Colorado Governor Jared Polis Launches Reelection Campaign

It’s official, folks: As his first term—which began January 8, 2019—winds down, Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced he will be running for a second term as governor. Polis has become a prominent figure in Colorado politics and history as a whole, as the first Jewish governor of Colorado, the first governor to be engaged to a same-gender partner, and the first openly gay man to be elected governor of a U.S. state.

The video announcement was first posted on Polis’ Twitter account Tuesday morning.

“I’m Jared Polis. I’m Colorado’s Governor. And today, I’m making it official—I’m running for re-election here in America’s greatest state,” the text portion begins, ahead of the two-minute video announcement.

I’m Jared Polis. I’m Colorado’s Governor. And today I’m making it official — I’m running for re-election here in America’s greatest state.

This is an all-hands-on-deck movement to protect our progress & keep Colorado moving forward.

Please retweet & follow to show your support! pic.twitter.com/LctFYUUC9m

— Jared Polis (@PolisForCO) February 15, 2022

In the video announcement, he adds, “I don’t have to tell Coloradans what the last few years have been like; you’ve lived it. We’re still living it. But Colorado has always been about moving forward, not turning back. So I’ve never stopped working to build a better Colorado for generations to come.”

Polis’ re-election campaign includes few of the many, more dramatic proposals that surrounded his first campaign, though he’s zeroing in on messages surrounding improving public safety and “saving people money,” like delaying a two-cent-per-gallon surcharge for gas and reducing registration fees. Though, republican opponents argue that Polis has either acted too late on these issues or that he has contributed to them. The gas fee which Polis has asked to delay, for example, was part of a democratic transportation spending package he approved.

Polis is also reminding voters of some larger priorities that were approved during his first term but are still in the implementation process, like free full-day kindergarten, preparing for a universal pre-K, and drafting the “Colorado option” healthcare plan.

Polis’ response to COVID-19 has also caught the attention of Coloradans and folks nationwide, as he relaxed state mask restrictions and declare the emergency for state government was over, pushing for a quicker reopening. He holds true that governors across the country will need to adapt to endemic circumstances eventually and that there’s only so much he can do for those persistently unvaccinated.

“We have a very powerful tool in three doses of the vaccine to prevent severe health outcomes from COVID-19. And we’ve done everything in our power to use it along with that means that we have to go about our lives,” Polis says in an interview this week.

His approach—which he’s suggested cannot necessarily be fully replicated in other states because of differences in population, geography, health—has been met with polarizing responses. A new NY Mag piece outlines how his “approach tends to be working,” both in terms of public health and for his political career, with Colorado seeing the 10th-lowest COVID death rate per capita in the country.

Though, some critics on the left suggest that dropping the mask mandate was an effort to pander to conservative and libertarian voters ahead of reelection, with little consideration for the immunocompromised, the elderly, and children who can’t get the vaccine. Others suggest that Polis shouldn’t get credit for deferring judgment decisions to individual counties.

Starting up the new campaign, Polis says he is planning 22 stops in cities and towns across the state over the next week.