Republican Walker Stapleton received a “complete and total” endorsement from President Donald Trump Wednesday in his run for Colorado governor.

Trump tweeted his support for Stapleton, the two-term state treasurer who’s competing against Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, and the endorsement comes as Stapleton has expressed measured support for Trump. He has touted Trump’s tax cuts and some other policies, while criticizing the Republican president for implementing new tariffs and proposing other actions that Stapleton said would hurt Colorado.

“Walker Stapleton is running as the highly respected Republican Candidate for Governor of the Great State of Colorado,” Trump’s tweet says. “His credentials and talents are impeccable. He has my complete and total Endorsement!”

Stapleton has trailed Polis in two recently released polls, and the endorsement comes just before mail ballots for the Nov. 6 election go out to voters next week.

The candidates began a series of debates across the state on Friday.

On Tuesday, Colorado Democrats announced that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a 2016 presidential candidate, will headline a get-out-the-vote events Oct. 24 in Fort Collins and Boulder to rally progressives to support Polis and other Democrats.

Stapleton’s campaign embraced the Trump endorsement.

“President Trump supports Walker because he knows Walker will fight for hardworking Coloradans every day,” spokesman Jerrod Dobkin said via email. “Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, is campaigning for Jared Polis because they both support expanding government and raising taxes. Bernie Sanders and Jared Polis are the poster boys of the radical left whose policies would hurt Colorado families.”

Polis, for his part, tweeted through his campaign account: “It’s no wonder Donald Trump is supporting Walker Stapleton so enthusiastically — because he couldn’t have asked for a better yes-man for his destructive policies. Whether it’s taking away people’s health care or selling off our public lands, Stapleton has shown that he’s more than happy to do Trump’s bidding, even when it hurts Coloradans.”

Stapleton emphasized his points of support for Trump more vocally in the primary. One TV ad claimed, incorrectly, that he was the only state treasurer to support the tax cuts, while another said he would “stand with Donald Trump to get illegal aliens who commit crimes deported.”

Trump has held rallies this fall for candidates in other states, but he has not announced any plans to campaign in Colorado before the election.

Share this: Print

Popular in the Community