Opinion | Bennet: Housing, healthcare, childcare, public lands, fighting Trump and more top my priorities, if elected

Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of traveling across Colorado, and everywhere I go, I hear the same thing. Housing is too expensive. Healthcare is skyrocketing. Childcare is impossible to find.

But I believe Colorado can lead the country in building a future that tackles our cost-of-living crisis, creates economic opportunity for everyone and drives a stake through the divisive politics practiced by President Donald Trump. That’s why I’m running for governor.

We are living in a profoundly reactionary period. We’re facing an economy that only works for those at the very top. Families and businesses are being pushed out of Colorado. Our state budget is in crisis. And Trump is doing everything he can to make matters worse. He has sent masked agents into our communities, attacked Colorado and trampled over the rule of law.

I refuse to allow Colorado to be defined by President Trump. I believe Colorado can turn our state around to build a better, stronger future for our kids and grandkids.

I’ve spent my career standing up for Colorado, even in the face of President Trump’s lawlessness. I led the charge against his most dangerous cabinet nominees like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard. When they tried to sell off the public lands we value so much, I won the fight to stop them. And time and again, I’ve stood up for Coloradans’ healthcare, fighting against every disastrous attempt to gut the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid.

I’ve also worked side by side with Colorado’s mountain communities to deliver real results. Together we’ve protected more than 700,000 acres of public lands in Colorado, including designating the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument and stopping oil and gas drilling in the Thompson Divide. We’ve finally secured federal funding for the Shoshone Water Rights and invested in the health of our forests. We’ve built the Precourt Healing Center so Western Coloradans can get mental healthcare without driving over the pass and delivered affordable housing across the High Country from Steamboat to Edwards to Carbondale. And there’s still more work to do.

There is a real difference between the candidates in this race. I have a vision to build a Colorado that serves the entire state, not just the Front Range. 

Colorado is the third most expensive state in the nation, and we need action. I’m the only candidate with a goal to ensure no Coloradan pays more than 30% of their income on housing.

Healthcare costs are skyrocketing and rural hospitals are struggling to keep their doors open. I’m the only candidate who will launch a real public option for healthcare to lower costs and invest in patients and providers, instead of insurance and private equity.

This year, our mountain communities are facing the lowest snowpack on record, facing the very real effects of climate change. I’m the only candidate with an economy-wide solution, called cap-and-invest, that will require corporations to cut pollution or pay for us to invest in the communities and clean energy that will help us meet our climate goals.

We don’t have time for more commissions and studies that take months or even years to tell us what we already know. Colorado is getting too expensive, and we need to restore the American Dream.

Colorado needs big ideas, real results, and someone willing to make the hard decisions and tell the truth — even when it’s inconvenient. That’s what I’ll deliver.

Colorado’s mountain communities don’t need a governor dictating solutions from Denver. You deserve a true partner who shows up, listens and fights for you at your side when it matters most.

Just as I have throughout my career, I will be that partner as governor. The stakes are too high for anything less.

I’m asking for your vote because this moment matters, and Colorado’s future is worth fighting for.

Sen. Michael Bennet is a candidate in Colorado’s Democratic primary for governor.