CLAY: We head now out to the great state of Colorado. We’ve got a lot of you listening out there, our Denver affiliate where we are number one in the entire market, KDFD. Grand Junction KGLN, KNZZ. Aspen, not a bad place — KNFO FM; and Loveland KCOL.

All of you, we appreciate you listening in the state of Colorado, as I said, and we are joined now by Heidi Ganahl, who is making a big run in Colorado to turn that state back into a red state. And we’re trying to emphasize and focus on so many of these battleground states and elections that might not be getting enough attention.

And Heidi, we know how busy you are running your campaign, but thanks for coming on with us. And one of the topics that Buck and I have been talking about a great deal is the rise in crime. And Colorado, particularly the Denver area, is seeing a surge in crime due to the Democrat failed policies on crime. What are you seeing there? How would you change it?

.@heidiganahl is a mom on a mission to get better leadership for Colorado.
@jaredpolis has proven he’s out of touch and has failed to deliver for families and students across the state.

It’s time for a new governor Coloradans can count on.

It’s time to elect @heidiganahl 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/DDbgCv87nW

— The RGA (@GOPGovs) September 21, 2022

GANAHL: Well, thanks, Clay. I so appreciate the time. Love you guys and all you do for our cause and just being a voice for those of us that don’t have one, especially out in Colorado where our state has taken a terrible turn in the last few years under Jared Polis.

We are number two in fentanyl deaths in the country here. It’s just flowing across our border because Polis made us a sanctuary state and he decriminalized fentanyl. So, that’s feeding a lot of the crime. But we have all the wrong stats on crime.

I mean, you’d think he were talking about Chicago. We’re number one in auto theft, number one in property crime, number one in bank robberies here in Colorado. So, it’s just a hot mess here.

BUCK: Now, Jared Polis you mentioned — and Heidi, it’s Buck — thanks for being with us — that he declared a sanctuary city. He made in 2019 possession of up to four grams of fentanyl a misdemeanor? I mean, I think that’s… usually when people think of decriminalization, they think of marijuana. Decriminalizing fentanyl possession? That seems like something people need to know about.

GANAHL: It’s terrible. I mean, we are just losing kids left and right. We call it fentanyl poisoning ’cause it’s not really overdose. They don’t really know the Xanax or the Adderall they’re messing around with is laced with it.

I’ve had so many families come up and talk to me about losing, you know, their loved ones, their kids, their sisters, their brothers. And fentanyl is just everywhere in Colorado. Law enforcement said unfortunately their hands are tied because we’re a sanctuary state they can’t coordinate with ICE to stop from flowing across our southern border of Colorado.

And so, it’s everywhere. And it’s fueling a lot of the crime and the homelessness. Homelessness is terrible here. It’s taken over Denver, Durango, Grand Junction. And the governor drives by Denver every day — he lives in Boulder — and sees what’s going on. Hasn’t done, you know, a lick to fix it.

It’s just not getting handled here in Colorado. So, I call myself a mom on a mission. I’ve got four great kids. I want to turn our state around. I’m the only elected statewide Republican in Colorado right now. So, I’m excited. We’ve got a great shot to kick out Jared Polis and to get our Colorado back.

CLAY: Heidi, we’ve talked to a lot of moms, we’ve had a lot of them — you may have heard ’em some on this show — running all over the country who are just fed up. I’m a dad, frankly, who’s fed up. But so many suburban moms in particular — you just mentioned that you have four kids — it seems are open to the message based on crime, based on inflation, also based on, frankly, what’s going on in our schools.

What are you hearing from other moms as you run around the state of Colorado? We should also mention, by the way, that you are going to be having the first debate against the governor there tonight in Pueblo, Colorado, KCSJ is our affiliate there. What are you hearing from moms, and what are you expected to do in this debate tonight?

GANAHL: Well, just like what happened in Virginia, parents across Colorado are really ticked off, including me. They flipped 10 school boards last year. And we’ve got an incredible parents coalition. We’ve got a great — mother coalitions that are helping us.

But at the end of the day, I think parents are going to be who flip Colorado. We’ve got one of the highest suicide rates for kids, one of the highest drug addiction rates for kids here in Colorado. Obviously, fentanyl plays into it.

You know we have school shootings here and the governor and Democrats have decided to pull school resource officers out of schools here. So, I call Colorado one of the most dangerous states for kids now, which is just terrible. That is not who we are here.

BUCK: We’re speaking to Heidi Ganahl. She’s running for the governor’s office in Colorado. Heidi, tell us about inflation in your state specifically and how it ties to the policies of the Polis administration.

GANAHL: Well, we are number one — another great award — in inflation in the country. 15.6% since Biden took office. And a lot of that is due to Jared Polis’ tax-and-spend policies. He’s added 85 new taxes and fees. He’s grown the size of government here in Colorado by 25%.

He’s added 4,000 new full-time employees into the agencies and done over 500 executive orders. So, it’s comical to me when he goes on the mainstream media and talks about how moderate he is or he’s libertarian.

There is nothing moderate about Jared Polis. He is doing very extreme things here in Colorado, and he wants to run for president to do it to the rest of the country.

CLAY: So, when you look at this race, you also have a really competitive Senate race. Many people are not paying attention to Colorado. Sometimes that can work to your advantage. What are you seeing on the ground about the independents potentially moving towards the Republican Party and this being something of — ’cause I think it’s gonna happen, Heidi — a Red Wave?

Like, we’re a little bit less than six weeks away from this election. Are you seeing it growing as a you travel around the state?

GANAHL: It is. You know, I say we’re gonna have to win by hand-to-hand combat on the ground. Like, we are door knocking, going to rallies, having town halls, we’re meeting voters where they are. And we’re not just talking to Republicans — we love our Republicans, but we’re talking to unaffiliated voters who make up 45% of the voters in Colorado.

And we’re talking to Democrats too. I went to the Cider Festival in Morrison right by Red Rocks last weekend and I talked to probably 20 different Democrats, and not one of them would commit that we were voting for Jared Polis. They’re as upset as we are about inflation, about crime, about homelessness, and about fentanyl.

BUCK: Where can people go, Heidi — I mean, this is a winnable race for you. You are running a great campaign so far, and it would be so fantastic to have some sanity in the governor’s mansion for Colorado, a great state that has been governed poorly in recent years. For Coloradans who want to get involved, want to help, where should they go?

GANAHL: They should go to HeidiforGov.com. Like I said, I’m a mom who cares about education and school choice. I’ll a small business owner. I built Camp Bow Wow, the franchised company, all over the country and helped entrepreneurs.

And finally, I’m the daughter of a police officer who cares about law and order. I miss the old Colorado, and I want to get it back. I’m gonna be on the front lines fighting as hard as I can for the next 40 days to make that happen.

BUCK: Heidi Ganahl. Good luck to you. Thank you so much. Appreciate you making the time.

GANAHL: Thanks, guys. Have a great day.