Democratic candidate Jared Polis was projected to make American history Tuesday night likely becoming the first openly gay man to be elected as a U.S. governor. At the time of this reporting, Polis held approximately 51 per cent of the vote against Republican opponent Walker Stapleton’s 45 per cent.
Going up against Stapleton, the state treasurer for Colorado, to fill outgoing Gov. John Hickenlooper’s seat, Polis won the primary election with approximately 44 per cent of the vote. He’s served five terms as a Congressman in Colorado
-
![]()
Midterm Elections: Jared Polis becomes first openly gay male governor in the U.S. -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Nancy Pelosi, Democrats celebrate taking back the House, promise to seek unity -
![]()
Sarah Sanders says Republican control of Senate ‘huge victory’ for Donald Trump -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Elizabeth Warren says it ‘was a record night for women’ -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Rick Scott defeats incumbent Bill Nelson to win Florida Senate seat -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Beto O’Rourke concedes Texas Senate race to Cruz -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Oregon governor Kate Brown celebrates victory -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Josh Hawley wins Missouri after beating McCaskill -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Ilhan Omar becomes first Somali-American elected to Congress. -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Beto O’Rourke congratulates Ted Cruz on victory -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Joe Donnelly concedes Indiana Senate race to Mike Braun -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Ron DeSantis defeats Andrew Gillum to win Florida governor election -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Ted Cruz congratulates Beto O’Rourke after winning Texas Senate seat -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Amy Klobuchar says Minnesota voted for ‘substance, not subtweets’ -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Andrew Gillum concedes Florida governor’s race -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Democrat Bob Menendez retains seat in U.S. Senate -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Ayanna Pressley gives impassioned victory speech after winning Massachusetts House seat -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney wins Utah Senate seat -
![]()
Midterm Elections: Tammy Baldwin wins another term as Wisconsin senator -
![]()
Midterm Elections: ‘I am humbled:’ Andrew Cuomo on winning another term as governor of New York
He and his partner Marlon Reis are the fathers of two young children and previously told CNN about their experience as a same-sex couple on Capitol Hill in 2009. In addition, Polis is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, having founded several successful companies including the florist site Proflowers.com and online greeting card creator Bluemountain.com.
Originally from Boulder, Polis’ first election win came in 2000 when he was voted into the Colorado State Board of Education. He was elected to represent Colorado’s Second Congressional District in 2008.
Since then, he’s emerged as one of the most pro-cannabis politicians in Washington, CNN reports, as he advocated last year for decriminalizing marijuana and removing the substance as a Schedule 1 drug last year.
He campaigned for the governorship on universal free healthcare, free kindergarten and preschool, and movements towards a 100 per cent renewable energy state.
Polis has told ABC that while being an openly gay governor puts him in the history books, he doesn’t think it’s unusual in a state like Colorado.
“Colorado is a ground-breaking state,” said Polis. “We’ve had LGBT speakers in our state assembly, Senate minority leaders, commissioners.”
In most polls leading up to the vote, Polis was projected to take at least 45 per cent of the vote to win the election. In the most recent polls cited by FiveThirtyEight, Polis held double-digit leads over Stapleton among women, unaffiliated voters and voters under 40.
-
![]()
Midterms 2018: McCaskill, Hawley vote in highly-contested Missouri Senate race -
![]()
Midterms 2018: Brian Kemp votes in Georgia gubernatorial race -
![]()
Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to Atlanta voters amid polling problems in multiple U.S. cities -
![]()
2018 U.S. midterms: Humidity, power outages cause delays, long lines at polling stations -
![]()
2018 midterms: Elizabeth Warren casts vote in Massachusetts -
![]()
Sen. McCaskill jabs Trump, Fox News over Sean Hannity MAGA rally appearance -
![]()
Voter shaming: Apps leverage midterm elections, share public voting history
Throughout the campaign, ABC reports that Polis has talked frequently about lowering the cost of early childhood education and how his opponent, if elected, would simply be a “yes-man” for the president.
He’s also talked often of electing diverse leaders to public office who are “fully representative of the people they’re elected to work for,” he told ABC.
“That means we should have our communities of colour represented, women represented, the LGBTQ community represented. And the more diversity we have in elected leadership, responsible positions, I think the better result we’ll have,” he continued.
He’s one of a handful of LGBTQ candidates running in these midterm elections. Vermont’s Democratic candidate for governor, Christine Hallquist, is the first transgender woman to be a major party’s candidate for governor. Gov. Kate Brown, who’s up for re-election in Oregon, became the first openly bisexual person to serve as a state’s governor.
Following his victory, the LGBTQ Victory Fund, an American political action committee dedicated to having more LBGTQ-identifying candidates elected to public office, issued a statement by the president of the fund, Mayor Annise Parker.
“This is the evolution we will fight for in states all throughout the country – both red and blue – because we know voters are ready to support authentic, values-driven LGBTQ candidates who speak to the issues that matter most. Jared shattered a lavender ceiling in Colorado, but its effect will extend well-beyond the state’s borders,” she said in the statement.,
Comments