Doug Robinson has never run for elected office and considers himself a political outsider, despite being the nephew of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Robinson, a Republican, has experience in the nonprofit sector and has helped advocate for recreational marijuana regulations.
While campaigning in Durango on Friday, he hit on education, health care and public safety.
Too much education funding is going to administration rather than into the classroom, he said. Under his plan, the state would match dollar-for-dollar money that is transferred by schools from administration to classrooms.
He also plans to reform school districts that are struggling by firing the current members of the administration and replacing them.
Instead of funding higher education based on how many people are enrolled at a school, Robinson wants funding to be based on the number of four-year graduates.
Robinson also wants to fix Medicaid and health care at the state level.
He would require hospitals to display prices of procedures so patients can better understand the cost of their care.
Currently, the state Medicaid system operates using a fee-for-service system. That means patients pay their doctor for each procedure they receive. This incentivizes doctors to perform as many procedures as possible.
Robinson wants to transform Medicaid, so that doctors are payed a fixed rate based on the number of patients they serve.
Republicans have to lead on the issue of gun safety in Colorado, Robinson said.
He said that Democrats are trying to take away people’s guns.
“That is not going to happen in this state, there’s no chance in hell,” he said.
He supports legislation that would make it easier for law enforcement to take away guns from people considered a threat. He also would like to see an armed, trained employee at schools.
Robinson offered two ideas to open up dialogue between Coloradans.
He said as governor he would like to meet with lawmakers and their families on a more social basis so they could get to know each other and not focus on demonizing each other based on differences.
He would also like to set aside one day each month for any Coloradan to meet with the governor for five minutes.
Robinson will face Greg Lopez, Victor Mitchell and Walker Stapleton in the Republican primary June 26.
rsimonovich@durangoherald.com
