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Jeff Bridges
Education
Master of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School, 2009-2012
BA in Political Science, Kenyon College, 1999-2003
Professional Experience
State Senator (District 26), Colorado, Jan 2019 - Present
State Representative (District 3), Colorado, Jan 2017 - Jan 2019
Worked for then-U.S. Senator Ken Salazar
Associate Vice President of Public Affairs of the Union Theological Seminary
Why Running
"Colorado has an affordability crisis. Trump’s cuts and TABOR’s cap are crushing our ability to respond. I’m running for Treasurer to fight back. Colorado’s Treasurer manages billions of our state’s dollars. Instead of parking them on Wall Street and Washington, I’ll put them to work right here at home:
Housing that working people can actually afford
Infrastructure that creates good-paying jobs and a strong economy
Clean energy that lowers your bills and fights global warming
But that’s easier said than done.
Colorado has one of the most complicated fiscal systems anywhere. Our finances are shaped by revenue limits, federal matches, enterprise authorities, hundreds of cash funds, and TABOR as the sour cherry on top.
Learning how to work inside that system takes years. I’ve spent the last four doing exactly that as Chair and Vice Chair of Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee, the small bipartisan group that signs off on every dollar of our $17 billion state budget.
That’s why I’m the only candidate endorsed by former Colorado Treasurers—the people who’ve done the job say the Joint Budget Committee is the best preparation for the job.
Over my decade in the legislature, I passed full-day kindergarten, created the nation’s first middle-income housing authority and tax credit, and created the strongest paid sick leave policy in the country—with support from both labor and business. I know how to build the coalitions it takes to invest Colorado dollars in Colorado.
I’m running for Treasurer to make sure your dollars work as hard as you do."
Policy Positions
Tested Leadership: Led Colorado’s most complex fiscal and policy negotiations by chairing major budget, finance, education, and appropriations committees and serving as a bipartisan‑trusted Majority Whip in both chambers.
Making the Math Work for Families: Advanced policies that lower everyday costs for families by expanding financial literacy, securing paid sick leave, strengthening early childhood education access, and protecting healthcare services for thousands of patients.
Housing Affordability & Infrastructure Finance: Drove innovative financing tools to expand middle‑income housing, modernize infrastructure funding, and cut regulatory barriers to lower construction costs and accelerate community development.
Workforce Development & Education ROI: Improved the return on education and training by increasing transparency on degree value, investing in employer‑college partnerships, fully funding K–12 commitments, and expanding pathways from high school to paid apprenticeships.
Economic Growth & Small Business Resilience: Strengthened Colorado’s economy by leveraging tax incentives for emerging industries, delivering targeted relief to small businesses, expanding rural lending, and supporting employee‑ownership transitions that keep wealth local.
Protecting Military Lives: Helped safeguard U.S. service members by working across party lines to prevent the elimination of the CROWS automated turret program and expand its deployment, ensuring thousands of troops overseas gained access to life‑saving protective technology.
Advancing Equality with Faith Communities: Mobilized a diverse coalition of faith leaders to oppose a proposed religious exemption in a federal contractor nondiscrimination order, helping ensure LGBTQ+ protections were adopted without loopholes and demonstrating that faith communities can lead on equality rather than be exempted from it.