The Colorado labor movement held a Jared Polis hate-fest Thursday on the west steps of the state Capitol.
“Shame on Polis!” about 200 demonstrators shouted. Some were wearing “POLIS FAILED WORKERS” T-shirts. A banner hanging above their head said “GOVERNOR POLIS TURNED HIS BACK ON US.” Expletives flowed freely.
Union leaders are livid at Colorado’s governor for vetoing a trio of their priority bills last week, but they used Thursday to air broader grievances against Polis, including that he hasn’t joined workers on a picket line since becoming the state’s chief executive.
“The end of the school year report cards are going up,” Dennis Dougherty, head of the Colorado AFL-CIO, told rallygoers. “Jared Polis, you got an ‘F.’ But here’s the thing: there’s two more years of report cards left. You’ve got a chance to do right by Colorado workers.”
A who’s who of Democratic leaders were at the rally, including Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Treasurer Dave Young, Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib, House Majority Leader Monica Duran and Senate Majority Leader Robert Rodriguez. About two dozen other Democratic state lawmakers attended.
The labor movement has been the backbone of the Democratic Party nationally for decades. But union leaders in Colorado have complained in recent years that Democrats haven’t done enough with their historic majorities to benefit workers. And if Polis, who has two years left on his second and final term as governor, has future political ambitions — his name is often floated in presidential conversations — a rift with labor could haunt him.
The spark for the rally was ignited last Friday, when the governor issued six vetoes at 6:20 p.m. The timing had the effect of minimizing media attention heading into the weekend. The labor movement is angry with three of them:
Polis, through a spokesperson, defended the vetoes in a statement to The Sun, saying he supports worker rights and is open to negotiating a compromise on the measures between now and the 2025 legislative session.
“The reality is, Gov. Polis has expanded collective bargaining rights for tens of thousands of workers, including bargaining rights for state employees and local government workers,” spokesperson Shelby Wieman said in a statement. “Gov. Polis was clear in his vetoes that while each of the bills had good aspects, the bills in their final form were not in the best interest of the state, and our requests to the legislators to improve the bills were rejected. He remains open to working on each of these policies ahead of the next session to craft laws that support the objectives of the sponsors and organizations.”
Dougherty, the AFL-CIO leader, said the compromises that were on the table “would have gutted our bills.”
“We’re not budging,” he said.
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CORRECTION: An item in Tuesday’s newsletter misreported when two Republican primary debates for candidates running in the 4th Congressional District and moderated by journalists will be held. The first is May 29 and will be hosted by CBS Colorado. The second is May 30 and will be hosted by 9News.
GETTING COVER
Business interests this week proactively issued statements supporting the governor and his vetoes, apparently aimed at providing him some cover ahead of the Thursday rally.
The Associated Builders and Contractors Rocky Mountain Chapter said House Bill 1008 and 1260 were both problematic.
“We support the veto of House Bill 1008 because it went awry in targeting a single industry and inflicting consequences on all participants — even the 99-plus percent of good actors,” said the group’s president, Jack Tate, a Republican former state senator. “Simply, to use a metaphor, such a law would bruise every apple in the barrel to manage a couple of bad apples at the bottom. Finally, these consequences would have manifested themselves in higher construction costs to customers and the squeezing out of small businesses — many of them minority-owned.”
Tate said House Bill 1260 was so broad that it would have prevented employers from talking to their workers about candidates, legislative policy and ballot initiatives. He said it was “anti-free speech.”
The Hispanic Contractors of Colorado sent Polis a letter Wednesday thanking him for vetoing House Bill 1008, saying under the measure “general contractors would bear the weight of wage theft claims across all subcontractor tiers, despite all their proper process.” The Colorado Chamber of Commerce said 1008 was a job killer that wouldn’t solve wage theft.
Progressive lawmakers and groups, however, are still piping mad.
Duran was a main sponsor of both 1009 and 1260. She said at the rally that she was disappointed and upset with Polis.
“All of these bills would have been monumental strides to support our working families and ensure that Coloradans are treated with respect, dignity and paid the wages they are owed,” she told rallygoers.
State Sen. Jessie Danielson, a Wheat Ridge Democrat who sponsored all three of the union-priority bills vetoed by Polis, said the governor sided with Republicans and lobbyists in rejecting the measures.
“The Democratic Party is currently in a fight for its soul,” said Bryan Lindstrom, a Democratic state House candidate, “a fight between those champions fighting for the working class and those who sell out to corporate interests.”
Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat, told The Sun in an interview that the governor’s vetoes — coupled with the legislative defeats of a number of consumer protection-oriented bills at the state Capitol this year — show the ongoing “power of the corporate lobby” in an era of Democratic majorities.
“Other states have protections that we’re looking at bringing and the sky hasn’t fallen on business,” Mabrey said. “The forecast of the economy halting if we pass basic consumer (and labor) protections isn’t borne out when you look at what happens in other states.”
THE NARRATIVE
Trisha Calverese, Greg Lopez start debating
Republican Greg Lopez and Democrat Trisha Calvarese, who are running against each other in the June 25 special election in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, faced off this week in a 30-minute debate moderated by Dan Caplis on his conservative talk radio show.
It’s the first of three debates scheduled ahead of Election Day. One on June 1 will be moderated by Jesse and Colorado Politics reporter Ernest Luning at the “Republican Rumble” hosted by the Republican Women of Weld.
The candidates spent most of the Caplis debate talking about their broad leadership philosophies, though they drew contrasts on abortion and around funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Calvarese said she would support federal legislation codifying Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decision protecting the right to an abortion without excessive government restriction. The court overturned the decision in 2022.
“The thought of a national abortion ban is terrifying,” Calvarese said, adding that abortion bans lead to maternal death.
Lopez said the 10th Amendment gives states the right to decide if and how to regulate abortion. When he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, he said he supported repealing Colorado’s law authorizing nearly unfettered abortion access and that he believes the procedure should be banned without exception.
On Ukraine, Lopez said he opposed additional federal funding given the national debt.
“For now, we need to have a stop on funding Ukraine,” he said. “I think we need to reevaluate: ‘Is it really a crisis for us?’”
Calvarese said the aid should continue. “Putin must be stopped,” she said. “We know he’s not going to stop in Ukraine.”
Finally, the two differed on military and financial aid for Israel, with Lopez saying it should continue. “We have to remember who started this crisis,” he said of Hamas.
Calverese said the U.S. should apply the so-called Leahy rule, named after former Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy and prohibiting military assistance to countries that have committed a gross violation of human rights.
“I think we need to apply the Leahy rule, apply the conditions that are already on the books and make sure that they meet the standards,” she said.
CALVARESE VS. BOEBERT POLL
Calvarese’s campaign gave Politico the results of an internal poll of a hypothetical matchup between her and Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in November. (Both must win crowded primaries on June 25 for that to happen.)
The Keating Research survey, conducted from April 18-24 among 500 likely November voters, showed Boebert leading by 10 percentage points, 46%-36%. The polling memo provided by the campaign didn’t include more information, but we’d guess the unaccounted for 18% were undecided or didn’t know.
The poll also tested Boebert’s favorability. Forty-seven percent said they viewed her unfavorably while 30% said they viewed her favorably. Eighty-two percent said they were unfamiliar with Calverese.
The poll had a 4.4 percentage point margin of error.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
BELL POLICY CENTER
House Speaker Pro Tempore Chris DeGruy Kennedy, a Lakewood Democrat, will become president and CEO of the Bell Policy Center on July 1. The liberal leaning fiscal policy nonprofit is currently led by Scott Wasserman, who is departing to form Thinking Forward, a political and policy consulting firm. DeGruy Kennedy, who is term-limited, has been central to the legislative conversation in recent years about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and property taxes. “It’s been wonderful partnering with the Bell Policy Center on numerous policy priorities over the time I served in the legislature,” deGruy Kennedy said in a written statement. “Together, we’ve made great progress expanding economic opportunities for the people of Colorado.”
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, who has survived multiple bouts of cancer, was admitted to a hospital Wednesday night to be treated for an undisclosed infection. Gov. Jared Polis said in a written statement that she planned to continue working during her treatment and that she “is one of the strongest and toughest people I know.”
3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd began airing TV ads in the 3rd Congressional District Wednesday. He is the first of the six Republican candidates running to represent the district to purchase TV air time. His first ad focuses on energy production and slams President Joe Biden’s policies. It’s set to run through June 4. Hurd’s campaign has spent $27,000 to air the spot thus far on traditional TV stations, according to Federal Communications Commission contracts. The campaign says it expects to spend six figures on advertising through the June 25 primary.
8TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, announced Wednesday that it’s reserving $5.1 million in TV ad time in Colorado’s tossup 8th Congressional District as part of a $141 million national ad campaign. The ads will target U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, D-Thornton. House Majority PAC, a Democratic group, previously announced $3.9 million in advertising in Colorado that will likely target Caraveo’s Republican opponent, either state Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton or former state Rep. Janak Joshi of Thornton. Meanwhile, The Washington Examiner reports Caraveo and two other first-term Democratic House members recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to the National Republican Congressional Committee in response to a news release issued by the group claiming the three support Hamas.
4TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Add two more 4th Congressional District debates to your calendar. The League of Women Voters will hold a virtual forum for Democratic candidates in the race on May 29. There will be a virtual forum for Republican candidates on June 5.
LAUREN BOEBERT
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is spending more than $175,000 to air more than 11,000 cable TV ads in the 4th Congressional District between this week and the June 25 Republican primary. She faces five opponents for the GOP nomination and is the only candidate in the race airing TV ads thus far.
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THIS WEEK’S PODCAST: Jared Polis talks about the 2024 legislative session
COLORADO GOP
GOP fundraising letter links Trump, Williams
Republicans in El Paso County are receiving a four-page fundraising letter in the mail this week from the Colorado GOP, prominently featuring a photo of party Chairman Dave Williams on the first page.
The letter is the latest example of Williams using his position as chairman to boost his profile ahead of the June 25 primary in which he’s running to represent the 5th Congressional District, which is solely limited to El Paso County. Williams faced criticism earlier this year for another party mailer circulated in the county that attacked his primary opponent, conservative commentator and political activist Jeff Crank.
The latest missive begins with a quote from former President Donald Trump claiming that because of Williams’ efforts, “we are going to win Colorado.” It goes on to mention Trump another 20 times and includes a Colorado GOP donation form.
In asking for cash to help support the party and Trump, the letter bashes Colorado media outlets— including The Colorado Sun — past Republican leadership and “left-wing dark money.” It also tries to make the case that Trump can beat Joe Biden in Colorado after losing to him by 13 percentage points in 2020.
“Colorado isn’t a blue state,” the letter claims.
Williams wrote that ”Democrats should be terrified.”
“I hate to admit it, but right now, the Democrats are beating us at the ground game,” the fourth page says. “They’ve got more staff, more offices, better technology, and seemingly more of everything.”
LATEST FUNDRAISING NUMBERS
April fundraising filings by the Colorado GOP and Colorado Democratic Party show their financial health.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
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Corrections & Clarifications
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