DENVER—Colorado will send the first openly gay non-incumbent to Congress: Internet businessman Jared Polis, who handily won in the left-leaning 2nd Congressional District.
Polis beat Republican Scott Starin for a seat left vacant by Democratic Rep. Mark Udall, who was elected Tuesday to the U.S. Senate.
A first-time candidate, Polis’ sexual orientation played no role in his campaign. He says voters asked more about his plans to fix the economy and end the war in Iraq.
“Elected officials that are members of minorities—whether racial or ethic or orientation—frequently have to deal with that being mentioned. But at the end of the day, the voters care about the issues,” Polis said.
Polis is the co-founder of the online greeting card company bluemountainarts.com. His technology savvy was largely credited for his August primary victory against longtime state lawmaker Joan Fitz-Gerald.
Polis ran a personal campaign blog and used social networking sites such as Facebook to recruit support. His personal wealth helped too: He sank an estimated $5.3 million of his own money into the primary campaign.
