Christie Campaigns For Beauprez In Colorado Gov's Race
CASTLE PINES, Colo. (CBS4)- Colorado's governor's race is top priority for the Republican party with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie campaigning for GOP challenger Bob Beauprez.
The pair made an appearance at the American Academy charter school in Castle Pines Friday morning.
Christie, head of the Republican Governor's Association, is making a campaign tour of key battleground states, Colorado among them. The race between Republican challenger Beauprez and incumbent Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, is a close one.
A new poll shows Hickenlooper ahead by 4 percentage points, but the race is widely considered a toss-up.
"The growth here in Colorado is extraordinary. It's an important place because it's one of those places across America where Republicans and Democrats have been working together and we need to encourage that kind of thing as we move forward. You need the right kind of leadership to be able to do that and Bob is the right kind of leader to be able to bring both parties together," said Christie.
Christie and Beauprez attacked Hickenlooper's record on education on Friday, with Beauprez saying that the governor hasn't addressed the student protests in Jefferson County enough. Students and teachers in the district have opposed that school board's conservative majority's controversial plan to evaluate curriculum in advanced high school history classes.
"I think the governor should be much more outspoken than he's been, and I would be, encouraging those cooler heads and those calmer minds. We always say everything is for the children. Let's make it about the children," Beauprez said.
Christie said there's been a lack of political will in Colorado to improve education.
"We know how to make our educational system better. We know how to serve children better. We just have to have the political will to do it," Christie said. "Fact is, Gov. Hickenlooper is not a bad person. He's just not a good governor."
Beauprez says early childhood literacy and better outcomes in education are among the cornerstone of his campaign. He and Christie read to first-graders at the school.
Nearly 30 percent of third-graders in Colorado can't read, Beauprez says, but he says he has a plan to change that.
Christie last campaigned with Beauprez in July. He said the Republican Governor's Association doesn't invest in a race it doesn't think it can win. So far the RGA has invested more than $3 million in the Beauprez campaign.
"There is a lot of work to do in the next 32 days. People are still trying to make up their minds. That's good news for us," Christie said. "(Voters) had four years to watch John Hickenlooper, and (if) they haven't made up their minds yet, I suspect that they're going to be more out to want to make a change."
Christie said he will most likely return to Colorado at least once before Election Day on Nov. 4.
