Republicans hit big issues — oil and gas and marijuana

Questions over oil and gas development, education policy, water rights, legal marijuana and mental health in Colorado dominated what was overall a friendly debate Monday night between seven Republican candidates running for governor.

However, the men on stage — candidate Cynthia Coffman, Colorado’s attorney general, was not able to attend because of a scheduling conflict — quickly homed in on a common enemy. Jared Polis, the U.S. congressman vying for the state’s top job from the Democratic side, came under fire from a couple of the GOP candidates.

Colorado treasurer Walker Stapleton hit the Boulder Democrat the hardest, saying Polis’ tough stance on oil and gas drilling in the state will give Coloradans “an economic future none of us can afford in Colorado.”

“The threat that matters is Jared Polis,” Stapleton said later toward the end of the evening, noting Polis’ massive personal wealth that could fund a long and bruising general election campaign next year.

Republican firebrand Tom Tancredo, who only entered the race on the last day of October, also called Polis out by name and focused first and fiercest on the issue that he has become synonymous with: illegal immigration.

“None of these people should be here to begin with,” he said of those who have entered the country unlawfully.

He also criticized cities in Colorado, like Denver and Boulder, that he said are giving safe harbor to those who are in the United States illegally.

“It is against the law to have a sanctuary city,” Tancredo said at the forum, which was hosted by the Republican Women of Weld at The Historic Fort in Fort Lupton.

Aside from Tancredo and Stapleton, the forum featured Doug Robinson, an investment banker and nephew of Mitt Romney; Victor Mitchell, a businessman and former state lawmaker; Larimer County Commissioner Lew Gaiter; Steve Barlock, co-chair of President Trump’s Colorado presidential campaign; and Greg Lopez, former mayor of Parker who also served as the Colorado state director of the Small Business Administration.

The past couple of weeks’ lead-up to Monday’s forum has featured significant political shifts in the 2018 gubernatorial contest, with Tancredo’s entry into the race last month and Coffman’s decision to throw her hat in the ring last week.

Aside from Coffman’s absence at the debate, Republican George Brauchler, who was once considered a leading contender in the race, was also not there. The district attorney for the 18th Judicial District announced on Monday that he will suspend his gubernatorial campaign and instead enter the race for attorney general.

The contest for governor includes at least five people running on the Democratic side, the most notable being Polis. They have said they are generally running on a platform that includes as a central component pushing back against the Trump administration’s policies, on topics from immigration to the environment.

The oil and gas industry is also expected to be a focal point in the race for governor. On that topic, Mitchell echoed a common theme Monday, saying that rules and regulations are smothering the energy industry in Colorado and need to be rolled back. In all, he advocated getting rid of 100,000 pages of regulations currently guiding businesses in the state.

“We are the most regulated state for oil and gas in the country,” he said.

In all, he advocated getting rid of 100,000 pages of regulations currently guiding businesses in the state.

Robinson said oil and gas extraction has a $32 billion economic impact in the state and the industry is responsible for creating many high-paying jobs.

“Those are the jobs we want in Colorado,” he said.

Recent efforts by cities and counties in Colorado to place stricter limits on oil and gas activity is a “threat” to the industry, he said. All the candidates agreed that the industry should be regulated at the state level — not at the municipal level.

Lopez said the tensions over oil and gas are akin to many of the battles taking place between outlying parts of the state, where energy agriculture dominate, and the urban Front Range.

“This country is divided, our state is divided between urban and rural,” he said.

Tancredo labeled the growing anger over oil and gas activity closer to homes and schools in the suburbs north of Denver as an “irra tional opposition.”

“It’s based on a hatred for that industry and the development that comes with it,” he said.