Inside an old brick schoolhouse a few blocks off of Main Street in Grand Junction, about 40 Democratic party canvassers wait to meet with gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser as the Mesa County Democrats kick off door-knocking for the November election.
“Phil has an ability to relate to people better than others that I’ve met,” said Mary Lou Doak, one of the volunteers at the event. “And I think he’s more level-headed and just very kind and that’s what I like in a politician.”
While Mesa County is a reliably red county, the region is in the 3rd Congressional District, a seat Democrats hope to flip this fall. Democrats also want to turn out voters for Weiser, other down ballot races and the numerous ballot measures backed by Democrats.
Like a lot of voters across the country and in Colorado, Doak said her top issue this election is affordability. She said she’s owned a house in Grand Junction since 1979 and was her husband’s caregiver for almost 30 years after he had a stroke. He’s since died.
“The prices have gone up so much that I can’t afford to do anything,” she said. “I can’t afford to go on vacation. I can’t afford to have somebody take care of my house. I recently broke my wrist that had to be surgically put back together. In the last week, I’ve injured my shoulder that probably needs surgery. I have no one to care for me and I can’t afford to pay someone to care for me.”
The two-term Colorado attorney general is running on tackling issues like high costs and housing shortages, and he pledges to streamline government to find efficiencies. Weiser won a competitive primary race in June, defeating U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. He is now the front-runner against Republican Victor Marx, a first-time candidate and Christian ministry leader who is seeking to push back against years of Democratic party control of state government and battling divisions within his own party over his candidacy.
Back in Grand Junction, the crowd greeted Weiser enthusiastically as he shook hands inside the small room filled with snacks, posters and flyers. He answered questions and encouraged volunteers to listen and not give a canned spiel when they show up at someone’s door.
“It’s really that first line, in my experience, that if the person lets their guard down, then you can have a conversation,” he said. “And my wish for all of you would be to have some real conversations.”
Beth Vagles said she has not gone door to door to talk to voters since the Obama administration. She said it’s not something she actually enjoys doing, but if it’s an effective way to reach people, she’s happy to do it.
“I just feel a little bit despondent about the setbacks that we’ve had across so many areas of life, whether it’s education, energy, climate change, national security, the runaway development of AI, everything,” she said. “So that’s why I’m out just to sort of do something, anything.”
Vagle said she initially backed Bennet in the Democratic primary but switched to support Weiser once she learned about his time as attorney general and said she liked his energy.
“I think he’s stood up to the biggest bully that we’ve ever seen in government. I love his bravery. I love his persistence,” Vagle said.
Weiser’s campaign has mostly focused on the more than 80 lawsuits he’s participated in against the Trump administration, seeking to defend democratic institutions, protect the environment and push against federal cuts to programs like SNAP.
“I feel really good about him,” said Rob Washington, a retired teacher who was born and raised in Grand Junction. “I think he’ll be a great governor, just keeping Colorado a blue state.”
Jamie Porta, an electrician and union member, said she’s hoping he’ll do things differently than his predecessor. Gov. Jared Polis is leaving office due to term limits and he butted heads with his party on high-profile issues such as commuting the sentence of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, and vetoing a Democratic bill to make it easier for workers to fully unionize. Polis vetoed the union measure two years in a row after a compromise between the business community and labor unions fell apart.
Porta said she knocked on doors when Polis was running for election too.
“Then it was a slap in the face when he vetoed those bills,” she said. “I want to make sure that Phil Weiser takes this seriously and hopefully quickly after becoming governor signs that bill.”
Weiser said he thinks the state should update Colorado’s Labor Peace Act, but hasn’t said specifically what he would support. Democrats are once again expected to hold a wide majority in both legislative chambers so that proposal is likely to land on the next governor’s desk.
Porta and Washington didn’t get into those kinds of specifics with voters. Most weren’t home. Others were polite and accepted the informational flyers.
“I plan to vote,” one woman said. Another said she hadn’t researched any candidates or issues yet.
It’s been an unusual governor’s race. The two candidates haven’t met for a face-to-face debate after the midterms, since Marx has turned down all moderated debates, leaving Weiser to debate the unaffiliated gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez. Weiser and Lopez took the stage at the Club 20 debate at Colorado Mesa University.
“My view is by showing up for a debate, being willing to answer questions, you demonstrate you’re prepared to take on the job,” Weiser said.
His opponent, Marx, has largely focused on his own life story, and the leadership skills he said he would bring to the role. He said Weiser has done more damage to Colorado than good by suing the Trump administration so much. Marx told CPR he doesn’t personally agree with Trump on everything.
“But I believe the governor’s job is to build relationships with that administration, not pick fights for political theater,” Marx said. “I mean, what the hell? How does the state of Colorado benefit from Phil Weiser daily, weekly, trying to declare how many times he sued President Trump? If that doesn’t prove that that fella’s a litigator, not a leader, I don’t know what does.”
Colorado has not elected a Republican for governor in more than two decades and the party is bullish on its chances in all the open statewide races from governor to treasurer to attorney general and secretary of state.
On this particular day some Democrats were reaching out to younger unaffiliated left-leaning voters who don’t always turn out to vote.
“One of the big opponents I have in this race is complacency,” Weiser told CPR. “There are a lot of people who say, ‘I’m just not that into politics.’ And my message, you may not be into politics, but politics is into you. We have important challenges in Colorado.”
This year, state lawmakers dealt with a $1.5 billion budget shortfall, and the budget challenges are expected to continue into the next governor’s term. While Weiser is focused on the campaign and attending forums and debates, he’s also planning for the next phase and said he would expect his administration to be filled with new hires and familiar faces he’s worked with and people he met during the campaign.
“We’re going to have an open process. So we’ll have a range of people in my administration. We’ll have some time to put that together. I know how to do that and I’m excited to get to work, but first I have to win this race.”
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