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DENVER — The Truth Check team continues to look at the candidates and their commercials in the governor’s race. Every advertisement that claims something — we will research and determine if the candidates are actually telling the truth. You can watch our previous “Truth Check” segments here.

You can read our criteria and standards here.

The Truth Check team is looking at a commercial by the Republican Governors Association- a political campaign committee based in Washington DC whose mission is to elect Republican Governors nationwide. 

CLAIM #1 

Jared Polis is skipping the Grand Junction Club 20 debate; the first candidate in years to do so

Exact quote in ad: “How Boulder is Jared Polis? – Polis is so Boulder he is skipping the Grand Junction debate the first candidate in decades to blow off the Western Slope”

Verdict: True

Reason: While the commercial doesn’t technically say “Club 20 Debate” we know what the RGA is referring to based off of their citation in the commercial.

According to Club 20 officials, which is an advocacy group for Western Colorado, Polis is the first candidate in more than 30 years to skip a gubernatorial debate. Polis’ campaign has cited scheduling conflicts as the main reason for skipping the debate.

CLAIM #2 

Polis is ignoring the Western Slope

Exact quote in ad: “How Boulder is Jared Polis? – Polis is so Boulder he is skipping the Grand Junction debate the first candidate in decades to blow off the Western Slope”

Verdict: False

Reason: Polis will not “blow off” the Western Slope in his campaign. In fact he has agreed to a separate Grand Junction debates hosted by PBS, Colorado Mesa University and the Grand Junction Sentinel.

Polis has also had a field office open for months in Grand Junction and tweeted out photos campaigning with his LG pick last month.

CLAIM #3 

Polis’ renewable energy plan will destroy Colorado jobs 

Exact quote in ad: “Polis is so Boulder he is pushing a plan to destroy energy jobs”

Verdict: Misleading

Reason: While it is true Polis’ call for 100% renewable energy in Colorado by 2040 would eliminate some traditional energy jobs, the commercial fails to take into account how new, renewable jobs would be created.

The RGA is citing this study by Stanford and the Royal Society of Chemistry from 2015.

On page 19 the study reports over 76,000 current energy jobs would be lost under a renewable plan.

However the same page reports how over 49,000 new construction jobs and over 21,000 new operations jobs would be created in Colorado from a renewable plan.