This week’s show started by acknowledging the flurry of announcements of people running for office in November 2026. All of a sudden, it’s go-time for these campaigns. From there, our Insiders took a more analytical, yet compassionate, turn for the rest of the show, tackling everything from immigration policy to cuts in Colorado’s daycare industry and the fine line between protecting free speech and protecting our kids who are online; the various perspectives this week will definitely make you think. Here’s a glimpse at what we discussed:

The 2026 Election Cycle is Heating Up:
The Gubernatorial Race includes Senator Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, Greg Lopez is hoping the third time is the charm. Lopez announced he is running in the Republican primary which already 11 hopefuls. A Republican has not been elected Colorado Governor since 2002 when Bill Owens was re-elected to a second term.

• Westword Editor Patty Calhoun jumped right in with her prediction: “I think we can safely say Greg Lopez will not be the next governor of Colorado. The odds are on Michael Bennet’s side right now.” Patty also brought up the question of whether Senator Bennet should resign from his Senate seat while running for Governor, and if he would stay in the race in order to be the one to pick his replacement if he wins. If he bowed out of the Senate, current Governor Jared Polis would choose his replacement.
• Media Consultant Chris Rourke added, “I’m just waiting for Former Congressman Ken Buck to say he’s going to take on Michael Bennet again for a rematch.” Buck lost to Bennet for the U.S. Senate seat in 2010.
• VP of Strategic Initiatives at the Colorado Chamber of Commerce Ed Sealover suggested another possible and viable Republican candidate for Governor: “Senator Barb Kirkmeyer. She is actually one of the most respected figures at the Capitol on either side of the aisle. She’s been known as a powerhouse who can pass things such as property tax and water rights. If she jumps into this race, she will actually change the dynamics of it.”
• Tyrone Glover, as the lone attorney at the table, admitted he’s most focused on the race for Attorney General, nodding to how Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty has a strong prosecutorial background. More recently, Secretary of State Jena Griswold also joined the primary race for State Attorney General.

Debates and Lawsuits Over Immigration: A federal judge ruled that two men from Venezuela detained in Aurora must remain there pending a court hearing. This relates to the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to detain and deport immigrants accused of criminal records or gang affiliation.

Disclosure: At the top of conversation, Tyrone Glover explained how he is one of the co-chairs of the ACLU’s legal panel, which is made of attorneys who take on various civil liberties cases so he was very familiar about the case at the GEO Detention Center in Aurora. Tyrone: “A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And this should not stand. And I think even the Supreme Court has said that if they’re going to try to resurrect this ancient law, there needs to be some due process.”

• Chris Rourke inserted: “While I’m in favor of due process, I wish the people that really want to be here in this country would follow the process of having a legal status so we can know who is actually within our borders.”
• Ed Sealover brought up legislation in the Colorado legislature that would prevent civil rights violations of people based on their immigration status. It is Senate Bill 276. Ed: “This is one that we’re already seeing an immense fight on in the Senate… [it] hasn’t gotten to the House yet. This is basically the outgrowth of the law that was passed a couple of years ago that said, at that point, state agencies and state patrol had limited ways that they could interact with ICE. This extends that policy to local governments and to local police agencies. We’re having tons of businesses that have called the Colorado Chamber of Commerce saying, ‘what are my rights on this?’”

The Child Care Industry Crisis: I asked Ed Sealover to start by sharing the findings in his recent article in the Sum & Substance which had the headline, “An Industry on the Edge of Demise.” Over-regulation is identified as a significant factor contributing to the closure of child care centers and the lack of available slots for children.

• Ed Sealover: “In the past year, we’ve lost more than a thousand child care slots in Colorado as 54 different centers have closed. You’re seeing expanding regulations that limit the number of children per adult, especially if you’re going to take part in the state’s Universal Pre-K Program. You see limits on things like teachers always having to be around students, meaning they can’t take a bathroom break… unless they have somebody who’s as trained as them to go in and substitute for them for even those ten minutes there.”
• Chris Rourke: “I think that the childcare industry should have regulations… but the Universal Preschool Program has become a competitor with private preschools and therefore has interrupted the free market, thus driving cost up.”
• Colorado is ranked as the most expensive place in the country for child care.

Free Speech vs. Protecting Children Online: Senate Bill 86 aims to require social media companies to bar users involved in criminal activities online (illegal gun sales, drug sales, child sexual exploitation). But Governor Polis has “serious concerns” and may veto the bill because of its impact on free speech, innovation, and privacy.

• Ed Sealover: “Social media companies are worried about what they would have to do here. When you’re talking about, you know, the requirements in some of the bills, like Senate Bill 86… going in and getting people, canceling accounts immediately… they’re worried about the blowback that could come from customers. Look, there’s a balance here that that that can be struck. Police say we need that access to their accounts right away. Social media companies are saying, look, we want to work with you, but we need more conversations between the social media companies and the lawmakers to really craft what’s going to work.”
• Tyrone Glover: “I have some real concerns about the amount of quasi law enforcement power that this hands over to the tech companies. It’s really fraught with a number of landmines there. The one that concerns me the most is the amount of sort of law enforcement type power that were given to the Zuckerbergs and Musks of the world.”
• Patty Calhoun: “You’re not supposed to post illegal things. And the problem is when you are looking for certain words or certain flags, you might cut out a lot of legal free speech that are for legal activities. I know for a fact, at Westword, we tend to write about marijuana a lot. We basically can’t put most of those stories on Facebook just because they are going to assume it’s illegal in another state. So, you actually have to watch out for ‘will legal free speech things be tossed out if that passes?’”
• Chris Rourke also brought up another bill that was pulled because Governor Polis was threatening to veto that as well, with the same 1st Amendment Right argument. Chris: “I think it was disappointing that Senate Bill 201, the age limit on porn sites was pulled. We regulate how old you have to be to buy alcohol, to drive, to buy tobacco products, all in the name of safety. So, I’m all for safeguards that protect youth minors from things that are damaging. And to say that porn isn’t damaging, that’s a ridiculous argument in my opinion. However, I am a supporter of free speech but I think we have to have guardrails for children while maintaining freedom of speech, freedom to access information for adults.”

So… which of these four topics was the most compelling as they played out on-air? Well, my producing team huddled after the show and chose one to be a part of the brand new PBS12 show, Studio Twelve, which premieres on Tuesday, April 22nd. Every Tuesday night, you’ll see an excerpt from Colorado Inside Out during Studio Twelve, which highlights all sorts of PBS12 original programming as well as timely segments about other news stories and events happening in Colorado!