By Deborah Grigsby | Colorado Politics
Two of the candidates for Colorado governor squared off in a televised debate on Thursday night, when Attorney General Phil Weiser, the Democratic nominee, and former U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez, an unaffiliated candidate, delved into issues of affordability, data center regulation and gun laws.
The debate’s tone was civil. The policy differences between the two were palpable.
Both candidates called out Republican nominee Victor Marx, a ministry leader and first-time candidate who declined to participate in the debate
On housing, Weiser argued that building more “starter” homes and lowering the barriers to buying them is the right approach. Along with bumping Colorado’s supply of owner-occupied housing by 40,000 by 2035, he proposed cutting permitting fees, incorporating modular homes and giving local governments incentives to modernize zoning rules.
“If we start building modular homes at scale in Colorado, they are 20% cheaper than ordinary homes,” Weiser said. “And I’ve got to tell you, to a modular home, you can’t tell the difference, and they’re 30% quicker.”
Weiser, a former dean of the University of Colorado Law School and U.S. Justice Department official, secured the Democratic nomination in the June 30 primary against three-term U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
Lopez, who agreed with Weiser that affordability is a problem, said understanding land use is key. He said he would sit down with builders and developers to reduce costs.
“You have to evaluate what it costs to build a home,” Lopez said. “Everybody just thinks that it’s the windows and the lumber. There’s a lot that goes into developing that lot, building that lot, in order to put the house on there.”
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