Colorado's campaign season got its Western Slope kickoff Saturday at the Club 20 debates in Grand Junction — though some of the biggest names on the ballot didn't show. Rocky Mountain Community Radio's Maeve Conran talked with reporter Bente Birkeland, of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance who covered the debates at Colorado Mesa University.
Club 20 is billed as nonpartisan, Birkeland said, but its focus on water, energy and public lands can make it feel conservative-leaning. Yet one notable absence was a Republican: gubernatorial candidate Victor Marx, who announced after the June primary that he wouldn't do moderated debates. Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper also skipped the event, leaving his Republican opponent, state Sen. Mark Baisley, alone on stage. The two are scheduled to debate twice in October.
Club 20 executive director Wade Haerle called that absence especially significant. "There are a lot of decisions that are made in Washington, D.C. that matter more to people in rural Colorado than people in Denver," Haerle said. "And so it's just thoroughly disappointing."
In the governor's race, Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser debated unaffiliated candidate Greg Lopez, a longtime Republican until earlier this year, now making his third run. Both said the wolf reintroduction program needs to change, and both want to cut red tape. Lopez pressed Weiser on the cost of his policy blueprint: "How much is it going to cost us?" Weiser didn't offer a figure. "I believe we're going to save money," he said.
The night closed with the 3rd Congressional District, the Republican seat Democrats hope to flip. First-term Rep. Jeff Hurd pointed to his votes against President Trump's tariffs. Democratic challenger and former Aspen City Councilman Dwayne Romero said Hurd voted against just one tariff, on Canada. "You're not Tom Cruise here, bud," Romero said.
County clerks mail ballots to active voters Oct. 2–9, according to the Colorado Secretary of State.
