The governor-elect of Colorado. Jared Polis, is a Democrat who founded two charter schools. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly interviewed him after the election and focused her questioning in part on his being the first gay, Jewish governor of Colorado. The response from Polis was pretty interesting and constructive, I thought:
when you're elected governor, you're everybody's governor. I'm governor for people in Colorado who are conservative who didn't vote for me, as well as, of course, being able to honor the aspirations of those who did vote for me. And I look forward to doing a good job for our state. I mean, when it comes to fixing our roads and reducing traffic, it doesn't matter if you're gay or straight. When it comes to expanding health care coverage and saving people money, which is one of our big goals, it doesn't have anything to do with who you love or what gender you are....
Look; I just want to do a good job for the people of Colorado. I'm excited to break barriers. I'm excited to highlight the inclusive nature of our state, which we're proud of, you know. And at the same time, while of course our faith to a certain extent shows our values and, of course, the fact that I'm open about who I am can certainly inspire some people, at the end of the day, we still have to fix the roads, improve the schools and save people money on health care. And that is really why I was elected. And that's what we're going to get to work to do.