There is a reason Colorado voters have already entrusted Walker with two four-year terms as State Treasurer: in a state increasingly driven by special interests and top-down government bloat, Walker has singularly focused on protecting the financial well-being of Colorado families and businesses.
Walker is a proven leader. Prior to entering public service, he worked in the startup tech world in California and as CEO of a successful public and private company. His fiduciary responsibilities in private-sector leadership had a tremendous influence on his decision to pursue public service. He knew he could make a difference, and he has.
Walker has been through the battles to know what it takes to win. In 2010, he unseated an incumbent Democrat State Treasurer, and wasted no time in rolling up his sleeves to fight for Colorado taxpayers. His leadership in the effort to reform Colorado’s Public Employee’s Retirement Association has underscored Walker’s willingness to fight for fiscal sanity – for what is right – in the face of overwhelming odds and criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.
In 2011, when Standard and Poors downgraded U.S. credit ratings, county treasurers found themselves no longer able to invest their county’s tax dollars into U.S. bonds, costing counties across Colorado and the nation millions of dollars. Walker immediately recognized the real ramifications that this would have on Colorado communities, and in collaboration with county treasurers across the state, led the passage of bipartisan legislation to allow Colorado counties to continue to invest in U.S. Treasuries. Doing so saved Colorado communities millions of dollars.
Every single year that Walker has been charged with investing Coloradans’ tax dollars, the state has made money and beat investment benchmarks. None of these efforts were lost on Colorado voters, who in 2014 comfortably reelected Walker for a second term as State Treasurer.
His willingness to fight for the financial security of Coloradans has extended far beyond his official capacity as a statewide elected official. In 2013, Walker led the fight to defeat Amendment 66, a proposed billion-dollar tax increase that provided no safeguards for where Coloradans’ hard-earned tax dollars would have been allocated. The measure failed by a nearly two-to-one margin, reflecting what Walker has and continues to believe: at its core, Colorado is a fiscally conservative state with economically responsible voters.
In 2016, an even more fiscally irresponsible measure landed on Colorado ballots: Amendment 69 would have created a single-payer health care system in Colorado at a staggering $25 billion price tag, per year. Walker, understanding such a tax increase would have crushed Colorado families, went to battle for the state’s taxpayers, traveling the state to warn communities of the consequences of such a disastrous proposal. His message resonated with Colorado voters, who rejected Amendment 69 by a more than three-to-one margin.
To Walker, running for Governor is a deeply personal matter. Walker and his wife Jenna live in Arapahoe County with their three children: Craig, Colette, and Olivia. He is running for Governor for them, and for the next generation of Coloradans. Walker believes that this election will have a massive effect on the future fiscal health of the state, and that in order for Colorado to remain the greatest state in the nation, strong and proven economic stewardship is not just preferable, but vital.
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Walker is a fourth-generation Coloradan. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver, as well as the Denver Metro Council of the El Pomar Foundation. Jenna serves on the Board of Directors of ACE Scholarships, and actively serves in a volunteer capacity for numerous other charities in Colorado.
Walker holds a Bachelor of Arts from Williams College, a graduate degree in Business Economics from the London School of Economics, and a MBA from Harvard Business School.
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