Women Deserve a Governor’s Forum. We Made It Happen
Colorado Women Were the Center of Conversation, Not an Afterthought
“Women Decide” Governor’s Forum revealed how our next leader will tackle women’s concerns
Last Sunday evening, Colorado women got something they long deserved: A governor’s forum built entirely around them.
“Women Decide: The Colorado Governor’s Forum” brought together four candidates* — U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser — for a live, statewide conversation centered entirely on the issues that shape women’s lives.
For once, Colorado women were the center of conversation and not an afterthought. We hope that this forum is the first of many opportunities for voters to hear directly from candidates on how they will consider women if they are elected.
The forum was co-hosted by The Women’s Foundation of Colorado, Rocky Mountain PBS, and the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Nearly 700 people from across the state joined live. We’re proud of that. But more than the numbers, we’re proud of what the conversation represented.
Why we created Women Decide
With the governor’s seat open for the first time in eight years, we knew this primary cycle was too important to let women’s issues stay on the sidelines.
Our research has told us for years what Colorado women already know in their bones: costs keep rising, paychecks don’t keep up, health care too often fails them, caregiving falls disproportionately on their shoulders, and too many don’t feel safe in their own communities.
We decided it was time to make candidates answer for that reality. Rocky Mountain PBS and Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce agreed.
What Colorado women told us
Prior to Women Decide, we commissioned a poll of 725 Colorado women and gender-expansive individuals. The results were urgent — and they shaped every question the candidates heard.
Here’s what the data showed:
- 84% say the cost of living is rising faster than their income
- Nearly two-thirds say women have fewer rights and opportunities than men
- 69% experienced at least one healthcare barrier in the past year — and more than a quarter avoided care entirely because they feared not being taken seriously
- 1 in 5 don’t feel safe in their own communities
These aren’t fringe concerns. They’re the lived reality of the majority of Colorado voters.
The poll also made clear that women want action: 72% say state leaders should do more to help women thrive. And 63% say they’re more likely to support a candidate who makes advancing equality and opportunity for Colorado women a top priority.
What the candidates said
The forum covered a wide range of issues directly tied to what Colorado women said matters most to them:
The economy, cost of living, and TABOR. Childcare access — especially in rural communities. Reproductive rights and Colorado’s constitutional amendment protecting abortion access. Domestic violence and survivor support. Healthcare access for women of color and rural communities. Small business support and access to capital. And the state’s history of never sending a woman to the governor’s mansion or the U.S. Senate.
All four candidates engaged. The differences were real. And Colorado women got to see them side by side.
For a full summary of the conversation, read the Rocky Mountain PBS recap. To hear directly from the candidates, watch the full forum recording on Rocky Mountain PBS’s YouTube channel.
It’s your turn now
Forums like this don’t happen by accident. They happen because organizations decide that women’s voices belong at the center of democracy — and then do the work to put them there.
The questions candidates answered Sunday came directly from Colorado women. The data behind them came from our poll. And holding candidates accountable to their commitments is work we’ll keep doing through the primary and beyond.
Colorado’s primary is June 30, 2026. Ballots are being mailed to all active registered voters this week. Return yours by mail or at any ballot drop-off location in the state. Not yet registered? The deadline is June 22.
It time now for women to decide.
*Republican candidate Victor Marx was invited but declined to participate.
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Women Decide was produced as a nonpartisan voter education forum which is a permitted activity under our tax-exempt status and does not constitute an endorsement of any candidate or political party.
