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Well, if you didn’t, now you do. And it’s a true public service provided to the super-dork community in Colorado.

David Carlson, the Founder & CEO of the Colorado Polling Institute dropped by the pod to discuss the results of their latest statewide survey, and it’s a doozy.

In lieu of going through it all in excruciating detail, you should just watch the video above, where David very patiently and kindly walks through most of the deck with me. We discuss some hair-raising insights about the direction of the state, voters’ top concerns heading into the primaries (hint: it’s the economy, stupid), the state budget (hint: it’s a disaster and a lot of voters know it), TABOR, snow and fire, jobs and ratings of leading Democrats. You’re not going to want to miss this one, and it’s best digested as a video so sit back, grab your popcorn, your beverage of choice, and tune in.

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Alex is a fourth-generation Coloradan and businessman whose family’s roots in CD3 date back to 1893, when his family immigrated to Trinidad, CO.

Early in his career, Alex worked with the United States government as an IT and network specialist. This work included holding a Top Secret clearance while being embedded with the United States Marine Corps at the Pentagon and Quantico. For his work there, he became the first civilian contractor to be awarded a USMC Certificate of Commendation from the commanding general of the Recruiting Command.

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While working full-time, he earned a masters degree at night and on the weekends from Johns Hopkins University, where he graduated with a perfect grade point average and completed his thesis in China. Thereafter, he pivoted to business, working for telecoms firms globally. This experience led him to business school in France where he earned his MBA at INSEAD, the Business School of the World. In 2002, before his MBA, he helped to found Armada Skis, writing the business plan and helping to raise the initial capital. After his MBA, Alex spent 14 years at Jefferies, leading $20B+ of transactions in the telecoms industry. These transactions supported many early stage companies, which used the capital to build critical infrastructure. He went on to help start SDC Capital Partners, where he played a key role in starting and operating companies to develop Internet infrastructure.

On top of that, Alex has been a lifelong outdoorsman, enjoying mountain biking, skiing, snowmobiling, camping, hunting and fishing. We really enjoyed this interview and hope you do too!

You can follow Alex at the following morally hazardous social media websites

Campaign Website

• https://alexkelloff.com/

Social Media

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexkelloffco

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexkelloffco/

• “X”: https://x.com/alexkelloffco

• TikTok: https://www.youtube.com/@AlexKelloffCo

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Evan is a Marine Corps veteran who worked for the Department of Defense before attending Officer Candidate School and deploying to Afghanistan as an infantryman. After leaving the service, Evan went into the private sector where he's worked in business management, CEO Coaching and investing in small businesses, and veteran advocacy, particularly around providing access to mental health resources for veterans and first responders. He's running on a platform focused on government accountability and affordability, and he’s our third and final guest in our series, The Race for CD8 where we will learn who we will end up supporting with our whole entire beings to take on our 8th favorite Member of Congress from Colorado after the June primary.

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You can follow Evan on “the internet” anywhere you get your electrons

Campaign Website

• https://www.evanmunsing.com

Social Media

• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/evanmunsing.bsky.social

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evanmunsing

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evanmunsingforcongress

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-munsing

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If you found Joe as charming, intelligent, wonderful, and smart as we did, go ahead and give him a follow on all the platforms on the planet, because he happens to be everywhere:

Official Website

• https://neguse.house.gov

Official (Congressional) Social Media

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/RepJoeNeguse

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RepJoeNeguse/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/repjoeneguse/

• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@RepJoeNeguse

Campaign/Personal Social Media

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/JoeNeguse

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joeneguseforcongress/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joeneguse/

• Campaign website: https://www.joeforcolorado.com

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Shannon Bird was raised by a single mother and grandmother in Reno, Nevada. Her mother worked as a clerk for an insurance company, and her grandmother was a blackjack dealer at local casinos. She moved to Colorado to study economics at CU Boulder and went on to earn graduate degrees in finance and business administration from CU Denver and a law degree from the University of Denver. After working in public finance, commercial, and corporate law, Shannon became involved in her children’s school and served as chair of a school district bond campaign. She later co-founded an organization focused on equity in local schools before being elected to the Westminster City Council and then the Colorado State House, where she served from 2019 to 2026. In the legislature, she worked on issues including jobs, small business, abortion rights, gun policy, climate, housing costs, and retirement benefits. Now, Shannon is running for Congress in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. Shannon lives in Westminster with her husband, two children, and their two rescue cats.

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You can follow Shannon online, but she’d really prefer you met “real life Shannon”

Twitter: https://x.com/ShannonBird4CO

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShannonBird4CO

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ShannonBird4Co

Website: shannonbird.com

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Manny grew up as the son of a single immigrant mom who worked hard to give Manny and his brother a better life. His family lived paycheck to paycheck, relying on food stamps and Medicare to make ends meet. He worked his way through school, sleeping on friends’ couches, substitute teaching, and even selling his own plasma to help his family before earning a law degree from Yale. Rutinel also worked as an economist for the US Army Corp of Engineers, an attorney, and served as a First Responder in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

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Manny was elected to fill a vacancy in the Colorado House of Representatives in October of 2023, and has since gone on to cosponsor over 400 bills. Now Manny is running against our 8th favorite member of Congress from Colorado, and is our first guest in a 3-part series to interview every Democrat running in the 8th district. Next week, we’ve got former State Rep. Shannon Bird, and the week after that, political newcomer and military veteran Evan Munsing will join us!

You can follow Manny all over the internet, just don’t follow him to his car, that would be weird.

Twitter: https://x.com/MannyRutinel

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mannyforcolorado

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@mannyrutinel

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannyrutinel/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mannyrutinel

Website: https://www.mannyforcolorado.com/

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He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and a Faculty Affiliate at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. A native of Venezuela, he is also the founder of Oil for Venezuela, a non-profit organization focused on finding solutions to Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis. He received a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree in economics from Venezuela’s Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.

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You can follow Dr. Rodriguez on the website formerly known as Twitter, check out his work on his website, or find him basically anywhere @frrodriguezc.

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You can follow Tom on Bluesky, check out his work on his website, or hop in the time machine and check out our first interview with him after Trump 2.0’s inauguration on YouTube:

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Hetal Doshi is a first-generation American and former senior officer at the U.S. Department of Justice. She has more than two decades of experience fighting and winning some of the biggest legal battles, including her work as a federal prosecutor in Colorado and as the top anti-monopoly litigator in the Biden-Harris Administration. She led landmark cases against some of the world’s most powerful corporations including Google, Apple, and Ticketmaster, while also prosecuting corrupt government officials and scammers who targeted hard working Coloradans.

Hetal has dedicated her career to seeking justice — not politics. She’s led big teams that have taken on the powerful and defended our rights in court. As a proven leader, Hetal is running for Attorney General to make sure our streets are safe, the economy is fair, and that every Coloradan’s rights are respected. She will defend Colorado from federal overreach, take on monopolies that drive up costs for necessities, crack down on scammers and fraudsters, and fiercely protect the rights, freedoms, and natural environment that are the birthright of every Coloradan.

You can learn more about her campaign at www.hetaldoshiforag.com.

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Note: Jason had to take an emergency trip to Argentina to check on his $20 billion investment in something called an “experiment in Anarcho-capitalism,” so this week you’ve just got Ian interviewing David Seligman, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of Colorado in 2026.

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Our guest today is one of the country’s leading workers’ rights, consumer rights, and antimonopoly lawyers, David Seligman has dedicated his legal career to fighting for regular people against corporate abuse. After attending Harvard Law School and clerking for federal trial and appellate judges, David became the Executive Director of Towards Justice, a nationally recognized non-profit legal and labor rights organization based in Denver. David has seen throughout his legal career that there are two sets of laws in this country: one for the rich and powerful and another for the rest of us. He has brought some of the most important and cutting-edge legal cases in the country, helping working Coloradans and small businesses take on powerful corporations and the Trump Administration. He stands up in court for nurses, rideshare drivers, meatpackers, Amazon workers, veterans, teachers, federal employees, grocery workers, renters buried in junk fees, and working families drowning in medical debt.

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You can learn more about David and his campaign at www.seligmanforag.com

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And in our continuing quest to interview every viable Democrat running for a major office in Colorado, Trisha Calvarese is on the pod to talk about her labor background, her ground game in the district, and why Co-04 primary voters should give her another chance to take on our 7th favorite member of Congress from Colorado.

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And...continuing in our quest to interview every Democrat in a competitive primary for a big race in Colorado in 2026, State Representative Brianna Titone joins us to talk about her campaign for state treasurer, what it’s like being the first openly transgender state legislator in Colorado history, and her side-gig as a movie producer!

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And later...many have tried, but could our guest today be the one to finally send Lauren Boebert to her eventual home on Newsmax or Fox? Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher joins us to talk about her campaign for the fourth congressional district, the weird meeting Pete Hegseth just called, and how she plans to do what no Democrat has done before.

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But first, Listener Favorite Logan Davis from the Colorado Times Recorder is BACK on the pod to talk about his latest big investigation detailing how radical right-wingers connected to Russian Oligarchs and at least one local billionaire are actually shaping a lot of the politics in our very blue state.

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And! Can a Democrat win Colorado’s 2nd most Republican congressional district? Well, if one can, it might just be our guest today: Jessica Killin joins us from Colorado Springs to talk about how she plans to win the 5th district in 2026.

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Then, do you enjoy the convenience of having about a month to research all of the candidates and initiatives on your mail ballot and the ability to drop them off or mail them back every election? Well we also have bad news for you on that! And finally, we dig into the practical possibility of Colorado joining the redistricting arms race to the bottom and the new way Libertarians are trying to screw with Colorado Republicans this time.

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Then, a Republican state representative leaked screenshots of a secret group chat (hey, weren’t they not supposed to have those anymore?) to a reporter where other members were making sexist and racist comments about a Democratic colleague; is there no depth to the depravity of the Colorado GOP? Then, tariffs are both dumb as shit and super unpopular. That’s it, that’s the segment. And finally, brain worms are eating your vaccines; Gabe Evans is saving Medicaid by kicking everyone off it; and any Republican brave or stupid enough to have a town hall meeting is getting what they deserve.

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Then, Colorado’s Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed more suits than a Men’s Wearhouse! Then, there’s benzene in the groundwater and arsenic in the soil, can you guess which vaunted and totally safe Colorado industry put them there? Probably the same industry bankrolling Right Wing interest groups to try to fuck up the state budget even worse than it already is! And finally, we’ve got some great listener feedback to share with you, but you’ll have to stick around to the end of the episode to hear it!

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This week on the Get More Smarter Podcast, the 2026 Primary field for Colorado Democrats up and down the ticket is getting crowded! And we’ve got a big announcement for you on what that means for the podcast! Then, are you a human being, with a body, and, skin, and organs, and stuff like that which needs occasional tending to? Well, your healthcare is about to get a lot more expensive, and most likely, not any better! Next, Schrodinger’s Epstein Files are the scandal of the decade. Or they don’t exist. Or...maybe BOTH, depending on whom you talk to. But one thing is certain: Donald J Trump is absolutely in them!

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Then, do recissions cause recessions? We’re about to find out, unfortunately; Big Bird and your local public radio station are on the chopping block because of it. And finally, in a country that has seen some progress on fighting gerrymandering and making elections and democracy more fair, representative, and reflective of the will of the people, one part in one state says…to hell with all that, we want power! Can you guess who it is? Can you?

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