Tough rivalry likely as Polis jumps into race for House
Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News
Published May 22, 2007 at midnight
The 32-year-old Boulder multimillionaire whom everyone expected to run for Congress officially staked his claim Monday, setting the stage for a bitter primary against one of the state's most powerful Democrats.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Jared Polis will face state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, in the Democratic primary for U.S. Rep. Mark Udall's 2nd Congressional District seat. Udall is running for the U.S. Senate.
If elected, Polis would be the first openly gay person to represent Colorado in the House, where only two openly gay representatives serve. However, with Fitz-Gerald's record of supporting gay rights and the expectation that the race will be decided in the Democratic primary, his sexual orientation may be minimized as an issue.
Polis wants to apply his "out-of-the-box thinking" to national politics. He wants to focus on ending the war in Iraq and shift the country's focus to battling poverty, discrimination and global warming.
"I think that I will bring a creativity to the position and a sense of innovation and new ideas, which has been my track record in the past and will continue to be my track record moving forward," he said.
Fitz-Gerald, 58, is Colorado's first female Senate president. She declared her candidacy last month. "I've got leadership skills, and I've used them for the state of Colorado. And I think the nation needs those skills so badly right now," she said.
Boulder environmentalist Will Shafroth also is running for the Democratic nomination. No Republicans have announced their candidacy.
"I'm hopeful that a solid Republican challenger emerges to take advantage of what I think will be a terribly divisive Democratic primary," said state GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams.
The primary pits Fitz-Gerald's legislative experience and name recognition against Polis' wealth and business experience. Polis made hundreds of millions of dollars founding and selling the companies -BlueMountainarts.com and Proflowers.com.
And he is not reluctant to spend his money on politics. He spent $1.2 million on his first foray into elected office in 2000, winning a seat on the state board of education by less than 100 votes.
He bankrolled an ethics-in- government amendment, which voters passed in November, limiting the gifts that Colorado's elected officials, public employees and their families can accept.
In a preview of more sparring to come, Fitz-Gerald criticized Polis' Amendment 41 for being badly worded. Polis fired back with a radio ad accusing her of watering down the amendment with clarifying language.
bargec@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5059
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