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Jeff Bridges Democrat
Residence: Greenwood Village
Profession: State Senator
Education: Master’s of Divinity
Experience: State Representative, State Senator; four years writing Colorado’s budget including as JBC Chair; passed major laws on education, housing, workforce development and paid sick leave.
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
First, invest Colorado dollars in Colorado. The Treasurer manages billions of dollars that are currently invested across the country. At the same time, Coloradans struggle with housing costs, utility bills, and aging infrastructure. I’ll bring our dollars home to build housing that’s affordable, clean energy that lowers utility bills, infrastructure that drives our economy while earning strong returns for taxpayers. Second, protect PERA and keep our sacred promise to retired teachers and public employees. Third, return more unclaimed property to the Coloradans it actually belongs to. I’ll make Colorado dollars work for Coloradans.
The legislature has turned to the unclaimed property trust fund for money to pay for other priorities several times in recent years. How would you protect that money or ensure it is put to the best use while it is unclaimed?
Unclaimed property belongs to Coloradans. It’s money from dormant bank accounts, insurance payouts, and overpayments that the state holds until we can return it. Right now, most folks have to go online to see if we have their money. That’s unacceptable. As Treasurer, I’ll use better data matching to proactively return more money directly to the people it belongs to. And no, we can’t solve structural budget problems by repeatedly taking money from this fund. The best use of unclaimed property is giving it back to the people it belongs to.
The treasurer serves on the board of the Public Employees’ Retirement Association. How do you rate the condition of PERA, and what, if any, reforms would you support?
PERA is a promise we’ve made to Colorado’s teachers, state employees, and other public servants, and we have a moral and legal obligation to keep it. In 2025 PERA was about 69% funded, and remains on track to eliminate its unfunded liability. During my four years on the Joint Budget Committee, we invested more state dollars in PERA than any previous JBC. I don’t think we need another major reform right now. What we need is to stay on course by making the state’s payments, protecting the retirement security employees earned, and making smart long-term investments that keep PERA on track toward full funding.
Kevin Grantham Republican
Residence: Canon City, Colorado
Profession: Certified General Real Estate Appraiser
Education: BA Religion, Liberty University
Experience: Real Estate professional: 28 years; Canon City Council, 3 years; State Senate, 8 years; County Commissioner, 6 years
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
1. Maximize taxpayer dollars and be a
vocal advocate for Colorado families struggling through the affordability crisis.
2. We have an obligation to make and keep PERA funded to guarantee that our retirees continue to have a pension and ensure that our current employees have one in the future.
3. Our Unclaimed Property Trust Fund must be protected from the Legislative budget balancing process and returned to the rightful owners as soon as possible.
The legislature has turned to the unclaimed property trust fund for money to pay for other priorities several times in recent years. How would you protect that money or ensure it is put to the best use while it is unclaimed?
Our Unclaimed Property Trust Fund must be protected from the Legislative budget balancing process. These are not tax dollars to be used to fund government. We need to protect the money that belongs to Coloradans and work diligently to get it back to the rightful wallets. Itap been a theme of the single-party rule at the capitol that they deserve those dollars more than you do. Thatap essentially an additional tax on people that isn’t fair.
The treasurer serves on the board of the Public Employees’ Retirement Association. How do you rate the condition of PERA, and what, if any, reforms would you support?
We need to meet our obligation to the state’s workers. They’ve entrusted their retirements to the state and we need to be there for them. That means managing risk appropriately while achieving a strong rate of return to reduce our liability. We must lower overhead and stop paying exorbitant salaries and bonuses to those managing our investments. There are private funds and accounts that perform well without the overhead we’re paying now which could help keep more of our investments invested
Marilee Langner Sturgis and Jodie Barr did not return the questionnaire.
