House District 28

Incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet joined the U.S. Senate in 2009 after Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter appointed him to succeed Sen. Ken Salazar after Salazar was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Barack Obama. Prior to his appointment, Bennet served as Superintendent of Denver Public Schools, presiding over increased student enrollment and graduation rates.

Sen. Bennet won his first full term in office in the close 2010 election against Rep. Ken Buck. In 2013, Bennet played a key role as a member of the Gang of Eight in the passage of comprehensive immigration reform out of the U.S. Senate. In twelve years of service in the Senate, Sen. Bennet has been a consistent supporter of voting rights, abortion rights, nondiscrimination and LGBTQ+ rights, reducing gun violence, environmental protection and confronting human-caused climate change, and ending the failed War on Drugs.

Sen. Bennet's signature policy achievement in office came with the March 2021 passage of the Child Tax Credit expansion as part of the American Rescue Plan. The expanded Child Tax Credit resulted in an historic reduction in child poverty for the one-year period in which the program was fully funded. Sen. Bennet's top priority in 2023 is to make the Child Tax Credit expansion permanent. In 2019, Sen. Bennet joined with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney to call for a universal basic income standard for children.

Sen. Bennet can negotiate with Republicans across the aisle and influence policy with the Democratic Senate majority and the White House. Bennet was the driving force behind President Joe Biden's establishment of a new national monument at Camp Hale and drilling protections in the ecologically sensitive Thompson Divide.

Sen. Bennet's opponent, concrete executive Joe O'Dea, tried and failed to hide his far-right agenda from Colorado voters. During the Republican primary, O'Dea claimed to be "personally very pro-life," and proudly admitted after winning the nomination that he was a supporter of Proposition 115, an abortion restriction measure that failed overwhelmingly in 2020. Despite this, O'Dea has falsely claimed to be "pro choice" in deceptive campaign ads. O'Dea was proud to claim the support of members of the Trump administration during the primary, then tried to back away from Trump after winning the nomination.

The contrast between Michael Bennet's record of service and policy wins in the U.S. Senate and Joe O'Dea's empty promises concealing a right-wing agenda could not be greater. Bennet is the clear progressive choice.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a lawyer and former Army Ranger who completed three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, is running for reelection in Colorado's 6th Congressional District. In 2018, he defeated longtime Republican incumbent Mike Coffman to become the first Democrat ever to represent this district.

Before serving in Congress, Crow spent years helping veterans like himself who struggled to receive benefits, focusing his work on veteran homelessness and substance abuse issues. Then, during his first term, Crow stepped into the national spotlight as one of the seven impeachment managers who argued for Donald Trump’s removal from office during the Senate trial. Crow made the case that Trump put both Ukraine’s safety and the U.S.’s national security at risk by withholding military aid in exchange for political favors.

Crow’s district is the most diverse in Colorado, with 1 in 5 residents being born outside the United States; Crow has said this is what makes his community such a special place to live. He supports protecting DREAMers and passing comprehensive immigration reform and has called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to end its contracts with private prison companies.

Crow has worked on instituting campaign finance reform. The first bill he sponsored, the End Dark Money Act, would prevent mega-donors from being able to hide their political contributions. His other priorities include preventing gun violence, combatting the effects of climate change, ensuring small businesses are able to thrive, and fighting for a bold investment in America’s infrastructure.

Rep. Crow's opponent Steven Monahan is a political newcomer and officer in the U.S. Naval Reserve. In Monahan's candidate questionnaire from the Denver Post, Monahan repeated discredited talking points about the Inflation Reduction Act and expressed support for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Rep. Crow has served the residents of the 6th Congressional District with distinction and is the clear progressive choice in this race.

State Sen. Brittany Pettersen is the progressive candidate running for the open 7th Congressional District seat being vacated by retiring long-time Rep. Ed Perlmutter. Pettersen has represented the west Denver suburbs since her original election in 2012 to the Colorado House, then succeeding Sen. Andy Kerr in Senate District 22 in 2019. Pettersen is opposed by Erik Aadland, an avowed election conspiracy theorist with no experience in public office.

In the Colorado General Assembly, Pettersen has been a leading advocate for criminal justice reform and combating the opioid addiction crisis that threatens communities across the state and nation. Pettersen helped pass landmark Equal Pay for Equal Work legislation which has been modeled in other states. Pettersen was one of the sponsors of the Colorado Option health insurance reform measure intended to reduce premiums on the individual market by up to 20%. In Congress, Petterson has promised to fight for the repeal of the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts and a fairer tax policy for all Americans.

Erik Aadland is an Army veteran with no political experience best known for his belief that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged." Aadland supports sweeping cuts to federal spending that would endanger social safety nets like Medicare and Social Security, and refuses to confirm that humans are impacting the global climate. Aadland also opposed Colorado's law codifying abortion rights while supporting the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

Pettersen is far and away the superior candidate to succeed Rep. Perlmutter and continue to provide strong progressive leadership to the 7th Congressional District.

Incumbent Gov. Jared Polis' record of public service to the state of Colorado goes back over two decades to his election in 2000 to serve as at-large member of the Colorado State Board of Education. After helping found the New America Schools to serve recent immigrant students focused on English language instruction, Polis was elected in 2008 to represent Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, succeeding Mark Udall who was elected to the U.S. Senate that year.

In the U.S. House, Polis was a strong advocate for health care and immigration reform, serving on the House Education, Natural Resources, and Rules Committees. Polis received an 89% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters after leading the fight for a variety of important environmental reform initiatives including reducing methane pollution, protecting clean water resources, and addressing the threat of human-caused global climate change.

Elected to his first term as Governor of Colorado in 2018, Polis quickly went to work with the progressive majority in the Colorado General Assembly to successfully enact a comprehensive agenda of health care reform, inclusive economic development, education funding, anti-discrimination and equal wage protections, and environmental justice legislation. Senate Bill 19-181, a fossil fuel extraction reform measure, fundamentally changed the purpose of Colorado's oil and gas oversight authorities to prioritize public health and environmental protection over industry profits.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Polis' leadership and deliberate work to minimize partisan conflict with the Trump administration helped the state reduce economic harm while keeping the state's overall death rate from the pandemic well below the national average. Once the threat of the pandemic's spread without vaccines and effective treatments was past, Polis was at the head of the curve nationally in working to re-open Colorado's economy.

Polis' opponent, University of Colorado Regent Heidi Ganahl, is the only remaining statewide Republican elected official after years of losses in recent elections. Ganahl described herself as "The MAGA candidate Colorado has been waiting for," and is by for the most openly pro-Trump candidate on the statewide ballot in Colorado. As CU Regent, Ganahl enthusiastically supported Trump coup plotter John Eastman's paid appointment as the school's "Visiting Conservative Scholar." Ganahl's campaign has employed key members of Trump's former legal team. Ganahl's platform of slashing state revenue while promising to pay for crucial state services has been widely denounced as unrealistic. As governor, Ganahl has pledged to roll back recently-passed legislation protecting abortion rights in Colorado.

Jared Polis has served the state of Colorado with distinction during one of the greatest period of crisis in the entire nation's history. The choice between Polis and Ganahl's Trump-style bad faith could not be easier. Polis deserves your vote.

Incumbent Secretary of State Jena Griswold is an attorney with experience in voting rights and accessibility. Before winning office in 2018, Griswold served as the director of Gov. John Hickenlooper's federal liaison in Washington, D.C. and as an attorney for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

As Secretary of State, Griswold has overseen elections featuring some of the highest rates of voter participation in America, while defending Colorado's gold standard mail ballot election system from repeated baseless attacks from President Donald Trump and election conspiracy theorists. Griswold conducted the initial investigation into a breach of election security by Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters that resulted in numerous felony charges against Peters.

Griswold's opponent, former Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson, severely damaged her once-commendable reputation for standing up to right-wing misinformation by campaigning with Republicans who dispute the results of the 2020 elections. Anderson has refused to condemn election deniers who support her campaign, claiming that would “divide or ostracize people.” Less than two years after Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections, Coloradans cannot responsibly entrust Pam Anderson and the Party of Trump with control over our elections.

Secretary Griswold is the clear progressive choice in this important statewide race.

Incumbent Treasurer Dave Young is running for his second term as Colorado Treasurer after winning office in 2018. Prior to Young's election as Treasurer, he served as a state legislature representing House District 50 in Weld County. In the legislature, Young served on the powerful Joint Budget Committee and chaired the House Appropriations Committee, some of the most important fiscal posts in the General Assembly. On the JBC, Young worked across the aisle each year to hammer out the state's most important annual piece of legislation, the "Long Bill" general fund budget. In 2013, Young helped communities he represents recover from that year's devastating floods.

As Treasurer, Young worked closely with Gov. Jared Polis to successfully manage the COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on keeping Colorado's small business afloat during the worst of the crisis and swiftly reopening Colorado's economy once it was safe to do so. Young has also worked to streamline and expedite payments to Colorado property owners under the Great Colorado Payback program.

Young's opponent is Lang Sias, a perennial candidate for a variety of elected offices in Colorado who most recently lost the election to serve as lieutenant governor under Walker Stapleton in 2018. While serving in the U.S. Navy, Lang Sias attended a pilot's convention known as "Tailhook" in 1991 that resulted in nationwide scandal, with allegations of sexual assault committed against 83 women and seven men. Currently a FedEx pilot, Sias' run for this office is due to its availability, not Sias' fiscal policy experience.

Re-electing Treasurer Dave Young should be one of the easiest choices on this year's ballot.

Incumbent Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is seeking his second term after winning office in 2018. Prior to serving as Colorado Attorney General, Weiser served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Justice Department during the Obama administration. Weiser also served as a senior counsel at the Justice Department Antitrust Division during the Clinton Administration. Early in his career, Weiser served as a law clerk for Justices Byron White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

As Colorado's Attorney General, Weiser has fought to defend Colorado's historic recent progress on health care reform, protecting consumers from exploitation, anti-discrimination laws and Colorado's gold standard election system. Weiser was a nationwide leader in holding drug manufacturers accountable for their role in the opioid addiction crisis, as well as legal action to forgive the student loans of thousands of victims of predatory lenders and scam for-profit colleges.

Weiser's opponent is District Attorney John Kellner, who succeeded George Brauchler as Arapahoe County DA after Brauchler lost his race for Attorney General in 2018. Kellner's dishonest attacks on Weiser over Colorado's crime rate ignore the stark increase that has occurred in Kellner's own district during the same period. Kellner has expressed his support for the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, and has promised to "support Colorado law" despite his fellow Republicans' determination to repeal Colorado laws protecting abortion rights.

Phil Weiser has done an examplary job as the state's chief attorney, and has earned a second term in office.

Kathy Plomar has been heavily invested in public education as former President of the Adams 12 Board of Education and former President of the Parent Teacher Organization. Plomar believes in bringing people together with different life experiences to ensure all kids receive an excellent education. Plomar lists three key priorities that will define her work as an at-large State Board of Education member: academic excellence, respecting teachers, and transparency and accountability. Plomar is a solid progressive choice for the State Board of Education.

The Republican candidate for this seat is Dan Maloit, a parent of three and a medical device sales manager. Maloit recently became involved in politics when he organized for the reopening of schools for full-time, in-person learning in August of 2020, before the development of any COVID-19 vaccines or effective treatments. We recommend voting for Plomar.

Incumbent Rebecca McClellan has served the 6th Congressional District on the Colorado State Board of Education since 2017. She has taken various roles on the board including a term as the Board Liaison to the Colorado Special Education Advisory Committee, as well as State Board Legislative Liaison. More recently she has been fighting against conservative board members who have been advocating for conservative social studies standards that erase LGBT people and people of color from history. McClellan has proven to be a defender of education and Colorado needs her continued leadership. McClellan is the progressive choice.

Molly Lamar is the Republican candidate. Lamar has been endorsed by many conservative Republicans including Steve Durham, a conservative extremist State Board of Education incumbent that represents the 5th Congressional District. Lamar would be a dangerous addition to the State Board of Education.

Long-time labor leader Sheila Lieder is running to represent Colorado House District 28. Lieder is running to champion working Jefferson County families. The mother of an Eagle Scout, Lieder has been a fixture in her community and the labor movement for years, including as a longtime volunteer for the Colorado Alliance of Retirees. Lieder is running to make Colorado more affordable for working families, protect public education, save Coloradans money on health care, protect abortion and reproductive rights, and make Jefferson County safer. Lieder has a proven track record of standing up for Colorado working families.

Lieder is the progressive choice for House District 28.