Reports Show Michael Bennet Delivers Bold, Ambitious Vision While Phil Weiser Defends the Status Quo

The Choice Between Gubernatorial Candidates is Clear

DENVER, CO — As Colorado voters return their ballots, they are seeing a clear difference in this race: Michael Bennet is running to reject the status quo, make the hard decisions, and deliver real results with bold plans. Phil Weiser’s plans show he will continue the same policies that have made Colorado the third most expensive state in the country.

The Denver Post Editorial Board’s highlighted Michael’s commitment to driving real change, particularly on housing, saying “Bennet is signaling a readiness for drastic action. Weiser is looking to collaborate with urgency on the issue.” The Board characterized Michael’s housing plan as “specific and aggressive,” while noting that Phil merely “cautioned against the policies put in place by Gov. Jared Polis that demanded density.”

Recent coverage from the Colorado Sun’s debate outlined the key differences between the candidates on bold policies to address Colorado’s toughest challenges, including affordability, health care, housing, and climate.

• On affordability: “Time and again throughout the debate, Bennet, 61, steered the conversation toward the challenges facing younger generations: chiefly affordability and the environment. And he accused Weiser of not being ambitious enough to tackle the scope of the problem.”

• On health care: Bennet said he wanted to create a public option for those who make too much to afford Medicaid, while Weiser offered a scaled back plan to increase access to primary care.

• On housing: Bennet argued that Weiser was too concerned with not disturbing the status quo. “We’re pushing (younger generations) out of Colorado,” Bennet said. “This is not an issue about the inability of states and local governments to get along. We’re pushing our own kids out of this state, and that’s why we’ve got to change.”

• On climate: “We need to be ambitious,” Bennet said of his plan to impose a cap and invest system that would charge polluters for their emissions. “We need to push the edge of the envelope.” Bennet replied that Weiser was thinking too small.

On growing the economy, Michael’s bold approach offers a notable difference from Phil Weiser. Reporting from The Sum and Substance notes that “Bennet…speaks of the number of Denver office vacancies and the inability to build workforce housing with an urgency bordering on aggression.”

The choice in this race couldn’t be more clear. A vote for Michael Bennet is a vote for the change and urgency Colorado deserves. A vote for Phil Weiser is a vote for more commissions, more studies, and no results.

While Phil Weiser continues to defend his small, incremental plans, as Governor, Michael would ensure no Coloradan spends more than 30% of their income on housing, create a real public option to lower health care costs, hold polluters accountable through a cap-and-invest climate plan, and transform education so students can earn a living wage after they graduate.