Polis picture taking shape
“Boulder liberal” is instead a libertarian who is cool under pressure and knows how to impose his will.
Voting for any politician takes a bit of hope. Much like a romantic partner, you wonder: What are they really like to live with?
Last fall, Coloradans decisively sent Democrat Jared Polis to the governor’s mansion after he ran one of the most disciplined campaigns in modern history. The entrepreneur-slash-congressman won voters over by consistently plugging his platform: expanded early childhood education, clean energy, universal health care.
Anyone hoping to get a sense of which sort of executive leadership style or personal touches Polis would bring to the office, however, was left wondering. He rarely let his guard down as he crisscrossed Colorado.
Now, as Polis settles into his fifth month in office with his first legislative session behind him, a picture is emerging.
First, he’s willing to use the power of his office to get what he wants, but he still has a learning curve.
Polis made it clear within days of his swearing-in that his most important legislative priority was
finding a way to pay for full-day kindergarten. Closing that gap has long been out of reach for legislators in both parties.
Polis used his might to make it happen. First, he took the unusual step of publicly lobbying each member of the state’s budget committee, sharing how much each of their own school districts would save if they approved the money. Then he went on a statewide media tour of kindergarten classrooms, making sure local press was in tow. And behind the scenes, he and his team put pressure on both the budget committee and other legislative leaders to make kindergarten happen.
“When Gov. Polis sets his mind to something, he’s going to be steadfast toward that goal, toward that thing he wants. Full-day kindergarten is a good example of that,” said Amie Baca-oehlert, president of the Colorado Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union. “He provided leadership from the governor’s seat to really drive that issue.”
Polis and his team ensured other priorities — such as an overhaul to how the state regulates oil and gas and several health care bills — made it to his desk while stopping a handful of other proposals he found problematic.
However, Polis, an avid baseball player since childhood, did not bat a thousand at the Capitol.
The tension between Polis, who was new to the Capitol, and legislative leaders, who have spent years crafting policy under the gold dome, was often felt inside the building.
“I found it interesting that he was so surprised that the legislature had its own mind on how things should go,” said Paula Noonan, founder of Colorado Capitol Watch, a bill tracking service.
Polis’ biggest public defeat came late in the session, when he pushed for a bill to ask voters to raise taxes on tobacco. It failed in the state Senate on May 2, the eve of the legislature’s last day. Lawmakers and Capitol observers suggested he failed to do the proper outreach and vote count, assuming his Democratic colleagues would just fall in line.
And while he asked lawmakers during his early January State of the State address to send him a tax reform bill that would lower the state’s income tax, nothing substantial came of it. Polis hinted he was interested in working with state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg on the tax cut, but his lukewarm support for the Sterling Republican’s proposal received pushback and the bill was ultimately killed at the committee level.
The governor isn’t afraid to say no to his friends
Polis’ laser focus left some lawmakers wondering about their own priorities.
While the governor signaled during the campaign he would sign a repeal of the death penalty and wanted to help create a paid family leave insurance program, he didn’t use his political capital to make those proposals a reality this year.
His office was also instrumental in making sure an immigration bill known as Virginia’s Law, which would have largely prevented local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials, was not introduced.
Nicole Melaku, executive director of the immigrants’ rights group CIRC Action Fund, said she was grateful that Polis tried to work with her coalition but was ultimately disappointed that Polis and other Democratic leaders didn’t “navigate” their majority well.
“I think we could be a little bolder,” said. “When you go into office you go there to lead boldly.”
She added: “When he presented a bold vision of a ‘Colorado for all,’ we truly hope that means protecting the ‘all’ — the most vulnerable among us who are susceptible to rogue ICE operations in our state.”
He’s a libertarian after all
During the campaign, Republicans tried to paint Polis as an outof-touch “Boulder liberal.” His supporters pointed out, however, that Polis had a libertarian streak that they were sure would show itself when it came to policymaking.
“People made assumptions about Jared that because he was from Boulder, he was going to be a particular way,” said House Speaker KC Becker, also of Boulder. “I knew that wasn’t the case all along. He’s an independent thinker.”
Polis’ libertarian streak figured into three key bills: First, oil and gas reform, which gave new powers to local governments to regulate the industry; two, the aforementioned immigration bill, which Polis saw as a threat to local law enforcement’s authority; and three, a failed bill that would have made it more difficult for parents to opt their children out of vaccinations.
“I don’t mean to put words into his mouth,” said state Senate Minority Leader Chris Holbert, a Parker Republican, “but the bill wasn’t about requiring vaccinations. It was about civil liberties and government getting more involved. That seems to be something he wasn’t entirely comfortable with.”
Committed to diversity but doesn’t have right mix
Being the first openly gay man elected to lead a state, there is a certain expectation that diversity matters to Polis. His inauguration theme, “Colorado for all,” was a nod to that. While Polis declined to commit to any sort of quotas for his senior staff during the campaign, the governor has boasted on several occasions that more than half his Cabinet are women.
However, Polis’ team lacks diversity in other ways. First, there are no black people in his Cabinet — something John Bailey, program director for Colorado Black Round Table, pointed out last month in a letter to the governor.
“We’re not upset,” Bailey said. “I’m a veteran political guy. If you’re going to be in office for four years, I’m going to give you four or five months to get a handle. But we’re reminding a politician, who sought our support, that he promised certain things.”
He said his organization is scheduled to meet with Polis in June to discuss hiring more African-americans to senior roles and completing disparity studies.
Polis has also faced some scrutiny for a dearth of representation from the Eastern Plains on boards and commissions. During a news conference with reporters, he said his office would actively recruit folks from eastern Colorado when he visits there.
He’s cool under pressure
It didn’t take long for Polis to encounter his first nonlegislative emergency as the state’s chief executive. One month after taking office, his administration was forced to decide whether to intervene in a labor dispute between Denver teachers and the state’s largest school district.
Polis opted to allow the process to play out with his office acting as a sort of go-between. He refrained from making many public comments as both sides worked out details. Teachers went on a three-day strike, but a deal was ultimately reached. Both sides acknowledged Polis kept his cool and acted as a true liaison.
Since then, Polis has also led the state through another fatal school shooting.
After visiting the Douglas County emergency call center, which handled the response to the shooting, John Desjardins, one of the dispatchers, posted this on Polis’ Facebook wall: “Gov. Polis was very respectful, somber, and appreciative of the work we do. I can tell you this, in my 15 years of dispatching, this is the first time any elected official has made a point to come to visit with us. Regardless of your politics, his visit today spoke volumes to us, the first-first responders.”
He’s a big nerd
Polis isn’t known for his gift of small talk. He’s more of a nononsense kind of guy. But he also has developed a reputation for being a little goofy: He proudly and enthusiastically donned a beanie featuring the new state logo — indoors, in front of cameras — and he goes all out reading to schoolchildren.
Then there is his personal Twitter feed, on which he regularly posts obscure scientific articles about animals such as the whales with low genetic diversity and more recently congratulated a cartoon character for getting married.
“He is both a policy wonk and he has his nerd side,” Speaker Becker said. “And I don’t think policy wonk and nerd are the same things.”