Congressman Bob Beauprez officially launched his campaign for governor Tuesday, vowing a conservative platform that emphasizes limited government, family and personal freedom.
“I believe that the vast majority of Coloradans understand and identify with the same conservative principles that guide me: respect for traditional family values, including the institution of marriage and the sanctity of life, and an unyielding belief in the rights enshrined in our founding documents,” he said to a group of supporters at the state Capitol.
The two-term congressman is running against fellow Republican Marc Holtzman in the primary.
Flanked by his mother and his wife of 35 years, Beauprez said that the lessons he learned growing up while ranching and farming in Colorado – hard work, personal responsibility and saving nickels and dimes – had shaped him into a person who can lead Colorado as governor.
He also gave a preview of the issues he will focus on during his campaign: illegal immigration, quality health care, the ability of families to choose where their children go to school, water rights, renewable energy and government fiscal responsibility.
While he said combating illegal immigration primarily rests with the federal government, he also said Colorado and other states have the power to help solve the problem. Beauprez did not address specific plans, however.
He vowed to construct a statewide water plan that would focus on conservation and additional water storage so that urban areas don’t continue “drying up our farms and the rural communities.”
As governor, he said he also would initiate a systemic analysis of how state government collects, budgets and spends tax dollars. “It is not what government can do for you, but what government allows you to do for yourself,” he said.
Beauprez’s announcement continued all day, as he traveled from Denver to Greeley to Fort Collins.
He ended the evening at The Grizzly Rose in Denver, where up to 1,500 people were expected, most of whom were not politicos, said campaign spokesman John Marshall.
“It’s very much a gathering of the Republican base coming out to support Bob,” he said.
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@ denverpost.com.
