Bennet, 60, made his formal announcement Friday morning in Denver’s City Park — becoming, one political analyst said, “immediately the frontrunner” in the race. He confirmed his candidacy to The Denver Post beforehand, saying in an interview that he hoped to bring his federal legislative experience to his home state’s executive branch and help Colorado navigate potential cuts and other uncertainty during President Donald Trump’s second administration.

“I am deeply, deeply, profoundly worried about Donald Trump and the wrecking ball he has aimed at our democracy and our economy,” Bennet said in the interview, noting potential cuts to Medicaid and other federal programs. He argued that economic uncertainty has fueled modern politics.

Michael Bennet: I’m running for governor because Washington D.C. is too broken to answer Colorado’s needs

But, he added, "as we're dealing with that -- as we're fighting everything that's wrong with the current administration -- it's important for us to create better solutions for our shared challenges in Colorado. We can forge a better politics than we see in D.C. right now."

He was joined Friday morning by a slew of Colorado elected officials -- including U.S. Reps. Jason Crow and Joe Neguse, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and former Mayor Wellington Webb -- and dozens of supporters.

Bennet has served in the Senate since 2009, when he was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Ken Salazar when Salazar joined the Obama administration. He's since won election to the seat three times -- and by a larger margin in each election, most recently garnering nearly 56% of the vote in 2022. He would be up for reelection next in 2028.

But now, Bennet said, he feels he'd be "better situated as the governor to help us provide a view of what this future is going to look like, from the state of Colorado, than I would be able to do from (Washington)."

During his speech Friday morning, Bennet highlighted the need to drive down costs and increase affordability in health care and housing in particular.

Economic hopelessness -- people worrying about affording to stay in their homes and raise their kids in Colorado -- drove some voters to cast ballots for the "chaos" of Trump, Bennet said. Bettering Colorado will make it "an example to the rest of the country on how to fight Trump and how to drive a stake through Trumpism," he said.

Bennet joins Weiser in Democratic primary

Bennet's name recognition and long history in Colorado politics -- and the political reshuffling that an open Senate seat would set in motion, should he win next year -- could help clear the field of other major potential Democratic candidates. Bennet plans to remain in the Senate through the gubernatorial campaign.

If he wins, he said, he'd "fulfill my responsibility" under state law and the constitution and appoint his successor, rather than resigning earlier so Gov. Jared Polis could fill the vacancy.

Polis, like the rest of Colorado's constitutional officers, is term-limited and cannot seek reelection in 2026.

So far, Attorney General Phil Weiser is the only other prominent Democrat to launch an official bid for governor, entering the race in January. His campaign announced he raised more than $1.9 million through the end of March, a sum that includes a transfer of nearly $158,000 from his attorney general campaign.

Salazar also has publicly mulled a bid; on Friday morning, he put out a statement praising both Weiser and Bennet without shedding light on his own intentions.

Coloradans haven't elected a Republican to lead the state since 2002, and the state has only trended bluer over the last decade.

In a statement Thursday, shortly after several media outlets reported Bennet would seek the office, Weiser said he'd spent the past six years serving "Colorado as the People's Lawyer," while Bennet was working in Washington. But he also softened any jabs at Bennet, adding: "Now more than ever, we need experienced Democratic leaders in Washington."

"We must protect Colorado and oppose Trump’s illegal actions, not appease him," Weiser said. "I am the fighter Colorado needs as our next governor. Two years ago, the voters sent Sen. Bennet back to D.C. because we believed he would be there for us no matter what -- especially in historically dangerous moments like the one we currently face."

Bennet, in return, said Weiser "has been a great attorney general, and has been a great public servant" and a "great friend."

But Bennet highlighted his own "fairly unique set of experiences" in the Senate, Denver Public Schools and the Denver mayor's office as higher qualifications. Before entering politics, he worked as a lawyer and then in business for Colorado billionaire Phil Anschutz.

Among other long-rumored candidates for governor, Neguse has instead endorsed Bennet, while Secretary of State Jena Griswold launched a bid for attorney general this week.

Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University, said Bennet is "immediately the frontrunner" in the race -- but may not completely clear the field.

Saunders called Weiser a good candidate in a typical gubernatorial race, but in his view, it changes the odds when a sitting senator makes the highly unusual move of seeking a governor's office. In addition to Bennet's personal qualifications, he also brings decades of campaign infrastructure to bear.

"Bennet is going to be ahead in campaign finance, he's going to be ahead in campaign organization and staff, he's going to be ahead in name recognition," Saunders said. "All those things are essential for anyone trying to secure the Democratic nomination for the governor's job."

On the Republican side, state Sen. Mark Baisley, state Rep. Scott Bottoms and Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell have launched gubernatorial campaigns.

The primary elections for the office will be in summer 2026 and the general election will be held that November.

Bennet says he's open to TABOR reform

Bennet's bid highlights the circular nature of Colorado politics.

He served as John Hickenlooper's chief of staff when Hickenlooper was Denver mayor in the early 2000s. Not long after Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Bennet to the Senate seat, Hickenlooper won the 2010 gubernatorial election. Hickenlooper, after two terms as governor, joined Bennet in the Senate after winning election in 2020.

Both men ran unsuccessful campaigns for the presidency in 2020. Now, they could flip-flop the roles they held for much of the 2010s.

Bennet praised Polis in an interview, particularly his signature free full-day kindergarten program, but added that "no governor can do it all."

Housing, health care and mental health care remain challenges for the state, Bennet said. He also acknowledged the state's ongoing budget constraints. Lawmakers this week moved closer to closing a budget with $1.2 billion in cuts as costs collided with the spending cap set by the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR.

State lawmakers have floated some ideas to adjust TABOR, such as another reset of the formula used to set the cap or an exemption of certain spending, like Medicaid, from it. Bennet did not endorse a specific change but said, "I'm sure (TABOR) will be part of any campaign," including his.

"We are facing enormous budget challenges as a state, and TABOR is clearly part of that problem," Bennet said. "We've got to have a comprehensive discussion about what we should do and how TABOR should be reformed."

In addition to electoral politics, Bennet has served as the superintendent of Denver Public Schools -- a job that proved formative for one of his marquee congressional victories. As part of the 2021 stimulus bill, Bennet won inclusion of a massive expansion of the federal child tax credit, in the form of $300 monthly checks to parents.

Those only persisted for a year -- but the policy became something of a white whale for him after it cut child poverty in half, yet wasn't renewed by Congress. He introduced a new version of it earlier this week, joined by nearly all of the Democratic caucus.

Recent approach to Trump

When President Donald Trump took office for a second term in January, Bennet struck a more collaborative tone than some of his Democratic colleagues. He's tied for eighth among Democrats in terms of the most votes cast in favor of Trump's nominees, according to by The New York Times.

But he's also spoken out against Trump and Elon Musk -- the world's richest man and chief financier of Trump's successful reelection bid -- including by accusing them of "wanton destruction" of the government in with Colorado Public Radio.

In the new interview with The Post, Bennet highlighted his fights against some of Trump's more controversial appointments, like Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as well as fights for the expanded child tax credit.

"We all have a shared battle," Bennet said. "This is one of those really important moments in American history, where it really matters how we come out on the other side. And I think Colorado is in a position to lead all 50 states, and I look forward to being able to help guide that as the next governor of the state of Colorado."

He’s writing a book. He’s spending time with his family in Denver and helping out on the Salazar family ranch in the San Luis Valley.

And the former U.S. senator and interior secretary is thinking through his next move.

“I know what the options are. I could run for governor, and I might. I could run for national office and there’s only one and I might do that: the presidency,” Salazar said. “I want to listen to the people and see what their feelings are, what went wrong. How could we have gotten to this point in American history where we’re turning back the clock on 70 years of civil rights?”

Salazar is also concerned that the 25% percent tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada will unravel the integrated economy in North America that has benefitted all the countries. The potential for trade wars ignited by the tariffs will endanger one of the world’s most important trading blocs, he said.

While in the U.S. Senate, Salazar was part of a bipartisan group that steered through the chamber in 2007. The bill, which included beefing up security at the border and a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally, died in the House and legislation the following year didn’t even make it out of the Senate.

Salazar believes making the U.S.-Mexico border secure is important and he favors deporting criminals, but said the Trump administration’s “weaponization” of the issue and the deportations are hurting people and will hinder efforts to find common sense solutions.

Salazar, 70, headed Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources; served as state attorney general; U.S. senator; interior secretary in the Obama administration; and as ambassador to Mexico.

“I’m looking forward to being on the playing field,” Salazar said. “It may be that I’m just an adviser in helping correct the direction that we’re in.”

But first, he wants to finish his book. The working title is “Borderland: Making America Great, a United and Inclusive America.” Although part of that might have a familiar ring, Salazar pointed out that there’s no “again” in the title.

“It’s a march toward a more perfect union. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last 70 years,” Salazar said.

However, that progress is at risk given the policies of the Trump administration, Salazar said. He believes the executive orders eliminating government programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI, are wrong.

“That’s an America I have worked for all of my life,” Salazar said. “Whenever I talk about an inclusive America, it means you have to have everybody at the table, not just the billionaires.”

Salazar recalled a speech by former Gov. Roy Romer, whose administration he served in. Romer gave a speech in the late 1980s in Lamar where the crowd was mostly white and conservative.

“Romer said we should not just tolerate our diversity, we should celebrate our diversity. He was ahead of his time,” Salazar said.

A photo of Romer and his wife with Salazar and his family hangs on the wall of an office in Salazar’s northwest Denver home. Pictures of Salazar with former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden are mixed with family photos and portraits of his mother and father. His chairs from his Senate and Department of the Interior offices ring his desk.

Salazar’s cowboy hat, which along with boots and bolo tie is a signature part of his wardrobe, has its own place in the large book shelf behind his desk. Salazar’s wife, Hope, dropped by the office to greet visitors while one of three granddaughters played downstairs.

An official homecoming for Salazar is set for Sunday at the Denver Art Museum. Colorado Senators and fellow Democrats Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper organized the event.

“Ken’s contributions to our community — and our nation — run just as deep as his roots here in Colorado. He sets a high bar for what it means to be a public servant,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to have him back home after his time representing the U.S. in Mexico.”

“A true son of the San Luis Valley, Ambassador Salazar served our state and country with honor. No one has fought harder to protect our iconic Western landscapes, or been a greater champion for Colorado’s farmers and ranchers,” Bennet said in an email.

Salazar, a moderate who sometimes went against the grain of his own party, agreed with some of the criticism of the Democrats’ response to Trump pushing the boundaries of executive power. unleashed outrage from people who wanted Democrats to defy the administration’s cutting of federal agencies and employees.

“I think Democrats have to do what (House minority leader) Hakeem Jeffries and John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet did and that’s fight and resist what Donald Trump is doing,” Salazar said.

He said he’s proud of all the Democratic members of Colorado’s congressional delegation. Still, he believes Democrats have to address Americans’ fears about secure borders. Salazar said the Biden administration finally took steps that slowed illegal border crossings to numbers lower than the last months of the first Trump administration.

Salazar supports a border-security agreement with Canada and Mexico that would be similar to the negotiated by Trump in his first term as president.

The Democratic party also needs to take seriously the feeling that a lot of rural America has been left behind, Salazar said. He sees the evidence every time he drives to the family ranch near Manassa in the San Luis Valley. “Almost everything is shut down.”

The Salazar family’s roots in northern New Mexico and the San Luis Valley in southwest Colorado stretch to four centuries, about 250 years before the land was part of the U.S.

“As rural America dies on the vine, those places become redder and redder,” Salazar said. “The Republican Party, in my view, doesn’t really care. They talk a good game.”

But the Democratic Party “has not been very effective at showing its presences or concerns about rural America.”

Updated March 21, 2025, at 7 p.m. to add comment from Sen. Michael Bennet.

“There’s critical work ahead. I want to help do it — I want to help Colorado, I believe in Colorado, I want to serve the people of Colorado,” Weiser told The Denver Post shortly after announcing his candidacy in a morning news release.

Weiser’s early jump allows him to begin raising money immediately, even though the June 2026 Democratic primary is still nearly 18 months away. It also gives him an early chance for voters “to get to know me,” he said — before several other candidates enter the fray.

Weiser, 56, said his campaign will focus on affordability and housing — two issues that are consistently top of mind for Colorado voters — as well as curbing climate change’s impact on the environment and addressing the youth mental health crisis, which he referenced repeatedly during the interview.

His announcement serves as a starting pistol for what will be an extensive 2026 campaign season, and it ends the yearslong shadow campaign that’s been waged quietly by would-be successors to Gov. Jared Polis: Weiser has long been expected to pursue the governor’s mansion after Polis, as has Secretary of State Jena Griswold, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and Ken Salazar, a longtime Colorado political figure who’s now U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

Several lesser-known Republican, unaffiliated and third-party candidates , but Weiser is the first major candidate of any affiliation to declare his campaign.

A recent early poll of four potential 2026 Democratic gubernatorial candidates showed Weiser in last in terms of support by likely primary voters, behind Neguse, Griswold and Salazar, though the highest share of respondents — 37% — said they were undecided. More voters said they had never heard of Neguse or Weiser than the other candidates.

Of the differences between Weiser and his potential opponents, he said he was proud of his record and said he would run a positive campaign.

Weiser is starting the final two years of his second term as Colorado’s attorney general. He previously worked as the dean of the University of Colorado Law School and as a policy adviser in the Obama administration. He first moved to the state to clerk for a federal judge after graduating from New York University’s law school. He also clerked for two U.S. Supreme Court justices, Byron R. White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

According to , Weiser’s campaign is chaired by former Gov. Roy Romer and co-chaired by former U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter and Fort Collins Mayor Jeni Arndt. His supporters also include several current and former elected officials, including former House Speaker Terrance Carroll and former Senate President Brandon Shaffer.

Weiser, whose mother was born in a Nazi concentration camp one day before it was liberated in 1945, has said he came to Colorado because he looked for clerkships in states that had a baseball team and a Jewish community.

His six years as attorney general have seen his office oversee the distribution of tens of millions of dollars in settlement payments from companies involved in the opioid crisis. He has also joined several prominent national lawsuits and legal efforts, including to block the merger of the Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains, and he’s backed consumer protection litigation against companies including Wyatts Towing and, more recently, controversial companies in the housing market like RealPage and CBZ Management.

Weiser said Thursday that he would support the type of land-use reforms pursued by Polis in recent years that seek to boost development along the Front Range to increase the housing supply. He also would continue his work targeting junk fees and alleged price fixing in the rental market.

When he ran for AG in the 2018 election, Weiser prominently described his plans to combat then-President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and generally to serve as a legal bulwark against the Trump administration.

His pitch for the governor’s mansion will likely turn on those same pledges, as Trump prepares to enter the White House again later this month on a platform of mass deportations and promises of regulatory rollbacks. Indeed, in a call with state House Democrats in early December, Weiser said his office had already begun researching when the military or National Guard could be called out — .

On Thursday, Weiser told The Post that he would “work with anybody” in Washington, D.C., who was willing to collaborate.

But “if there are people who are going to hurt us in Colorado, who are going to undermine our values or threaten people here … I’m ready for those battles ahead,” he said.

The early December survey of 630 registered voters was released Monday. In the results, 20% of respondents told pollster Magellan Strategies that they probably or definitely would vote for Neguse, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House, if the June 2026 Democratic primary was held now. That was ahead of 16% support for Secretary of State Jena Griswold; 11% for Ken Salazar, a longtime Colorado politico who now serves as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico; and 8% for Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Thirty-seven percent of polls respondents said they were undecided, and 8% said they planned to support a candidate other than the four specifically posed.

None of the four named candidates the gubernatorial race. Griswold and Weiser are term-limited from running again for their current offices. All four have long been rumored to be eying a run to succeed Democratic Gov. Jared Polis when he is term-limited out of office after 2026.

The survey was conducted Dec. 4-9 by Magellan, a Broomfield-based pollster, and it was released by the nonprofit policy advocacy group . Magellan surveyed 630 registered voters, 62% of them Democrats and 38% unaffiliated voters; the sample was weighted to reflect typical turnout in a midterm Democratic primary in Colorado.

The results had a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points, and more than 40% of respondents were 60 or older.

Griswold and Weiser were both elected to statewide office alongside Polis in 2018 and 2022. Salazar previously served as the interior secretary under then-President Barack Obama, and he was Colorado’s attorney general and then a U.S. senator before he joined the Obama administration. President Joe Biden nominated him as ambassador to Mexico in 2021.

In a statement, Weiser said he was focused on “defeating” the Albertson’s-Kroger merger and on “preparing to defend Colorado from challenges we expect in the coming year,” as former President Donald Trump returns to office.

Griswold, in a statement, said she was focused on her current office and being a new mother, as well as “standing up” to Trump through her public service in coming years. “I have not decided how that service will look beyond 2026,” she wrote.

A representative of Neguse, who represents the 2nd Congressional District, did not provide comment Monday. An email directed to Salazar via the U.S. State Department was not returned.

Eighteen months before the primary, the poll results showed voters had overall favorable views of all four candidates, though Griswold had both the highest shares of favorable and unfavorable results. Eighty percent of respondents had heard of Salazar, the highest share of the four, with Griswold second with 77%.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they had never heard of either Neguse or Weiser, though Neguse still had the largest share of respondents who viewed him very favorably.

As President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador resume the tradition of the North America Leaders’ Summit on Thursday, the three allies face deep differences on migration, climate and trade.

There’s “not that much in common between them, at least in their vision for what they want for their countries,” said Kenneth Frankel, president of the Canadian Council for the Americas. “Not just what they want for their countries, but what they can deliver for their countries.”

Thursday’s meetings at the White House will be the first trilateral get-together for North American leaders since a June 2016 gathering of Trudeau, Barack Obama and Enrique Peña Nieto in Ottawa. The gatherings took a hiatus under President Donald Trump, who feuded with Trudeau and Nieto during his tenure.

Biden has made some progress in repairing relations with U.S. neighbors after the turbulent Trump years. But many significant strains remain — and some new ones have emerged.

Trudeau arrived in Washington with concerns about buy-American provisions in the president����ap proposed $1.85 trillion social services plan. Mexico’s priorities heading into the summit were to obtain concrete advances on immigration and more equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The tradition of three-way meetings started when George W. Bush played host to Mexico’s Vicente Fox and Canada’s Paul Martin in 2005 for talks at his ranch in Waco, Texas.

Biden has already held separate virtual meetings with Trudeau in February and López Obrador in March.

Biden will meet separately with Trudeau and López Obrador again on Thursday before the leaders hold a trilateral session in the midst of what is a big week for the U.S. president. Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law Monday, held a virtual summit with China’s Xi Jinping that night, and traveled over the next two days to promote provisions in the big spending deal. He’s also trying to push through his social services and climate spending plan.

There are growing concerns in Canada about a provision in the spending plan that would offer U.S. consumers a $7,500 tax credit if they buy electric vehicles through 2026. The following year, only purchases of electric vehicles made in the U.S. would qualify for the credit. The base credit would go up by $4,500 if the vehicle was made at a U.S. plant that operates under a union-negotiated collective bargaining agreement.

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland called the incentive a clear violation of an updated trade agreement among the three countries that aimed to protect U.S. jobs and products made in North America. Trudeau, Freeland and other Canadian ministers met with U.S. officials on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. And Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said she raised concerns about the electric vehicle provision with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week.

Freeland said that for Canada, “Job one here in the U.S. this week is to really make our American counterparts aware of the extent to which their current approach to this issue is a problem for Canada and to really explain to them that the way they have formulated this incentive really, really has the potential to become the dominant issue in our bilateral relationship.”

White House spokesman Chris Meagher said the electric vehicle tax incentives are an essential part of Biden’s push to link efforts to curb climate emissions with job creation in the U.S.

The U.S. and Canada, meanwhile, have expressed frustration that López Obrador has failed to get on board with global efforts to curb climate emissions. The Mexican president skipped this month’s U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

López Obrador’s government, for its part, wants promised U.S. development funds for the Northern Triangle countries of Central America to be firmed up. The Mexican leader continues to press the U.S. to fund an expansion of his tree planting program to Central America.

Mexico has worked with the United States — under both Trump and Biden — to control migrant flows and assist in returning migrants to Central America. The two countries are still negotiating the court-ordered re-implementation of a Trump-era policy known as Remain in Mexico, which forced asylum seekers to wait out their U.S. asylum process in Mexico.

López Obrador has also mentioned on multiple occasions his interest in the U.S. government expanding its temporary work visa program so more Mexicans and Central Americans can fill the demand for labor in the U.S. The temporary workers in turn could have access to the higher pay they seek in the U.S. without becoming part of the illegal immigration flow.

Arriving in Washington on Wednesday, Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said his government would focus on three issues: the pandemic, economic integration and immigration. On immigration, Ebrard said Mexico would try to rally support for two of López Obrador’s signature social programs — tree planting and youth job opportunities — to reduce the push factors of migration.

Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, recently expressed “serious concerns” about the Mexican government����ap attempts to limit competition in the electrical power sector.

Trudeau and Biden are also expected to discuss the future of an oil pipeline that crosses part of the Great Lakes and is the subject of rising tension over whether it should be shut down. Biden is caught in a battle over Enbridge’s Line 5, a key segment of a pipeline network that carries Canadian oil across the U.S. Midwest.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat and Biden ally, has demanded closure of the 68-year-old line because of the potential for a catastrophic rupture along a 4-mile section (6.4 kilometers) in the Straits of Mackinac, which connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The Biden administration has not taken a position but is under increasing pressure to do so.

Canada last month invoked a 1977 treaty that guarantees the unimpeded transit of oil between the two nations.

___

Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

For people, policy and Colorado politics

What’s The Spot? You’re reading an installment of our weekly politics newsletter. .

Heidi Ganahl, University of Colorado regent and the only Republican left holding a statewide office in Colorado, has said she’s considering a run at Gov. Jared Polis next year. This week she making the case against his reelection.

It’s pretty on-the-nose for a gubernatorial hopeful, and it’s easy to see her repeating the column’s talking points on the stump. All that’s missing from is an actual announcement.

Republicans are banking on the historical trend that says the party out of power does well in the midterms, but beating Polis will be difficult. Don’t just take my word for it — Ganahl called it a “moonshot” when I spoke with her several weeks ago.

Why? Democrats now hold a registration advantage that veteran consultants estimate hands them a starting advantage of 5-10 percentage points — meaning they don’t need spectacular candidates to win. It helps Polis’ case , polling well above water throughout the entire pandemic.

Then there’s the matter of his money. Whatever you spend, you can be sure he’ll have more. He’s worth hundreds of millions, and from the start of his political career he has spent extravagantly: At 25 years old, he on a state Board of Education seat — 120 times what his opponent spent.

I caught up this week with the chair of the state GOP chair Kristi Burton Brown, to talk about the 2022 election after she and other party leaders at a Denver gas station.

“It’s very unfortunate that Coloradans live in a state where their governor buys his seat. He shouldn’t get to sit in that seat because he has more money,” she said.

She sounded excited about her party’s chances in the four major statewide contests — governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer — all of which feature a Democratic incumbent. (It����ap the job of any party chair to project confidence.)

More revealing were the remarks from state Sen. John Cooke in a recent talk radio discussion about whether Polis can be beat ( by liberal blog Colorado Pols).

“You know, I would like to say yes, but no, I don’t think he can at this point,” Cooke said. “(M)oney runs campaigns. And one, we need to have a good candidate, and it����ap really getting late in the season.”

About that: Burton Brown said the GOP’s top-of-the-ticket candidates will announce as soon as this summer and as late as the spring.

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Top Line

Cash for kids: Gov. Jared Polis is incentivizing weekly coronavirus tests for K-12 students.

Capitol Diary

Just the links

• Why 2020 is being hailed as a “banner year” for legislation supporting people with disabilities.
• Colorado was the first in the country to legalize marijuana, but other states are catching up — and then some.
• In 2019, Polis authorized digital identification for Coloradans. That����ap newly relevant because among the documents you can store on the app is your COVID vaccine card. .

Federal politics • By Justin Wingerter

The Senate’s small step on pot

Stashed away in the infrastructure bill that the U.S. Senate passed Tuesday is a requirement that three federal departments figure out how to get high-quality cannabis to scientists.

An amendment introduced by Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper requires the Transportation Department, Health and Human Services and the Justice Department to publish a plan in two years for letting researchers who are studying marijuana-impaired driving get their hands on the cannabis that Americans buy at dispensaries. Currently, researchers can only use .

If the infrastructure bill becomes law (it faces a bumpy road in the House first), it also calls for a plan to be drawn up for creating a national clearinghouse of cannabis. Strains would be collected and distributed, so researchers in states where it����ap illegal could get the strong stuff. For science.

“Colorado led the way on marijuana legalization,” Hickenlooper said in a statement last month (that didn’t mention he opposed legalizing). “The federal government needs to catch up by lifting outdated restrictions on the scientific study of cannabis so we can prevent driving while high.”

Read more about what Congress’ giant infrastructure bill means for Colorado.

More federal politics news

• Mesa County has to get rid of 40 pieces of election equipment, per a state order, after an alleged breach of its voting technology.
• Colorado’s Ken Salazar was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
• The feds are sending over a quick $11.6 million for cleanup on Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon.
• Former Olympian Eli Bremer will challenge U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet in 2022.
• Karen Breslin, a from Elizabeth, will too.
• Dominion Voting Systems has sued right-wing media for defamation — again.

Mile High Politics • By Conrad Swanson

Lucky No. 13?

For 50 years, Denver’s had 11 city council seats representing specific districts with well-defined borders and two at-large seats representing the entire city.

The unlikely pair of Candi CdeBaca and Kevin Flynn want to throw out the at-large seats and redraw boundary lines across the entire city so there are 13 council members representing 13 districts.

It����ap a contentious move and one that barely passed the council’s Finance and Governance Committee on Tuesday on a 4-3 vote. The proposal will head to the full council later this month for a decision on whether to put it up to a vote on the city’s November ballot.

Flynn, who’s been on council since 2015, said the city structured the council that way back in 1971 — the era of belted turtlenecks and flared jeans, when the country was still mired in the Vietnam War and Three Dog Night, Carole King and the Bee Gees topped the charts.

CdeBaca believes the original motive was to silence minorities in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. And adding two more districts to the council would mean more area-specific — and therefore equitable — representation for Denverites on the council, she said.

Council members who represent a district can take on citywide issues anyway, CdeBaca said, pointing to Kendra Black’s plastic bag fee or Stacie Gilmore’s long-term rental license law.

Plus, Flynn added, at-large council members are elected differently. The two candidates with the most votes in the races win. He said a former at-large councilwoman once recommended that he run for an at-large seat because he’d “only have to finish second to win.”

But the council’s existing at-large members — Robin Kniech and Debbie Ortega — , saying the move would mean less representation for Denverites because everyone who lives in Denver, no matter the district, has two other council people.

Ortega also said during Tuesday’s committee meeting that the shift could hurt fellow council members who might need an ally, particularly under Denver’s strong-mayor form of government.

“When you’re trying to get an issue funded, it����ap not as easy to get it done if it����ap just each district person trying to fight for those issues on their own,” Ortega said.

Either way the issue won’t affect Kniech or Ortega, both are term-limited and can’t run again.

More Denver metro news

• Boulder County argued Denver Water’s lawsuit over a proposal to expand the Gross Reservoir should be dropped.
• Aurora’s city council turned down a camping ban, but will have to vote again later this month.
• Two of Denver’s seven stretches of shared streets will once again open up to cars.
• New Denver Public Schools superintendent Alex Marrero discussed mask mandates, vaccine requirements and learning gaps.
• School mask guidelines garner criticisms from doctors who want them and parents who don’t. Check out the situation in your district here.

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The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to approve Salazar’s nomination. He is the first of President Joe Biden‘s ambassador nominees to be confirmed.

Salazar, 66, was secretary of the interior under President Barack Obama and served as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate for four years before that.

His confirmation comes at a time when the Biden administration is trying to deal with a large influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, a politically fraught issue that poses humanitarian and logistical challenges.

“Colorado is proud that one of our great statesmen will be representing the United States in Mexico,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Wednesday.

His nomination now goes to the U.S. Senate, which must confirm Miller before he can take office in the Swiss capital of Bern. In a statement, Miller said he looks forward to meeting with senators to discuss the two Alpine nations.

“If I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed, I hope to build on the work of my predecessors to strengthen the already solid relationship we have with the Swiss and Liechtensteiners, including our dynamic trade, investment and defense partnerships,” he added.

Miller and his husband, Tim Gill, have donated more than $500 million to LGBTQ causes through the Gill Foundation, which is headquartered in Denver. Miller is a board member and directs the foundation’s national giving strategy.

“Scott Miller’s commitments to equality and opportunity will showcase the best of Colorado and our nation, in Switzerland and on the international stage,” said U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.

Miller and Gill are also major donors to Democratic candidates, including President Joe Biden. $50,000 trying to draft Biden into the 2016 race (he declined to run) and for Biden in Denver in September 2019. Miller was also a consultant for Biden’s campaign that year.

Miller, 42, was previously a vice president at UBS Wealth Management’s office in Denver. UBS is a Swiss company and one of the largest private banks in the world.

Miller is the second Coloradan to be nominated by Biden for an ambassadorship. Ken Salazar, a former U.S. senator and interior secretary, was nominated to be ambassador to Mexico on June 15. He is awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

For people, policy and Colorado politics

What’s The Spot? You’re reading an installment of our weekly politics newsletter. .

Colorado Republicans are in a hole electorally, and their challenge in 2022 at the state level is enormous. They’re down 17 seats in the House and 5 in the Senate, and they control none of the big four statewide offices.

In a lengthy debrief last week on the legislative session, Republican leaders signaled one tool they’ll use is to criticize Democrats’ spending — specifically those laid out in SB21-260, the omnibus transportation bill that Gov. Jared Polis . The GOP is banking on Coloradans getting sticker shock and turning against a party they’ve overwhelmingly flocked to over the last decade.

But, House Minority Leader Hugh McKean said, the Democrats were tricky to set the effective date of many new fees to after the 2022 primary election — the November 2022 election in some cases.

Of course, had the transportation bill fees taken effect immediately, Democrats would have aught heat from Republicans for the opposite reason. McKean’s assistant leader, Rep. Tim Geitner, made that clear last week.

“The idea of doing 260, especially on the heels of COVID,” he said, “and say, ‘Oh, here, Colorado, after you’re trying to get through a pandemic … and you’re trying to look at economic recovery, then you’re gonna have 260.'”

But Republicans are overthinking it, Democratic Rep. Matt Gray said.

“We know we’re going to get politically attacked for it, … but we didn’t come into this to accomplish a political or an election thing,” said Gray, a sponsor of the transportation bill. “I can guarantee you none of our conversations — and there were hundreds of conversations — were based on the timing. They were based entirely on delivering the best transportation policy.”

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Have a question about Colorado politics? Submit it here and it’ll go straight to The Denver Post politics team.

Top Line

The U.S. has its first new federal holiday since 1983: Juneteenth. Denver is celebrating this weekend with its , including Saturday morning’s parade and tons of music to see all weekend from acts like , , , and .

Capitol Diary • By Erica Hunzinger

Catch right up

The Statehouse is quiet, but the Post keeps reporting. Check out these stories from the last week:

• Four hundred executive orders later, the governor says he’s “phasing out” pandemic powers.
• A senior Colorado Parks and Wildlife manager is back on the job after allegations he meddled in wolf reintroduction.
• Colorado has two new laws meant to bring down the cost of health care.
• Too far? Just right? Not enough? Colorado’s ketamine-use bill is contentious, even after it passed the legislature.
• , both the legislature and some of the ideas that didn’t get through this year.

Federal politics • By Justin Wingerter

Considering CORE

The CORE Act, a bill to expand and further protect 400,000 acres of public land in Colorado, received a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday — a procedural step that, coming so early in the 117th Congress, should allow the bill to advance farther than it did last Congress.

The hearing itself revealed little. Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, the bill’s sponsor and co-sponsor respectively, spoke in support. Then representatives from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service said their agencies largely back the bill.

“S. 173 aligns with the (Biden) administration’s climate and conservation goals and the BLM supports the bill,” said Nada Culver, BLM’s deputy director for policy. “We would like to work with the sponsor on a number of modifications to aid the bill’s implementation.”

Since its introduction in 2019, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act has lacked a Republican co-sponsor. It picked up in the House in 2019 and in February. It remains unclear whether it can garner 10 Republican votes in the Senate in order to pass as a standalone bill. (The other option is for it to be attached to an annual spending bill.)

“The CORE Act is a partisan land grab promoted by big-city Democrats who aren’t affected by the land-use bureaucracy that they are shoving down rural Colorado’s throat,” Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who represents most of the lands impacted by CORE, said in a statement.

Boebert����ap Republican predecessor, Scott Tipton, also opposed CORE. Boebert claims she was never consulted on it this year. “While locking up land may sound good to the swamp,” she said Wednesday, “it doesn’t work for the people who actually live there.”

More federal politics news

• Colorado’s federal forests are overrun. Ski fees and Congress could help.
• Colorado’s Ken Salazar was nominated to be the U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
• Boebert voted against giving medals to U.S. Capitol police.
• Claims that Boebert aided the Capitol riot won’t be investigated in Congress.

Mile High Politics • By Conrad Swanson

Airport nominee caught in the middle

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s pick to run the Denver International Airport is stuck with unflattering headlines as his old agency in California pushes back against an investigation. And a resolution any time soon seems unlikely.

There’s an ongoing criminal investigation into the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and a nonprofit that it hired as part of an apparent no-bid contract. Hancock’s nominee to run Denver International Airport, Phil Washington, ran L.A. Metro as its CEO from .

Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department officials confirmed that investigation and that search warrants had been served as part of it. But L.A. Metro officials say it����ap entirely baseless and drags Washington’s name down as part of a smear campaign.

While search warrants were served in February, the sheriff’s department has released no additional information since. L.A. Metro’s attorneys have argued in court that the warrants themselves are “ill-conceived” and “legally-flawed,” court documents show.

The subtext, according to additional statements from officials at L.A. Metro, which were shared with city staff in Denver, is that L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva is looking to punish the transit authority and nonprofit Peace Over Violence.

The Los Angeles Daily News that the executive director of the nonprofit, Patricia Giggans, also sits on a citizen oversight board that called for Villanueva’s resignation in September 2020. A close friend and ally, Sheila Kuehl, who is a Los Angeles County supervisor and member of the L.A. Metro board, has also called for the sheriff’s resignation.

So Villanueva struck back with the investigation, looking to “punish his political enemies which, not surprisingly, are growing in number,” L.A. Metro representatives said in a memo explaining the situation.

Precisely where this will end up is unclear, but before the city council votes whether to confirm Washington as DIA CEO, it will ask him a few questions.

More Denver and suburban political news

• Arvada said no to … Amazon.
• In case you haven’t noticed, it����ap pretty hot outside. .
• This is the Denver metro should want to move up in.
• Food delivery companies in Denver must soon itemize their receipts, the city council decided Monday.

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Salazar, 66, is the former secretary of the interior under President Barack Obama and had served as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate for four years before that. He is currently an attorney at WilmerHale and founder of the firm’s Denver office.

Salazar’s nomination will now go to the U.S. Senate, which must confirm him before he can take over the U.S. embassy in Mexico City.

His nomination comes at a time when the Biden administration is trying to deal with a large influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, a politically fraught issue that poses humanitarian and logistical challenges.

Salazar, who has never been a diplomat, is a break from Biden’s tendency; of the 19 ambassador nominees sent to the Senate, 13 are career diplomats.

Salazar’s successor in the Senate, Democrat Michael Bennet, said Biden “has made a terrific choice” in nominating Salazar. Colorado’s other senator, Democrat John Hickenlooper, predicted that Salazar “will revitalize the relationship with a neighbor, ally and one of our biggest trading partners.”

Kyle Kohli, executive director of the conservative advocacy group Compass Colorado, is skeptical that will occur.

“Ken Salazar once said border relations with Mexico are about building ‘trust,’” Kohli said, referring to a . “How can Mexico’s government trust the Biden administration when Vice President (Kamala) Harris won’t visit the southern border or address the surging humanitarian crisis?”