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Matt Ball Democrat
Residence: Denver
Profession: Army Reservist and Colorado State Senator
Education: Wesleyan University, Stanford Law School
Experience: Army Ranger; attorney; Denver’s Director of Policy; cashier at Boston Market; husband and father of three.
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
Lowering the cost of housing, protecting the environment, and fixing our broken mental health system.
What specific actions would you support to improve affordability for Coloradans, whether aimed at housing costs, tax burdens or other impacts?
Since coming into the legislature, I’ve passed bills to increase affordable housing, make child care cheaper, and give tax breaks to working families, just to name a few. But there’s plenty more work to do: utility costs and insurance premiums keep climbing, and our tax code still asks too much of the people who can least afford it.
Whether your party is in the majority or minority next year, where do you see actionable common ground with the opposing party?
It may not look like it in today’s media environment, but there’s plenty of room for bipartisanship at the state legislature. I’ve worked with Republicans on everything from advancing geothermal energy, to reining in online sports betting, to fighting against industries who prey on veterans. I disagree with my colleagues across the aisle on plenty, but in my experience, almost everyone at the Capitol wants Colorado to be a great place to raise a family.
A new governor will take office next year. What opportunities are there for legislation or other changes that did not gain traction under Gov. Jared Polis?
Governor Polis vetoed two of the bills I passed last session, so I’d probably start there. I’m genuinely looking forward to a new governor and a fresh set of priorities to work with.
