Democrat Phil Weiser quietly appeals to GOP leaders ahead of Election Day
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Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, center, responds to his opponent Victor Marx during a gubernatorial forum Oct. 8. Photo: Timothy Hurst/Denver Post via Getty Images
Last month, in the back of a bustling Grand Junction bagel shop, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser spent an hour courting a key Republican budget writer.
The intrigue: The meeting with state Rep. Rick Taggart didn't appear on Weiser's public schedule — and it's not the only time he's quietly reached across the aisle.
Why it matters: Weeks before the Nov. 3 election, Weiser — the runaway favorite — is acting like the winner and looking ahead to building a bipartisan governing coalition.
State of play: The two-term attorney general has promised to tap diverse leaders across the state for this administration — and he's seriously considering appointing a Republican to his cabinet.
- In addition to Taggart, Weiser name-dropped state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a former Republican candidate for governor, and Senate GOP leader Cleave Simpson at a recent forum with business leaders.
- What he's saying: "We are absolutely better together," Weiser said at the race's lone candidate forum, hosted by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. "That's going to be a core value that I will lead, and we're going to come together."
The latest: Weiser on Wednesday revealed endorsements from more than a dozen prominent Republican leaders, lobbyists and local officials, notably former Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who also served as state GOP chair.
- He also landed the endorsement of the state's largest police union, the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police.
- Weiser is "the kind of leader who's going to include everyone from all four corners of this great state," Buck said in a statement.
The other side: U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is the only Colorado elected official listed as an endorser on Republican nominee Victor Marx's website.
- "After a year on the campaign trail, I've learned one thing: The establishment doesn't decide this race," Marx said in a statement to Axios.
- "The only endorsement that matters comes from the people of Colorado, and they want real change, not more of the same."
Zoom in: In an interview after he met with Weiser, Taggart declined to say whether he would vote for the Democrat.
- But he thanked him for "a very straightforward, honest conversation," much of it about the difficult budget situation the next governor will inherit.
- He also encouraged him to appoint a bipartisan cabinet. "I think that sends a very positive message to the Legislature," Taggart told Axios "that whether you have a D behind your name or an R behind your name, we have to work together."