Polis vs. Fitz-Gerald vs. Shafroth

Mail ballots arrived yesterday for the primary election in Colorado.  I am a resident of CD-2, a ‘safe’ Democratic seat.  The Primary election is on August 12.  The winner of this election will also win the general election.

Here is my history and take on the candidates:

Jared Polis

I met Jared in 2004 at about 3am on the Boulder Courthouse lawn.  The community organizers for the John Kerry campaign were organizing a all night movie night on the lawn to hype up ‘early voting.’  Jared came out with some warm drink (it was about 15 out that night) to the 15 or so that braved the night outside.  A year and a half I was asked by Jared if I had any interest working for a startup he was forming, called Confluence Commons.  That was my first real experience in a startup, and it changed the direction of my professional life.  I have been nothing but impressed with Jared through working with him on that, and many, many more projects.  You can see a bit more of his bio here.

Joan Fitz-Gerald

In 2004 I was addicted to reading ColoradoLuis, a blog by a former lawyer on politics in Colorado.  He was spot on in his reactions and predictions.  During the next few years, Luis’s dissatisfaction with the leadership of the Colorado Senate reached a boiling point with the special session, which puzzlingly passed some pretty awkward immigration reform, and Luis pointed out its shortcomings.  He hasn’t been a fan to say the least.

I also worked, somewhat disastrously, with Joan.  Some quotes that stuck out to me were “We are not Howard Dean” when rejecting the thought that in 2004 all the Senators in the Colorado Senate should have online fund raising (which I was largely volunteering to do).  I was struck that all the people around her didn’t seem to happy to be where they were.  In the end the average time it took her office to pay a bill was just over 6 months. I ended up having a pretty negative experience, but that is just my experience.

Joan Fitz-Gerald from Andrew on Vimeo.

To me Joan is old politics, accepting PAC money and calling in favors.  I hate the thought of an elected official going into an office owing a lot of favors is not something that makes me sleep well at night.

Will Shafroth

I fell in love with Will’s family before I met him.  They came in every Saturday morning to the Boulder County Democrats on their bikes and picked up caucus packets, spend 6 hours walking districts and then energetically came back.  Their dog often came in tow.  They gave me so much hope.  Such a cool family, and I am glad to see Will running such a strong campaign.  I don’t think Will will win this one, but I think he will have some very nice opportunities after it is done.  We need people like this in office.

Conclusion

I would put my vote for Jared Polis first, then Will Shafroth, then Joan Fitz-Gerald.  On the issues, they are very similar, and all will represent the community very well.

Disclosure (seems like only political posts have this, funny huh?).  I have run companies hired by both Jared Polis and Joan Fitz-Gerald’s campaigns.