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Walker Stapleton, the Republican nominee for Colorado governor in 2018, speaks to CBS4 about the race. (Screenshot)

President Donald Trump waded into the Colorado race for governor early Wednesday, saying in a tweet that Republican candidate Walker Stapleton “has my complete and total endorsement!”

“His credentials and talents are impeccable,” the tweet from Trump said.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1050004777034309633

Stapleton, Colorado’s treasurer, has aligned himself with Trump on a number of policies. For instance, he has touted how he quickly he embraced the GOP tax cut plan shepherded by the president.

But at times Stapleton has distanced himself from the man himself.

“I’ll work with the White House to make life better for Coloradans, and I’ll take it on an issue-by-issue basis,” he said in the final primary debate. “If something impacts Colorado negatively (or) the economic future of our state, I’ll stand up and let Washington know about it, regardless of who’s in charge.”

MORE: Republican voters want Walker Stapleton to be Donald Trump, and that could be a problem

A June poll showed that 40 percent of the state’s registered Republicans voting in the primary identified themselves as “Trump Republicans.”

Trump has been traveling around the U.S. to stump for other GOP candidates in the 2018 elections, but has not announced plans to visit Colorado — yet.

Stapleton is running against U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Boulder, to become the state’s next governor.

Polis has been endorsed by former President Barack Obama. Later this month, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, is expected to make stops in Boulder and Fort Collins on Polis’ behalf.

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The Colorado Sun — jesse@coloradosun.com

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Jesse Paul is a Denver-based political reporter and editor at The Colorado Sun, covering the state legislature, Congress and local politics. He is the author of The Unaffiliated newsletter and also occasionally fills in on breaking news coverage.

A Colorado College graduate, Jesse worked at The Denver Post from June 2014 until July 2018, when he joined The Sun. He was also an intern at The Gazette in Colorado Springs and The News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware, his hometown.

Jesse has won awards for long form feature writing, public service reporting, sustained coverage and deadline news reporting.


Email: jesse@coloradosun.com Twitter: @jesseapaul