Phil & George: On The Issues
Phil & George: On The Issues
An educated electorate is crucial to ensuring that our government acts based on the voice of the people. Your candidates for Attorney General differ significantly on their priorities and goals for running the law office for the people of Colorado. We put together this page so voters could familiarize themselves with where Phil Weiser and George Brauchler differ on critical issues. Please take a look and share with your friends and networks.
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Phil
- Supports Colorado’s current common-sense gun safety laws, including background checks and magazine limits.
- Supports other life-saving measures including “red flag” laws, banning bump stocks and military-style assault weapons.
- Endorsed by Moms Demand Action and Colorado Ceasefire.
George
- Attempted to have Colorado’s commonsense background checks and and magazine limits declared unconstitutional by backing a lawsuit to undermine them.
- Opposes common-sense gun safety measures like background checks, magazine limits, and bans on bump stocks or assault weapons.
Phil
- Supports a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body and healthcare, and has been endorsed by NARAL and Planned Parenthood.
- Will defend reproductive choice against any constitutional challenge.
George
- Said that Roe v. Wade was “wrong,” and based on a “claimed right not expressed within our Constitution.“
- Refuses to say if, as AG, he would defend the rights Roe protects.
Phil
- Knows climate change is a threat, and will work with the energy industry, conservationists, farmers, ranchers and others to address this challenge, while supporting Coloradans whose jobs and livelihood could be adversely impacted by our changing energy sources.
George
- Denies climate change, calling it “propaganda” and “not a scientific consensus.”
Phil
- Will fight to protect and empower the LGBTQ+ community.
- Will challenge discrimination based on sexual orientation, like the President’s unlawful ban against transgender individuals serving in the military.
George
- Said openly gay soldiers were unfit to serve because they would be like “kids in a candy shop,” unable to control their sexual impulses.
- Responded to criticism of these views by repeating in the Denver Post that openly gay soldiers would, indeed, be “kids in a candy shop,” and attacked openly gay veterans for “wantonly drawing attention to their sexual orientation.”
Phil
- Supports suing irresponsible drug companies like Purdue Pharma who helped cause the opioid epidemic, then using money from the settlement to help fund addiction treatment.
George
- Called it “reckless” to commit to sue such companies, even though such suits are being pursued by current AG Cynthia Coffman and by at least 16 Colorado county and local governments.
Phil
- Will work to bring down healthcare premiums while defending key protections of the Affordable Care Act, like protections for pre-existing conditions.
George
- Pushes for repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s protections, and says “America lost” when President Trump failed to repeal them.
- Thinks the real problem is that too many Coloradans are able to get healthcare through Medicaid.
Phil
- Has committed to support Ballot Initiative 126, a common-sense consumer protection that restricts the charges on payday loans to 36% annually.
- Does not accept money from corporate PACs, including those funded by payday lenders.
George
- Has not committed to supporting Initiative 126.
- Has taken money from corporate PACs, including out-of-state payday lenders.
Phil
- Has called for Citizens United to be overturned.
- Does not accept any Corporate PAC funding.
- Has called on any independent groups supporting him to disclose all donations.
- Backed by more than 5,000 unique (and disclosed) Colorado donors.
- Will fight for disclosure of dark money.
George
- Backed by more than $2.4 million in undisclosed money from the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).
- RAGA’s main funders include the NRA, big pharma companies, and other special interests. For every dollar George’s campaign has spent promoting his candidacy, RAGA has spent $5.
- Supported by less than 1,500 unique Colorado donors.
- Accepts Corporate PAC money from industries the AG will regulate, like out-of-state payday lending firms.
Phil
- Will actively use the AG’s office to help rural communities get better broadband access.
- Supported the rural hospital fee bill, SB-267, as a common-sense compromise to fund rural hospitals to prevent them from shutting down operations in our rural communities.
George
- Says the Attorney General should play no role in helping rural communities get broadband.
- Opposed SB-267’s funding for rural hospitals as a “grand betrayal.”