Messenger: Republican Governors Association
Candidate: Jared Polis
Contest: Governor
Affiliation: D
Date delivered: Aug. 8, 2018
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Message type: tv ad
Message tone: negative
About the message:
This is the second ad from the Republican Governors Association taking aim at Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis. In this ad, Polis is accused of focusing on Boulder at the expense of the rest of the state, noting that he won't attend the Club 20 debate with GOP Treasurer Walker Stapleton in Grand Junction in early September. Polis has, however, accepted a Grand Junction debate sponsored by media outlets.
The ad also notes that Polis will destroy energy jobs, though it doesn't cite a source for that accusation. Although Republicans are accusing Polis of supporting an initiative that would require a 2,500-foot buffer for oil and gas development, he opposes Amendment 97.
Polis does support conversion to reliance on renewable energy. His energy policy notes that could result in the loss of oil and gas jobs, but suggests the loss would be offset by an increase in construction and operations jobs.
The ad uses similar images as an ad from an RGA-related group released earlier in the week.
In a Truth Check segment, KDVR concludes the ad is "misleading."
Here's the scriptof the ad:
"How Boulder is Jared Polis? Polis is so Boulder he’s skipping the Grand Junction debate. The first candidate in decades in either party to blow off the Western Slope.
"Polis is so Boulder he’s pushing a plan to destroy energy jobs. And when he destroys energy jobs he destroys the other jobs that depend on them. Realtors. Accountants. Construction and more.
"Jared Polis. He plans to wreck the Western Slope, but he won’t even show up in person to say so.
"So Boulder."
About the messenger:
The Republican Governors Association is a political nonprofit, or 527, that advocates for GOP candidates and against Democratic candidates around the nation.
The messenger's money:
The state RGA is supported by the national group, which has contributed $1.3 million through August. The national group reports quarterly to the IRS. Among its large Colorado donors are Encana Corp. at $101,350, Whiting Petroleum at $100,450 and the Anschutz Corp. at $100,000
