Jared Polis is candidate best suited to be next governor» »

Coloradans have the chance to cast their vote this fall for a governor who is thoughtful, innovative and has proved his mettle as a leader both in the business world and as a congressman for the past decade.

Jared Polis, 43, has a vision for this great state that is easy to support, and critically, we think he has the gumption to actually deliver results.

Don’t get us wrong, we share in the skepticism that Polis can deliver on all he has promised with the limited resources in Colorado’s state budget. But we’re also excited to see him try.

Polis’ dreams aren’t small: universal preschool, fully funded allday kindergarten, a state run on renewable energy by 2040, and affordable health insurance for all.

He understands that a strong education system is an investment in the future. And he doesn’t just talk the talk; Polis has put in the leg work to demonstrate a true commitment to and knowledge of making sure every child in Colorado receives a great education.

After becoming a selfmade multimillionaire, Polis’ political career began on the State Board of Education. He founded a network of charter schools: the New America Schools for atrisk youth and nonenglish speakers and the Academy of Urban Learning in Denver for pregnant teenagers, homeless youth and other atrisk students.

He carried his education knowledge with him to Congress where he not only worked on fixing the No Child Left Behind Act, but was a member of the conference committee that negotiated the final bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act eventually signed by President Barack Obama.

And he’s the father of a 7yearold and a 4yearold.

Schools need adequate resources to be great, and Polis is willing to scrape together the money needed to make sure our kids succeed. He plans to explore getting private investors to fund his early childhood education goals in exchange for a promised return on their investment based on the savings realized later by the state through the reduced need of expensive remediation, class repetition and special education.

We’re not sure if that’ll work, but it shows a willingness to problem solve that is critical for the head of a state.

Polis’ opponent, Walker Stapleton, is also a successful businessman, and he is a father of three who cares deeply about Colorado. But the current state Treasurer’s vision seems less welldefined and is based in large part on a dedication to fiscally sound practices.

While admirable, it isn’t as critical a priority in a place like Colorado where voters must approve tax increases and debt increases and where the annual budget must be balanced (according to law) — on time, every year.

Stapleton has made immigration a major issue in his public campaign, which we think is overstating the impact a mostly federal problem is having on the daytoday lives of Coloradans.

There are much more important issues than making sure that the rare person arrested on a felony charge and released from jail while awaiting a trial is instead held until federal immigration officials can make their own apprehension.

In contrast, Polis says he trusts local law enforcement to come up with policies that are right for their communities, whether that is a sheriff in a rural county who works handinhand with immigration officials or Denver County law enforcement who have adopted an official policy to do the bare minimum required of them by law. Polis says he would not support a state wide mandate that law enforcement adopt a Denver approach to the issue.

On energy, Polis is fundamentally in line with the opinion this editorial board has long held — carbon emissions are warming our planet and government should play a role in making the transition away from fossil fuels happen quickly. Rushing to all renewable energy by 2040 might be too aggressive for Colorado ratepayers and we would urge Polis to wield the carrot and the stick with caution.

Finally, although Polis says health care is a human right, he also hasn’t signed onto Sen. Bernie Sander’s universal health care proposal at the federal level and he opposed Amendment 69 in Colorado which would have created Coloradocare at great cost to this state.

Polis says any plan would have to reduce the existing costs of health insurance for Coloradans and not increase costs for some so all could be covered.

Coloradans would be fortunate to have Polis as governor pushing for a brighter future.

He’s won our endorsement and we hope he wins your vote.