Editor;
Well, the election is over, and Republicans are now licking their wounds, while Democrats are gleefully running around Denver plotting what California type policy to foist on the people first. You may likely look forward to many forms of wealth redistribution in the months and years to come. So much for all those taxes you voted down!

“Had the Republican Party been able to put forward a candidate with strength, confidence and presence, they could have given Polis a real run for his money”

—While the Democrats have never seen a tax they didn’t love, just imagine what they could have done for the state with the $27 million more that they spent above what the Republicans spent. Jared Polis spent over $23 million, compared to Walker Stapleton who spent $4 million. Other races in the state had similarly disproportionate spending to the tune of a total of $34 million by Democrats, to $7 million by Republicans.
—It has been stated repeatedly in the news, since the election, that Jared Polis is openly gay. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Not one television ad showcased him with his spouse or family. He made his personal life as ambiguous as possible. He took no chances with conservative and rural voters!
—Family values still resonate in rural Colorado, and it would have served Walker Stapleton well to have brought his beautiful family out with him in some ads. Instead, he looked alone and lonely in them, and it was impossible to guess if he even had a family! It did not help him that his resemblance to Jeb Bush was more than skin deep. Donald Trump was absolutely correct when he labeled Jeb, “low energy”. Stapleton did not appear to really want the office for which he was running, and there lies his defeat.
—Had the Republican Party been able to put forward a candidate with strength, confidence and presence, they could have given Polis a real run for his money, literally, seeing how much of his own wealth he thought this power grab was worth. The Republicans here need youthful candidates who LOVE
Colorado, not California!
—They need candidates who understand the challenges of those living in rural Colorado, not the least of which is the cost of personal transportation. Fuel and mileage taxes would kill rural Colorado. Farming and energy exploration are also critical to rural Colorado.
—They need candidates who are aware of the problems California has embraced by allowing homelessness and drug abuse to go unaddressed. California is looking more and more like a third world country with feces and needles littering sidewalks. Diseases not remotely common in the state’s history are becoming epidemic. Is this what Colorado plans for its future? I guess we will find out.

Rochelle Harper
Pueblo, CO