Jared Polis | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Polis in 2019 | |
| 43rdGovernor of Colorado | |
| Assumed office January 8, 2019 | |
| Lieutenant | Dianne Primavera |
| Preceded by | John Hickenlooper |
| Chair of theNational Governors Association | |
| Assumed office July 12, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Spencer Cox |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromColorado's2nd district | |
| In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Udall |
| Succeeded by | Joe Neguse |
| Member of the Colorado State Board of Education from the at-large district | |
| In office January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Ben Alexander |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jared Schutz (1975-05-12)May 12, 1975 (age 49) Boulder, Colorado, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Susan Polis (mother) |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
Jared Polis on his support for an amendment to repealDon't Ask, Don't Tell Recorded May 27, 2010 | |
Jared Schutz Polis (/ˈpoʊlɪs/POH-liss;[1]né Schutz; born May 12, 1975)[2] is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rdgovernor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on theColorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as theUnited States representative fromColorado's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2019. He was the onlyDemocratic member of thelibertarian conservativeLiberty Caucus,[3][4] and was the third-wealthiest member ofCongress, with an estimated net worth of $122.6 million.[5] He was elected governor of Colorado in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
As an openly gay man, Polis has made history several times through his electoral success. In 2008, he became thefirst openly gay man and second openly LGBT person (afterTammy Baldwin) elected toCongress as a non-incumbent.[6][7] In 2011, he became the first openly gay parent in Congress.[8] In 2018, he became the first openly gay man and second openly LGBT person (afterKate Brown) elected governor of a U.S. state.[9][10] He is also the first Jewish person electedgovernor of Colorado.[11] In 2021, he became the first governor in a same-sex marriage.[12] In 2022, he became the first openly gay man and the first governor in a same-sex marriage elected to a second term in office.[13]
Polis is the son of Stephen Schutz andSusan Polis Schutz, founders of greeting card and book publisher Blue Mountain Arts.[14] He was born atBoulder Community Hospital in Boulder, Colorado, in 1975. He lived inSan Diego, California, as a high school student and graduated fromLa Jolla Country Day School in three years with multiple honors. He graduated fromPrinceton University with a B.A. in politics in 1996, writing a 157-page senior thesis, "Paradigm Shift: Politics in the Information Age", under the supervision ofCarol M. Swain.[15] While at Princeton, Polis served as communications director of the undergraduate student government and was involved in other campus organizations, such as Model Congress,Phi Gamma Delta, and the Princeton Juggling Club.[16] As a college sophomore, Polis purchased stamps from aLegends of the West series at the Princeton post office. TheUSPS had recently recalled the series due to a printing error in the image ofBill Pickett, making his stamps far more valuable. Polis sold the stamps to a collector for a sum "exceeding $1000".[17] In 2000, he legally changed his surname to his mother's to raise awareness for a fundraiser and because he simply "liked it better".[18]
Polis co-founded American Information Systems (AIS), Inc., while still in college. AIS was aninternet access provider and was sold in 1998. In 1996, he co-founded[18] a free electronicgreeting card website, bluemountain.com, which was sold toExcite@Home in 1999 for $430 million in stock and $350 million in cash.[19][20] In February 1998, Polis foundedProFlowers, an online florist, inLa Jolla, California. In December of that year, economistArthur Laffer began advising Polis and joined ProFlowers as a director.[21] ProFlowers, later renamed Provide Commerce, Inc., went public onNASDAQ as PRVD on December 17, 2003. In 2005, media conglomerateLiberty Media Corporation acquired Provide Commerce for $477 million.[22] Polis and other investors foundedTechStars inBoulder, Colorado, in 2006.[23] During his tenure in Congress, Polis was among its wealthiest members; his net worth was estimated at more than $300 million.[24]
Polis has been called one of the "Gang of Four"—four wealthy Coloradans who made a concerted effort to support Democrats in statewide legislative races. The other members arePat Stryker,Rutt Bridges, andTim Gill.[25] The Gang of Four's influence has been cited as a factor in Colorado's shift toward the Democratic Party in the 2000s and 2010s.[26]
In 2000, Polis was electedat-large as a member of theColorado State Board of Education and served a single six-year term until January 2007, when the district was eliminated.[27] His election was one of the closest in Colorado history, as he defeated incumbent Ben Alexander by 90 votes out of 1.6 million cast.[28] During his term, Polis served as both chairman and vice chairman of the board.[29][30][31]
In 2006, Polis served as co-chair of Coloradans for Clean Government, a committee that supportedAmendment 41, a citizen-initiatedballot measure to ban gifts by registered lobbyists to government officials, establish a $50 annual restriction on gift-giving from non-lobbyists, establish a two-year cooling-off period before former state legislators and statewideelected officials can begin lobbying, and create an independent ethics commission. In November 2006, 62.3% of Colorado voters approved the "Ethics in Government"constitutional amendment.[32]
In 2007, Polis co-chaired the "Building for Our Future" campaign that supported ballot question 3A in the Boulder Valley School District to issue $296.8 million in bonds for the improvement and modernization of aging school facilities—the largest capital construction bond issue in the district's history and the largest school bond proposal in Colorado that year. In November 2006, 58% of Boulder Valley School District voters approved the measure.[33]
In 2014, Polis planned to champion two ballot measures to limit fracking in Colorado by banning drilling near schools and homes and empowering communities to pass their own rules. The measures were dropped after he reached a deal with GovernorJohn Hickenlooper to create a task force. The absence of the initiatives was seen as a relief to vulnerable Democrats who would have had to take controversial stances on the issue.[34]
In2008, Polis won a heavily contested Democraticprimary election forColorado's 2nd congressional district, and went on to win the general election on November 4 with 63% of the vote. He succeededMark Udall, who was elected to theUnited States Senate that year.[35] Polis was reelected to the House in2010 with 57% of the vote,[36][37] in2012 with 56% of the vote,[38] in2014 with 57% of the vote,[39] and in2016 with 57% of the vote.[40]
Polis was the Red to Blue program chair for theDCCC during the2012 elections, helping recruit and raise money for Democratic candidates in competitive congressional districts.[41] After the elections, he considered running forvice chair of the House Democratic Caucus after then-ChairXavier Becerra was term-limited.[42] The position went to RepresentativeJoe Crowley.[43]
The following is an incomplete list of legislation Polis introduced:
In the 114th Congress, Polis served on the following committees:[44]
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In2018, Polis announced his candidacy forgovernor of Colorado.[55] He was elected governor with 53.4% of the vote, defeatingRepublican nomineeWalker Stapleton and becoming the firstopenly gay person elected governor of any state;[56][57] the first openly gay person to serve as a state governor wasJim McGreevey, the 52ndGovernor of New Jersey, who disclosed his sexual orientation during his gubernatorial tenure.[58]
Polis won reelection to a second term, defeating Republican nomineeHeidi Ganahl, a member of theUniversity of Colorado Board of Regents.[59][60]
Polis was elected governor on November 6, 2018. Boldly Forward, a 501(c)4 nonprofit, was formed as the transition team, working with Keystone Center as facilitator. Polis was sworn in on January 8, 2019.[61] An effort to recall him and other Democratic elected officials failed to submit any signatures; Polis said of the effort, "Recalls should not be used for partisan gamesmanship".[62]
Polis has been described as alibertarian. He has spoken in favor of abortion rights,school choice, replacing Colorado's property tax with aland value tax,[63] and eliminating Colorado's income tax. During theCOVID-19 pandemic in Colorado, he was skeptical of enforcing the state'smask mandates for long periods of time, saying he personally wore masks but did not want "to force it on people". In 2022, the libertarian magazineReason suggested he was "the most libertarian governor in America".[64][65][66] He was the first member of Congress to acceptBitcoin donations.[67]
In September 2015, Polis voiced support for altering university disciplinary processes surrounding campus rape to allow for cases to be judged against a reasonable likelihood standard, saying that: "If there are 10 people who have been accused, and under a reasonable likelihood standard maybe one or two did it, it seems better to get rid of all 10 people ... we're not talking about depriving them of life or liberty, we're talking about them being transferred to another university, for crying out loud."[68] After being criticized[69] for these remarks, Polis apologized, saying that: "I went too far by implying that I support expelling innocent students from college campuses, which is something neither I nor other advocates of justice for survivors of sexual assault support".[70]
In the House, Polis was an advocate for civil liberties, saying while campaigning in 2008 that "balance must be restored between the executive and the judicial branch (through restoringhabeas corpus, and clarifying that the president does not have the Constitutional authority to alter legislation throughsigning statements) and between the executive and the legislative branch (clarifying that the Fourth Amendment requires probable cause and a warrant for the government to monitor Americans)".[71]
Polis supports thelegalization of cannabis, saying in 2011, "Just as the policy ofprohibition failed nationally with alcohol—it's now up to states and counties—I think we should do the same with marijuana."[72] Legislation he has introduced includes theEnding Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act in 2013,[73] theRegulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act in 2015,[74] and the McClintock–Polis amendment in 2015 (to prevent federal interference in states that have legalized medical or recreational use; it failed 206–222).[75] He was also an original cosponsor of theMarijuana Justice Act that was first introduced in the House in 2018.[76] In February 2017, Polis launched theCongressional Cannabis Caucus along with RepresentativesDon Young,Earl Blumenauer, andDana Rohrabacher.[45] In 2021, he pardoned 1,351 Coloradans convicted of marijuana possession.[77]
Polis supports an open and free internet, and has been critical ofSOPA,PIPA andCISPA, saying in an interview withForbes, "I oppose piracy and want to see intellectual property protected because that is what fosters and rewards innovation. But SOPA won't accomplish a meaningful reduction in piracy and causes massive collateral damage to the Internet ecosystem."[78] While debating SOPA on the House floor Polis said that SOPA and PIPA "directly threaten the very internet that has brought humanity great prosperity and greater peace" and "Allowing the military andNSA to spy on Americans on American soil goes against every principle this country was founded on."[79][80] Polis and 167 other House members voted against CISPA.[81]
Polis and RepresentativesZoe Lofgren andDarrell Issa sponsoredAaron's Law[82] in the wake of the suicide of computer programmer and internet activistAaron Swartz, the co-founder ofReddit, who was facingcomputer andwire fraud charges, more than 30 years in prison and fines of over $1 million for violating the terms of service for illegally downloadingacademic journal articles from the digital libraryJSTOR.[83] The proposed bill would exclude terms of service violations from the1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and from the wire fraud statute.[84][85] Polis said that the charges brought byUS AttorneyCarmen Ortiz were "ridiculous and trumped-up" and that "It's absurd that he was made a scapegoat. I would hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else."[86]
Polis voted against the2012 National Defense Authorization Act, and opposes Section 1021, which drew controversy about implications to detention policy.[87] After the law was signed, Polis and other House members introduced legislation to repeal theindefinite detention provision. Though legislation has failed to pass the House, Section 1021 is now pending in the courts.[88]
Polis has been a vocal opponent of thePATRIOT ACT. In a letter toHouse SpeakerJohn Boehner, he wrote that the Act "is a bill that has been plagued with abuse since it was first passed, and today's rule is yet another example of short-circuiting the system that ourFounding Fathers set up. If there were ever the need for the close supervision and congressional oversight of a law, it is a law that discusses how and under what conditions a government can spy on its own citizens."[89] In February 2011, Polis voted against H.R. 514, extending expiring provisions of the Patriot Act, authorizing court-approvedroving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones, allowing court-approved seizure of records and property in anti-terrorism operations, and permitting surveillance against a so-called lone wolf, a non-US citizen engaged in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.[90][91]
In May 2014, Polis became the first U.S. representative to accept campaign donations via Bitcoin.[92] In February 2022, Polis announced that Colorado would become the first state to allow its residents to pay state taxes withBitcoin.[93]
In 2011, Polis and SenatorJoe Lieberman introduced the 2011Race to the Top Act (H.R. 1532). The legislation authorized old provisions and some new ones, including new standards to encourage and reward states based on their implementation of comprehensive educational reforms that innovate through 4-year competitive grants that allow more funding to expandcharter schools and compensate teachers in part based on their students' performance.[94][95][96]
Polis has sponsored other education bills and legislation regarding students, including:
Polis has also introduced the Computer Science Education Act, which helps provide job training for computing jobs, and the ACE Act, which would provide funding to improve outcomes for students in persistently low-performing schools, and to authorize school "turnaround grants."[104][105]
In 2014, Polis sponsored two ballot measures targeting hydraulic fracturing, Initiatives 88 and 89. He sought to move fracking from 500 feet (150 m) from people's homes to 2,000 feet (610 m) to improve homeowners' quality of life in affected areas.[106] On August 4, 2014, Polis announced that he would withdraw his support for the two ballot measures.[107]
Polis has shown interest in the regulation ofkombucha.[108][109][110] He co-sponsored a bill that would have legalized the interstate shipment ofraw milk.[111]
Polis has called himself "pro-choice" on the issue of vaccines.[112] In 2019, he opposed a major provision in House Bill 1312 that made it harder for parents to seek non-medical vaccine exemption for their children.[113] He has supported Donald Trump's decision to nominateRobert F. Kennedy Jr. as the secretary ofHealth and Human Services.[114]
Polis supported removing all troops fromAfghanistan.[115] In 2010, he supported a failed resolution to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan within 30 days, saying, "I don't believe that this ongoing occupation is in our national interest" and "I supported the initial action to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan, and that succeeded. The challenge we face now is a stateless menace."[116] Polis also took a congressional delegation trip to Afghanistan, meeting with former Afghan Interior MinisterMohammad Hanif Atmar, U.S. military officials and diplomats. During his meeting with Atmar, Polis focused on the education gap between Afghanistan and Western nations, the low literacy rate forAfghan police and military officials and combating political corruption.[117]
Polis voted for the 2010Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act expandingeconomic sanctions against Iran under theIran and Libya Sanctions Act, and co-sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009, authorizing state and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies with investments of $20,000,000 or more inIran's energy sector.[118][119]
Polis opposed theIraq War, saying, "The invasion of Iraq was a colossal mistake and I opposed the war from the very beginning.Bush's blunders, and the Democrats who gave him cover along the way, have left us without easy solutions for improving the situation."[120]
As a member of Congress, Polis and then-RepresentativesBarney Frank andTammy Baldwin called on theU.S. embassy in Iraq and then-United States Secretary of StateHillary Clinton to prioritize investigating the allegations of rape, torture and executions ofLGBT Iraqis, saying, "Such disturbing violations of human rights should not be ignored and the United States should not stand idly by while billions of taxpayer dollars are used to support their government." Polis and 35 other House members also called on theState Department to address violence against Honduras's LGBT community.[121]
On May 29, 2019, Polis signed House Bill 1124, immediately prohibiting law enforcement officials in Colorado from holding undocumented immigrants solely on the basis of a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.[122] Polis is one of several U.S. governors who have been relocating migrants via publicly sponsored buses to other U.S. cities, including New York City and Chicago. On January 7, 2023, he said he would no longer send migrants to Chicago.[123]
At the time of his departure from Congress, Polis was one of seven openly gay members of the113th Congress, and caucused in theLGBT Equality Caucus. He pushed for the repeal of theDefense of Marriage Act, and praised theObama Administration's decision for theJustice Department to no longer defend DOMA, saying, "Section 3 of the law is unconstitutional."[124] In a statement Polis said, "I applaud the Administration for finally recognizing what my colleagues and I have long criticized, to deny people the ability to officially acknowledge their relationship and feel welcomed as partners only for being LGBT is absurd and today's decision confirms this".[125] Polis also credited Obama for openly endorsing gay marriage, calling it "welcome news to American families."[126] Polis was an original cosponsor of H.R. 116, theRespect for Marriage Act. H.R. 116 repeals DOMA, allowing marriage recognition for gay and lesbian couples in the U.S., theDistrict of Columbia, andU.S. territories.[127]
Polis was also the leading sponsor of theStudent Non-Discrimination Act with SenatorAl Franken, who introduced the act in the Senate. SNDA would establish a comprehensive federal prohibition in all public and elementary and secondary schools of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, expandingTitle IX of the Education Amendments Act toLGBT students.[128] In a statement, Polis said "education is the right of every student" regardless of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. "The alarming increase in teen suicides has shown us just how far we are from making our children's schools safe spaces."[129] The SNDA has 167 co-sponsors in the House, with only twoRepublicans signing on.[130] SNDA is also supported by theACLU andChange.org.[131] Polis voted for the repeal ofDon't Ask, Don't Tell, which prohibited openly gay and lesbian members of the military from serving.[132] In a letter to Obama, Polis and 67 other House members urged the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. The letter cited a California district judge's ruling that DADT was unconstitutional and that the 14,000 service members who had been discharged from the military since its passage had been discharged unjustly.[133] Polis also supported and cosponsored theMatthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, giving adequate funding and ability to federal authorities to investigate hate crimes, and advocated for protections for LGBT victims ofdomestic violence to be included in theViolence Against Women Act.[134][135]
In September 2014, Polis filed adischarge petition to bring the LGBT Employment Non-Discrimination Act to the House floor for a vote. Representatives Garamenedi, Holt, and Connolly joined Polis in support in filing the petition. The revised legislation included narrow religious exemptions.[136] Polis urged Obama to reconsider the inclusion of Malaysia and Brunei in aTrans-Pacific Partnership because of their poor record on LGBT rights.[137] In June 2019, Polis signed a bill banning conversion therapy for minors.[138] In February 2022, he denounced anti-trans legislation being passed in Republican-controlled states, calling it "un-American".[139] In April 2022, Polis said he opposed the repeal of theReedy Creek Improvement Act and said he would welcome Disney if it left Florida for Colorado.[140] On April 14, 2023, he signed into law three health care bills enshrining access to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications in Colorado. The bills ensure people in surrounding states and beyond can have an abortion, begin puberty blockers, or receive gender-affirming surgery in Colorado without fear of prosecution.[141] On April 29, 2024, Polis signed a law requiring public schools to use trans students' preferred names.[142][143]
Polis wasthe first non-incumbent openly gay man elected to Congress,[6][7] and the first openly gay parent in Congress.[145][146][147] He is also the nation's second openly gay parent to hold state-level government office.[148][149][150] Polis and his husband,Marlon Reis, have a son and a daughter, born in 2011 and 2014, respectively.[151][152][153] Polis is Jewish.[154]
In June 2019, to mark the50th anniversary of theStonewall riots, an event widely considered a watershed moment in the modernLGBTQ rights movement,Queerty named Polis one of thePride50 "trailblazing individuals who actively ensure society remains moving towards equality, acceptance and dignity for all queer people".[155] Polis enjoys video games such asLeague of Legends. His favorite champions include Maokai and Anivia.[156] He is also an avid fan of theColorado Avalanche,Colorado Rockies,Denver Nuggets, andDenver Broncos.[157][158][159]
Polis has declared his love ofTaylor Swift's music and has regularly made reference to this in public communications. Before Swift'sEras Tour arrived in Denver in July 2023, Polis posted a letter on his Instagram account with dozens of her song lyrics.[160] In a March 2024 event on the Denver Capitol steps addressing education funding, he spoke under a friendship bracelet-themed banner with the words "fully funded era" that many speculated was a reference to the Eras Tour.[161] In his speech at theDemocratic National Convention on August 21, 2024, he used lyrics from Swift's song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".[162] In July 2020, Polis donated $1,000 toRepresentative Ilhan Omar's primary opponent in her2020 reelection campaign.[163] In September 2021, Polis married his longtime partner, Marlon Reis, in a smallJewish Renewal ceremony with family and a few friends[144] at a synagogue in Boulder.[164]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jared Polis | 1,348,888 | 53.42% | +4.12% | |
| Republican | Walker Stapleton | 1,080,801 | 42.80% | −3.15% | |
| Libertarian | Scott Helker | 69,519 | 2.75% | +0.81% | |
| Unity | Bill Hammons | 25,854 | 1.02% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 2,525,062 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jared Polis (incumbent) | 1,468,476 | 58.53% | +5.11% | |
| Republican | Heidi Ganahl | 983,034 | 39.19% | −3.61% | |
| Libertarian | Kevin Ruskusky | 28,938 | 1.15% | −1.60% | |
| American Constitution | Danielle Neuschwanger | 21,623 | 0.86% | N/A | |
| Unity | Paul Noël Fiorino | 6,686 | 0.27% | −0.75% | |
| Total votes | 2,508,757 | 100.0% | N/A | ||
| Democratichold | |||||
| Year | Winning candidate | Party | Pct | Opponent | Party | Pct | Opponent | Party | Pct | Opponent | Party | Pct | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Jared Polis | Democratic | 63% | Scott Starin | Republican | 34% | J. A. Calhoun | Green | 2% | Bill Hammons | Unity | 1% | ||
| 2010 | Jared Polis | Democratic | 57% | Stephen Bailey | Republican | 38% | Jenna Goss | Constitution | 3% | Curtis Harris | Libertarian | 2% | ||
| 2012 | Jared Polis | Democratic | 56% | Kevin Lundberg | Republican | 39% | Randy Luallin | Libertarian | 3% | Susan P. Hall | Green | 2% | ||
| 2014 | Jared Polis | Democratic | 57% | George Leing | Republican | 43% | ||||||||
| 2016 | Jared Polis | Democratic | 57% | Nic Morse | Republican | 37% | Richard Longstreth | Libertarian | 6% | |||||
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| Preceded by Ben Alexander | Member of theColorado State Board of Education from the at-large district 2001–2007 | Seat abolished |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromColorado's 2nd congressional district 2009–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theCongressional Equality Caucus 2013–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Colorado 2018,2022 | Most recent |
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| Preceded by | Governor of Colorado 2019–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Chair of theNational Governors Association 2024–present | |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded byas Vice President | Order of precedence of the United States Within Colorado | Succeeded by Mayor of city in which event is held |
| Succeeded by OtherwiseMike Johnson asSpeaker of the House | ||
| Preceded byasGovernor of Nebraska | Order of precedence of the United States Outside Colorado | Succeeded byasGovernor of North Dakota |
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