Brighton Standard Blade 092222 by Colorado Community Media

STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N

SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903

75cI

VOLUME 119

Issue 38

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

COVID not top voter concern

THUNDERHAWKS CELEBRATE

Housing affordability, economy, homelessness rank high in poll BY AMANDA HORVATH ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS

Ganahl make up the difference. Wells Ranch, the company owned by Wells, put another $5 million into Deep Colorado Wells, the state-level super PAC he formed in June. This brings Wells Ranch’s total investment in the PAC to $6 million. And it makes the ranch the biggest donor to a state-level super PAC in Colorado so far this cycle. While the group’s stated mission is to support Republican candidates, nearly all of Deep Colorado Wells’ $600,000 in spending last month went toward opposing Polis and supporting Ganahl. Wells told The Sun he isn’t sure how much he’ll spend to defeat Polis.

In the last two years, COVID-19 has dropped from a top concern for Colorado voters to low on the list. Now at the top of that list ahead of the November election are issues like affordable housing and civil rights issues. The ACLU of Colorado commissioned a poll of 1,223 likely voters in Colorado last month through the African American Research Collaborative (AARC). Ninety-five percent of the poll’s respondents were already registered voters in the state. The poll found 80% of Coloradans consider housing affordability as either a major issue or a crisis. Also among top concerns were the economy and homelessness. “There is a flavor of concern of the inflation and economy that is directly tied to civil rights,” said Isaiah Bailey, a research fellow with the AARC. He said it was encouraging that voters are understanding the connection of those ideas. Top issues found as concerns for voters. Provided by African American Research Collaborative. Also, reflected in the poll was the agency voters feel they have in the democratic process when it comes to ballot issues. On a scale from 1 to 10 — 10 meaning the issue is extremely persuasive in encouraging you to vote — the average answer was 7.48 for ballot issues. “I think the support the state has for the generic idea of a ballot initiative as a form of direct democracy is striking,” said Henry Fernandez,

SEE BOOST, P21

SEE VOTER, P17

This Prairie View High School student gets the best of both worlds. He gets to spend time with his classmates at the school’s annual homecoming bonfire, and he gets to stand near the warm fire on a breezy Sept. 13. Praire View went on to win their PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH homecoming game, see the story on Page 9.

Ganahl gets big funding boost Republican rancher spends millions to support candidate for governor BY SANDRA FISH AND JESSE PAUL THE COLORADO SUN

The 2022 race for Colorado governor may boil down to who wants to spend more of their own money: Democratic Gov. Jared Polis or Steve Wells, a Weld County rancher and oil and gas booster who is now one of the state’s most prolific Republican donors. Polis gave his 2022 reelection campaign another $1.2 million in August, bringing his total so far

this cycle to $7.1 million, according to a campaign finance report filed Tuesday. He had $3.3 million in his campaign’s bank account to start September after spending $4.4 million, most of it on TV ads scheduled to run through Election Day. His first TV ad is set to air starting today. Polis spent more than $23 million to win his first term in 2018. Meanwhile, University of Colorado Regent Heidi Ganahl, Polis’ Republican opponent in November, brought in nearly $252,000 last month. She paid off $46,000 of a $250,000 loan she previously made to the campaign and had $188,000 heading into this month, putting her at a major cash disadvantage compared to her deep-pocketed opponent. But Wells appears to be helping

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CULTURE • Dry land lawns becoming more popular

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