I’m good friends with Phil Weiser and Michael Bennet. I think the world of both of them.
So let me start with the easy part. Colorado is going to be in good hands regardless of who wins the Democratic primary on June 30th. Whoever wins is highly likely to be our next governor, and they’ll be a smart, decent, and hardworking person in the job. I’ve spent real time with both Phil and Michael over many years. I’d be glad to have either one as governor of Colorado.
That said, I’m supporting Phil.
Not because Michael isn’t excellent. He is. It’s because of what I’ve learned about Phil from working alongside him for the past 25 years.
I met Phil in 1999, when he founded the Silicon Flatirons Center at CU Boulder. (The name is terrible, and I’ve teased him about it for over two decades.) That’s where I first saw how he works. Over the years we collaborated on Startup Colorado, Governor Bill Ritter’s Innovation Council, and a long list of other projects. But the part that stuck with me was never really about any of the work we did together. It was watching how Phil shows up and engages with people around complex issues.
He listens. He acknowledges when he’s wrong, and he changes his mind when he gets new and compelling data. He can get people who see things very differently to work on something together.
He asks “how can I help,” and then he does the actual work. That’s rare. My experience is that a lot of people in government say “how can I help” as a throwaway line. Phil means it, and he’s been doing it in Colorado for a long time.
Phil has never done this for just one kind of Coloradan. As a law school dean, he put young lawyers into rural district attorney offices that couldn’t fill the jobs. He helped start CareerWise, which builds apprenticeships and real careers for kids who aren’t going to college. He fought to get broadband to the parts of the state people on the Front Range often forget about, except when driving west on I-70. For the last seven years, as our Attorney General, he’s been the people’s lawyer – going after the scams that prey on seniors, the companies that cheat working families, and the opioid epidemic that hit small Colorado towns the hardest.
The next four years are going to be challenging ones for Colorado. People across the whole state – in Denver, on the Eastern Plains, and on the Western Slope – are worried about the cost of living, whether their kids can afford to stay here, and whether the next generation gets the same opportunities they did. I want a governor who has spent his whole career working for the Coloradans who usually get overlooked, not just the ones who were always going to be fine. That’s Phil.
Michael is one of the most thoughtful people in American public life. If he wins, I’ll support him, cheer him on, and help him in any way I can. I just think Phil is the right fit for this particular moment.
Because Foundry is a registered investment advisor, I’m only allowed to give “a nominal amount” to Phil’s campaign. So I’m doing the thing I’m allowed to do, which is use my voice. My partner Seth wrote a terrific post laying out more of the specifics, especially around policy. Go read his post. Then go look at philforcolorado.com.
Ballots are out now. The primary is June 30th. Please vote.
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