LITA 31: Governor Jared Polis on Education, Housing, Socialism, Tina Peters, and Amendment 87

Ana and Deep welcome Governor Jared Polis to the attic for a conversation about eight years in office and where he and the left part ways. Polis walks through the education record and the gaps that remain, then defends a supply-side approach to housing where he and the hosts agree right up until rent stabilization. Ana asks the question the episode turns on: if the referee is paid by one team, is the referee impartial? Polis says no, backs publicly financed elections, and says he never took PAC money. Then the disagreements: the surveillance pricing veto, whether the billionaires who own the venues get to decide who speaks (Melat Kiros’s canceled rally), why Europe’s universal healthcare proves capitalism works, why Donald Trump is a socialist, and why he commuted Tina Peters’s sentence instead of letting a judge resentence her. In the ballot lightning round, Polis calls Amendment 87 “the worst one on the ballot,” backs Prop NN, calls Amendment 83 “awful,” and says the anti-trans measures are “nasty and mean.” In Tea Time, Ana and Deep debrief an interview that went friendlier than they expected, disclose their paid work on 84, 85, 7A, and 132, and walk through the LITA ballot guide: yes on 85, 87, NN, and 7A, no on everything else.

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The LITA November 2026 Ballot Guide: [insert link]The LITA endorsements grid: ⁠leftintheattic.com/voterguide#grid⁠

Make your own ballot guide and see what 85 would change:  ⁠https://www.courageouscoloradoaction.org/no-84-yes-85#create-your-guide⁠

Disclosures: Deep is contracted for communications and strategy work on the No on 84 and Yes on 85 campaigns through Courageous Colorado Action. Ana did paid content for the Colorado Connector (7A),  previously did paid content for the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, which opposes Prop 132, and is contracted for communications work on 84 and 85. We held every one of these positions before any contract existed and would do so freely!

Chapters

00:00 The Worst One On The Ballot

00:33 Sparkling Water And South Park

02:51 Meet Governor Jared Polis

06:03 The Education Governor’s Ledger

18:50 Supply Side vs. Tenant Protections

24:32 Is The Referee Impartial? “No.”

30:58 The Surveillance Pricing Veto

36:42 Who Gets A Microphone: Melat’s Canceled Rally with Hasan Piker

41:53 Healthcare, Capitalism, And Socialist Trump?

48:03 Tina Peters: Why Not Let The Judge Do It?

52:10 Lightning Round: 87 Is “Devastating”

01:04:53 A Message For The Left: 55 Percent

01:06:50 Tea Time: The Debrief

01:13:20 The LITA Ballot Guide

01:20:28 Why We’re A Yes On 85

01:31:48 The Rest Of The Ballot

01:42:43 Wrap And Behind The Scenes 

Meet Your Hosts

Ana Mitchell, Ph.D., is a former CDC scientist who was swept up in federal cuts and is now reinventing herself as a civic coach and creator. After a decade reducing disparities in health and education, she’s building Civically Fit (see ⁠civicallyfit.org⁠) to make civic engagement accessible, authentic, and sustainable. A proud Latina and Colorado native, Ana is focused on helping people build community and power through everyday civic action. 

Deep Singh Badhesha is an attorney, political strategist, and government affairs professional with over a decade of experience shaping political campaigns and policy in Colorado. A former public school math teacher, Colorado Supreme Court clerk, and senior policy analyst, he now works across campaigns, ballot initiatives, and legislative fights. He’s South Asian, a new dad, and a longtime organizer who believes community—not saviors—will rebuild the Left. He also has way too many hot takes on everything stemming from food and sports to politics.  

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