Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet held a campaign event Monday in downtown Durango and emphasized, among a variety of his accomplishments, the need for young voters to participate in the upcoming midterm elections. Bennet, who has served in the Senate since 2009, faces a challenge from self-styled moderate Republican Joe O’Dea.
Bennet appeared on the patio of Carver Brewing Co., speaking for 45 minutes before a crowd of about 40 supporters. He began by listing Democrats’ recent accomplishments – the list was long. It included the recent infrastructure bill, the postal reform act that repealed the U.S. Postal Service’s mandate to pre-fund future pensions, the CHIPS Act that will invest in returning semiconductor production to the U.S., recent gun-control legislation and the Inflation Reduction Act, which Bennet called “the most significant piece of climate legislation that any government in the world has passed.”
But more important than any of those accomplishments, Bennet emphasized the need for voter participation. He began the event by making this point, sneaking in a joke about his colleague Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
“I am sick and tired of Amy Klobuchar telling everybody that Minnesota has the No. 1 voter turnout in America,” Bennet said. “She always goes out of her way to say that when I’m there because she knows Colorado is No. 2, we have the No. 2 voter turnout. So let’s be No. 1!”
Bennet’s speech included relatively little mention of his opponent, save for a few opportune jabs highlighting O’Dea’s contradictory claim to fiscal conservatism and support for Trump-era tax cuts for the wealthy. Instead, Bennet spring-boarded off the lasting damage of the Trump administration, calling on voters to seize the opportunity to continue moving past the Trump presidency.
One constituent made it a point to thank Bennet for his work to designate Camp Hale as a national monument, which President Joe Biden is expected do this week. Bennet had made the conservation of the World War II-era training at the camp a priority in the CORE Act, a piece of legislation that has stalled in Congress.
Teal Lehto, a member of the La Plata County Democrats executive committee, called on Bennet to generate enthusiasm among young voters given that 18- to 24-year-olds have historically displayed the lowest numbers of voter turnout.
“Young people are frustrated,” Lehto said. “They turned out to vote for Biden, even though they didn’t really like Biden. And we didn’t really get a whole lot out of the deal. And so when I’m talking to young voters, and I’m trying to encourage them to vote, there’s a general sense of apathy.”
In response, Bennet offered an ominous warning and highlighted several recent legislative accomplishments as points of inspiration for young voters.
“If you don’t show up, it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “And that’s a guarantee – that’s a guarantee that things are going to get worse.”
He also offered recent judicial nominations and legislative action to fight climate change as key talking points for young voters.
“Anytime as a young person, reaching out to a politician, you have to lower your expectations because you’re going to get a politician’s answer to whatever you ask,” Lehto said after the event. “I did find a little bit of inspiration in what he said in that there’s really nothing to lose. The two options are vote and maybe get something better or not vote and never get anything better, and I’d rather try maybe than never.”
Ballots will be mailed Oct. 17 in La Plata County. A link to the state’s voter registration form and more details about the election can be found on the county’s website.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
