{"id":12979,"date":"2026-03-06T15:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bennet-leveling-criticism-at-polis-as-he-vies-to-replace-him\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T19:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:30:27","slug":"bennet-leveling-criticism-at-polis-as-he-vies-to-replace-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bennet-leveling-criticism-at-polis-as-he-vies-to-replace-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Bennet leveling criticism at Polis as he vies to replace him"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gov.
Gov. Jared Polis, possibly wearing a bullet proof vest, greets U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet during the swearing-in ceremony Jan. 10, 2023, at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is testing out a new way of differentiating himself from Attorney General Phil Weiser in Colorado\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial primary: criticizing current Gov. Jared Polis.<\/p>\n

During a recent debate, Bennet said Polis is \u201callergic\u201d to building big statewide coalitions. At another gathering, Bennet said he totally disagrees with the idea that the governor\u2019s health care policies have worked. At a third event, Bennet said Polis \u201chas not helped\u201d make it easier for people like teachers to live in the expensive communities where they work.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo teacher can live in Denver,\u201d Bennet said at a Denver Young Democrats forum with Weiser in January. \u201cNo teacher can live in most cities in this state, or most towns for that matter. They have to live far, where they\u2019re cheap. And I\u2019m sorry to say that, but the administration that we have had, a Democratic administration in Colorado, has not helped with the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s business as usual for gubernatorial candidates to try to sell voters on a unique vision for how they\u2019d lead the state, it\u2019s less common for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate to take aim at a state\u2019s Democratic incumbent.<\/p>\n

For instance, in the crowded 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, which Polis won, incumbent Gov. John Hickenlooper was not a central figure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Hickenlooper was the foil at all,\u201d said Ethan Susseles, a Democratic strategist who worked on Donna Lynne\u2019s 2018 gubernatorial campaign. \u201cHe was the popular outgoing governor. I don\u2019t really remember anyone attacking him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennet\u2019s criticisms come even as Polis remains relatively popular among Colorado voters and overwhelmingly popular among Democrats.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks at a news conference at the Colorado Capitol in Denver on Feb. 24. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A November poll of 622 registered voters statewide found that 45% viewed Polis favorably, while 46% said they viewed him unfavorably. Among Democrats, 74% said they had a favorable view of Polis, while 59% of Democrats who participated in the same poll said they had a favorable view of Bennet.<\/p>\n

When you consider the poll\u2019s 3.93 percentage point margin of error, that\u2019s statistically consistent with how voters felt in March 2024, when the same pollsters \u2013 New Bridge Strategy, a Republican firm, and Aspect Strategic, a Democratic firm \u2013 found that 50% of voters viewed the governor favorably and 44% viewed him unfavorably.<\/p>\n

By comparison, 40% of voters said they viewed President Donald Trump favorably in November, while 60% viewed him unfavorably.<\/p>\n

Lori Weigel, who leads New Bridge Strategy, said no Democratic politician in Colorado has had a higher favorability rating among Democratic voters in the past two years than Polis. While his numbers are lower among younger Democrats and Democrats who identify themselves as very liberal or socialist, they\u2019re still relatively strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a difference between all Democrats and Democrats who participate in primaries,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there\u2019s not a lot in this data to suggest\u201d Polis is disliked.<\/p>\n

One difference between the race in 2018 and 2024: It was much less clear back then that a Democrat would win the general election.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper barely won reelection in 2014. Then, in 2018, Polis beat Republican Walker Stapleton by almost 11 percentage points. Polis won reelection in 2022 by nearly 20 points.<\/p>\n

The Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Colorado this year \u2013 whether it\u2019s Bennet or Weiser \u2013 is expected to similarly cruise to victory.<\/p>\n

Here are the biggest criticisms Bennet has directed toward Polis during recent debates with Weiser:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much goodwill, and so much leadership in our state, among the county commissioners, among the mayors, in the private sector \u2013 all over the state of Colorado,\u201d Bennet said of efforts to increase affordable housing. \u201cThey just feel like they\u2019ve been totally ignored by our current governor.\u201d\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to modernize our tax, our budget, our regulatory systems, so that the wealthiest pay more and we can afford to build the Colorado we want,\u201d Bennet said of addressing the state\u2019s fiscal crisis. \u201cThis is not going to be easy, and we\u2019re going to need to build a broad coalition of Coloradans across the state to support these goals. Our current governor has been allergic to building coalitions like that.\u201d\u201cHe\u2019s saying that he thinks that Jared Polis\u2019 health care policies actually have worked,\u201d Bennet said of Weiser. \u201cI totally disagree. That\u2019s particularly true for families who are on Medicaid and those who make too much money to be on Medicaid but can\u2019t afford to buy private insurance.\u201dBennet doubled down by linking Weiser to Polis on health care: \u201cSaying he\u2019s satisfied with the Polis administration, which I think is a deeply outrageous thing to say, given what families are facing in our state right now. I\u2019m deeply dissatisfied with how the current Democratic administration in Colorado has handled our health care crisis and actually has pushed people off of Medicaid.\u201d\u201cThese are not issues that are going to solve themselves,\u201d Bennet said of housing affordability. \u201cIf they have solved themselves, we wouldn\u2019t be sitting here with the current administration in Denver with a $650,000 median house. We wouldn\u2019t be sitting here with the fifth-highest child care cost in America. We wouldn\u2019t be sitting here with a health care system that is getting worse for struggling families, not better. That is the leadership that I am offering to address.\u201d<\/div>\n

When asked about Bennet\u2019s criticism of Polis, a spokesperson for Bennet\u2019s campaign acknowledged that the governor has made gains. But she said more needs to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cGov. Polis has made real progress, including on capping drug prices and making it easier to build housing, but we still have a lot of work to do,\u201d said Jordan Fuja, the spokesperson. \u201cColoradans are still working harder than ever and paying more for everything from housing to child care to health care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiser, by comparison, hasn\u2019t been publicly attacking Polis\u2019 record on the campaign trail. In fact, Weiser didn\u2019t even mention Polis by name, or use the word \u201cgovernor,\u201d this week in a written statement saying he opposes Polis\u2019 apparent plans to reduce the prison sentence of convicted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.<\/p>\n

Polis, who hasn\u2019t endorsed a successor and said he doesn\u2019t plan to wade into the Democratic primary, acknowledged through a spokesperson that there\u2019s more work to do, but defended his work against Bennet\u2019s criticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cGov. Polis is very proud of his track record, including leading through an unprecedented global pandemic, historic wildfires and achieving free full-day kindergarten and universal preschool,\u201d said Shelby Wieman, a Polis spokesperson, in a written statement. \u201cAs a resident of this state he hopes his successor will be even more successful in this important work to save people money. There is a lot more work to get done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democratic primary for governor will be held June 30.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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