The Colorado governorship is just within Phil Weiser’s grasp. When he gets there, the state should expect a “culture change,” he said.
After coming out victorious over his opponent, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, in the June Democratic primaries, Weiser faces an easy road to the governor’s office in a state that has not elected a Republican to the office since 2002.
But Weiser said he has no intention of coasting to the Capitol – unlike what he described as the state's current approach to governing.
“State government now is too much operating by inertia,” he said Thursday in an interview with The Durango Herald after a brief visit to La Plata County.
The institutional culture has become passive, disconnected from residents and too often operates on autopilot, Weiser said. As governor, he said he wants to build a government that prioritizes listening to Coloradans and responding to their concerns.
As one example of what he called a cultural failure, he pointed to the state’s response to the 2024 Enterprise Products gasoline spill, which resulted from an undetected rupture in a pipeline crossing La Plata County within the Southern Ute Indian Reservation.
“We as a state have not been vigilant and have not done all we need to do to hold Enterprise accountable,” he said.
He credited the Southern Ute Indian Tribe with pushing for greater oversight. Enterprise initially estimated that about 23,000 gallons of gasoline spilled into the environment. That estimate has steadily increased over the past year and a half after an independent investigation commissioned by the tribe.
The latest estimate puts the spill at roughly 200,000 gallons, a figure Enterprise disputes. State regulators have so far declined to independently verify that estimate.
“I’m going to be committed to using every tool we have,” Weiser said. “The public health risk of an oil spill is alarming – should alarm all of us – and we’ve got to use every tool we can.”
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has repeatedly said that primary oversight of hazardous liquid pipelines falls under federal authority. Even so, Weiser said the state has more authority than it has exercised.
“This company needs to take responsibility for what has happened,” he said. “They need to fully remediate the situation, and there are legal options available to us, whether the company complies voluntarily or whether we have to take enforcement action.”
Additionally, he described the culture as taking a “one-size-fits-all” approach to governing that often overlooks the differences between rural communities in Southwest Colorado and the urban Front Range.
There are a number of laws where there are exemptions or flexibility for local communities that the communities themselves are sometimes unaware of or the people administering the laws don’t act on, he said.
“My message is that’s not OK. We have to recognize that things that work or don’t work in Denver won’t necessarily be the same in La Plata County or La Junta,” he said.
If elected, he said he would create a rural adviser position within the governor’s office to serve as a direct liaison between state government and rural communities.
“I want a state government that’s listening, responsive, that’s innovative and that’s collaborative,” Weiser said.
Weiser will face independent candidate Greg Lopez and Republican nominee Victor Marx in the November general election. Marx, who defeated establishment Republican lawmaker Barbara Kirkmeyer in the Republican primary, has drawn attention and criticism for making unverified claims that he has killed multiple people, including a man when he was a child.
“It’s a sad statement that he is the candidate,” Weiser said. “He’s not willing to answer questions, and that’s a sad state of affairs.”
Marx has said he will participate in a live debate only if there is no moderator. Weiser said that stance runs counter to his view of what elected officials owe the public.
“I believe in debate. I believe in dialogue. I believe in showing up,” he said.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
