Affiliation: D
Date delivered: June 5, 2018
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Message type: tv ad
Message tone: contrast
About the message: This ad from Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Congressman Jared Polis features teachers Democrat “Cary Kennedy’s false attacks against Jared Polis.” They're referring to a TV ad by Teachers for Kennedy that says Polis supported a voucher program to take money from public schools. Polis originally supported a voucher bill, but didn't support the final version. concluded it's false to attribute the attack to Kennedy, and notes that Polis supported a pilot voucher program some 15 years ago. The Polis ad is part of a larger debate over whether Kennedy, a former state treasurer, is violating a clean campaign pledge because of the the Teachers for Kennedy criticisms of Polis. The group is an independent spending committee that isn't supposed to coordinate with the candidate, though others have pointed out that Kennedy could publicly ask the group to stop airing the ads. The Polis ad concludes with three different teachers saying, “Cary said she will run a clean campaign… But she broke her word… What else will she break?”
About the messenger:
Jared Polis is a Democrat who has served as the 2nd Congressional District representative in the U.S. House since 2008. He also won a term on the Colorado Board of Education in 2000. Polis is an entrepreneur who made millions selling online businesses in the late 1990s.
The messenger's money:
Polis is largely self-funding his campaign, rejecting donations from political action committees. He's only taking donations of $100 and less from individuals. Through July 27, he spent nearly $12.30 million on his campaign.
