DENVER – The eyes of Colorado are on the state’s gubernatorial contest between Republican Bob Beauprez and Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The race is a referendum on not just the candidates, but a host of issues, including gun control, capital punishment, reproductive rights, federal regulations, hydraulic fracturing, education policy, marijuana and gay rights.
Voters seeking an alternative have many choices as well, including unaffiliated candidate Mike Dunafon, Green Party candidate Harry Hempy and Libertarian Matt Hess.
Hickenlooper, the former mayor of Denver and a former brewpub owner, is truly experiencing his first tight race after enjoying popularity during his first two years as governor and many more years before that as mayor.
He came on as governor during the worst of the economic downturn. It was followed by horrific flooding and fires that claimed lives and destroyed property across the state.
But the governor responded quickly, drawing upon his business experience to develop a blueprint for the economy and find ways to rapidly rebuild after the natural disasters.
His administration overcame a $1 billion budget shortfall to put about $650 million in reserves. Colorado was ranked the fastest-growing economy in the country. And the state unemployment rate dropped from 9.1 percent to 5.1 percent.
“Is it luck or is it hard work?” the governor asked on a recent Thursday morning while sitting at a cheap office table in his humble campaign office in the LoHi neighborhood of Denver.
He recalled a story from 1989 in Durango involving Bill Carver, who had just opened Carver Brewing Co. Hickenlooper said all the storefronts on Main Avenue were boarded up at the time.
“I hold Durango up as a model of how a community comes together and through a collaborative effort, controls its own destiny and creates its own future,” Hickenlooper said.
He has vastly outraised Beauprez this election cycle, pulling in more than $4.4 million compared with Beauprez’s $1.1 million.
Beauprez has made leadership a focus of the campaign, suggesting that Hickenlooper has failed to lead on key issues, including the economy. He pointed out that while the Denver area has rebounded, rural parts of the state, including the Western Slope, have not seen the same progress.
“You have to say compared to what,” Beauprez said. “There are some sectors, some spots of Colorado that have done well, but what has gone down is our opportunity.”
Tough enough on crime?
Beauprez pointed out that it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the governor, especially in his last two years in office.
Hickenlooper signed controversial gun laws in 2013 that banned high-capacity ammunition magazines of more than 15 rounds and mandated universal background checks. He also granted a temporary reprieve from execution to convicted killer Nathan Dunlap, a move that had both Democrats and Republicans scratching their heads.
“It’s just like he does so often, he doesn’t follow through with leadership,” Beauprez, a former congressman for the 7th Congressional District, said of his opponent.
But Hickenlooper has made public safety a focal point of his administration. Much of that agenda hit the spotlight after the slaying of prisons chief Tom Clements in 2013. Corrections officials have been working on reforming the solitary confinement system.
The governor defended signing gun-control laws, pointing out that background checks have prevented criminals from buying guns.
“We were never trying to take guns away, and we’re not going to try to take people’s guns away,” Hickenlooper said. “What we’re trying to do is keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.”
He said he has no plans to revisit the Dunlap decision.
‘War on women’
Meanwhile, Beauprez stands on his own shaky ground. Democrats have spent two years painting Republicans as harsh on reproductive rights and other issues important to women.
Beauprez does not support a state personhood ballot initiative, but he has raised some eyebrows in the birth-control category.
At a recent debate, he said intra-uterine devices, known as IUDs, a form of birth control, cause abortions.
When asked by The Durango Herald, Beauprez said, “I do not support a ban on contraceptives. It’s a very personal choice. I oppose taxpayers picking up the tab for it.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com