Five candidates agreed Colorado has problems. Voters must decide who owns them

By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board

Colorado has become so expensive that starter homes are starting to sound less like milestones and more like bucket-list items.

Businesses are beginning to treat Colorado the way some retirees treat winter: nice place to visit, not entirely sure about staying.

The surprising part isn’t that Republicans said so.

It’s that Democrats did too.

During this week’s Republican and Democrat gubernatorial debates, candidates from both parties described a Colorado that is becoming harder to afford, harder to build in and harder to keep businesses in.

Nobody on either stage stood up to argue that things are going great.

A recent RMV report on Common Sense Institute data found Colorado lost a net 3,934 business establishments in 2024, ranked near the bottom nationally for net establishment growth and posted the nation’s worst employment losses tied to business openings and closures. Closures outpaced openings. Every neighboring state grew.

That was the backdrop for both debates.

The two nights asked different questions.

Republicans were arguing about why their party keeps losing statewide elections and who could finally break the streak.

Democrats were arguing about who should run Colorado next.

One conversation was about getting power.

The other was about keeping it.

The Republican debate often turned into Republicans debating Republicans.

Scott Bottoms called Victor Marx a con man who “conned my church.” Barb Kirkmeyer called Marx “unfit” and “unqualified.” Marx responded that neither of his rivals could win statewide anyway.

Beneath all the arguing were three very different answers.

Kirkmeyer’s answer was experience.

“The only person in this race that is actually qualified to be governor is me,” she said. “I’m the only one who’s actually ever governed.”

Bottoms’ answer was conviction.

“We’re just gonna do a silly little thing called the Constitution,” he said while arguing Colorado government has drifted from constitutional limits.

Marx’s answer was that Colorado has tried politicians long enough.

He opened with, “I’m not a politician.”

Kirkmeyer wasn’t letting that one pass. “Well, you are tonight.”

The disagreement wasn’t really about titles. It was about what Republicans think they need next.

For a party trying to build a united front, the evening sometimes felt less like a debate and more like three contractors explaining why the other two shouldn’t be allowed near the ladder.

What was missing Thursday night was a vigorous defense of where Colorado stands today.

Phil Weiser acknowledged that “for too many people, the Democratic Party doesn’t show up, listen and fight for you.”

Michael Bennet repeatedly returned to affordability, calling Colorado “the third most expensive state in America.”

Later, discussing Colorado’s business climate, Weiser said, “I don’t want companies to leave Colorado.”

Neither do we.

The awkward part is that these observations are arriving after nearly two decades of Democrat governors.

If Colorado is now “the third most expensive state in America,” as Bennet put it, and if businesses are leaving, as Weiser acknowledged, voters don’t need a moderator to supply the next question.

At one point Bennet argued:

“We need new leadership in Colorado.”

Democrats spent much of the evening explaining what needs fixing.

Voters may reasonably ask who has been holding the toolbox for the last decade.

To be fair, neither Democrat argued Colorado needs less government. Both generally argued Colorado needs different government.

Bennet spent much of the evening talking about new leadership. But when asked what bill signed by Polis he would have vetoed: “Nothing comes to mind.”

Minutes later, both Democrat candidates were asked whether the state should keep the money it would otherwise refund to taxpayers.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

There was no debate about it.

Just a one-word answer.

A TABOR refund is not a government benefit.

It is your money.

For voters who still view TABOR refunds as money being returned rather than money being given, that’s a notable answer.

Later in the debate, Kyle Clark pressed both Democrats to identify problems in Colorado that were not Donald Trump’s fault.

Bennet acknowledged Trump “didn’t cause those problems” when discussing housing and childcare costs. He called Trump “a symptom.”

Colorado’s affordability problems didn’t begin this year, and they didn’t begin during campaign season.

Five candidates from two parties painted remarkably similar pictures of a state that is becoming harder to afford, harder to build in and harder to keep businesses in.

Republicans spent Tuesday arguing about who should be allowed behind the wheel.

Democrats spent Thursday pointing at the dashboard warning lights.

The vehicle has been on the road awhile.

Ballots hit mailboxes June 8. 

Then Colorado voters get to sort it out.