at your side when it matters most.
Just as I have throughout my career, I will be that partner as governor. The stakes are too high for anything less.
I’m asking for your vote because this moment matters and Colorado’s future is worth fighting for.
Michael Bennet represents Colorado in the U.S. Senate and is a Democratic candidate for governor.
