Jared Polis on Becoming Colorado Governor and That "Openly Gay" Joke

Last week, Representative Jared Polis easily outdistanced Treasurer Walker Stapleton in the race for Colorado governor, riding a blue wave that resulted in Democrats winning every major statewide office and taking back control of the Colorado senate.

But for Polis, the celebrations are already over. The first five words out of his mouth at the outset of Westword's interview with the governor-elect are, "Lot of work to do."

With that in mind, the Polis forces have already launched a website, dubbed Boldly Forward, that includes information about his extremely eclectic transition team and encouragement for average folks to get involved with the preparations for a stint in office that he says he intends to make as productive as possible.

Nonetheless, Polis took a few minutes on November 13 to discuss what his victory says about Colorado voters today; his willingness to engage with leaders who don't agree with him (including one transition-team member whose past stands on education are leagues away from his own); the reaction to his win by the national media; his view of the "openly gay" label at the heart of a Colin Jost riff from the most recent edition of Saturday Night Live; whether he would support fracking-related legislation or boosts to education funding following the ballot failures of Proposition 112 and Amendment 73; and if the scope of the Democrats' triumph makes it even more important that he and other officials affiliated with the party turn their words into deeds.

Read more: https://www.westword.com/news/jared-polis-on-becoming-colorado-governor-and-openly-gay-saturday-night-live-joke-11004077