DENVER — Amidst ongoing battles within his own party, and despite recently vetoing a pair of bills that concentrated more authority in Colorado state government, Jared Polis’ carefully scripted reputation as a libertarian-leaning governor appears to be fading.

Even Reason Magazine, the national media outlet that has for years has hung its hat on the idea that Polis is more liberty-minded than progressive, is now questioning whether Polis’ moderate temperament is real, with editor-at-large Nick Gillepsie tugging back on Polis’ libertarian card in an April 14 article asking if the “small government Democrat is beefing up state power.”

Reason has long been considered the standard-bearer for libertarian thought and ideas, complete with the tagline of “Free Minds and Free Markets.”

Gillespie notes in the very first sentence that it’s Polis himself who identifies as a “libertarian Democrat.” However, it was also Gillespie — who recently said he was “an admirer” of Polis’ on a Facebook post pitching his latest story — who penned that Polis “might be the most libertarian governor in America,” in a profile story he wrote in 2022.

“I’m not sure that Polis’ 2014 claim in the pages of Reason that ‘Libertarians should vote for Democratic candidates’ because they’re ‘more supportive of individual liberty and freedom’ has held up, but he’s certainly leading by example,” Gillespie wrote at the time, offering numerous reasons why Polis is more libertarian than his “big state Democrat colleagues.”

Yet in his most recent article, Gillespie argues the opposite:  “But a couple of new laws he’s signed about guns and booze call his small-government bona fides into question.”  Gillespie is referring to Senate Bill 25-003, which creates a costly and time-consuming licensing regime to purchase nearly all semi-automatic guns in Colorado, as well as Senate Bill 25-033, which bars grocery stores and big-box retailers from selling hard liquor.

Polis cited broad bipartisan support in the legislature as part of his rationalization for signing SB 33, leading Gillespie to note: “Polis’ willingness to sign a bill simply because the vote for it was lopsided is worrying.”

The magazine has often sung Polis’ praises in other articles and profiles about the “libertarianish Colorado Democrat.”

Critics closer to home disagree

But despite Reason’s years of burnishing Polis’ pro-liberty image, the idea that Polis leans libertarian in any meaningful way has long been disputed by critics presumably more in the know at home in Colorado.

In a 20-page review of Polis’ first-term as governor for Independence Institute (a free market think tank, as well as the publisher of Complete Colorado), longtime liberty activist and author Ari Armstrong systematically picks apart Polis’ libertarian credentials.

“Although Polis does have a libertarian side, various claims about a libertarian Polis are wildly exaggerated,” Armstrong said in his paper, The Tax and Regulate Reality behind Gov. Polis’ Libertarian Image. “So is Polis a socialist, a progressive, a conservative, or a libertarian? To a degree, Polis is a shape-shifter, happy to appear to be what the person in front of him wishes him to be.”

Perhaps even more evident are comments made by Colorado Libertarian Party Chairwoman Hannah Goodman in an opinion piece earlier this year.

“Through the years, Gov. Jared Polis appears to have welcomed the libertarian label — affixed to him by the news media, political commentators and even some other politicians. It’s almost as if he wants to create a buzz about it,” Goodman writes. “However, a closer examination of what he has done to our state reveals a stark contrast between that label and his actions.”

Goodman goes on to note that while that while Polis supports marijuana legalization and school choice — two important Libertarian Party principles, he fails in the area of reducing government size, civil liberties, and taxation. “Polis, while campaigning as an advocate for lower income taxes, consistently passes and advocates for legislation which increases the tax burden upon Coloradans.”

Goodman also says Polis’ stance on the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) is a big red flag

“The unsuccessful Proposition CC, in which the state would have retained excess tax revenue, was a clear example of his willingness to expand state coffers rather than return money to the people. He has worked to kill TABOR throughout his term, while signing his name to TABOR checks when he is defeated,” Goodman said.

Goodman said Polis’ libertarian rhetoric is more about public image than public policy.

“It demands more than rhetoric; it requires a consistent commitment to reducing government size, scope and power,” she said. “Under Gov. Polis, we’ve seen selective libertarianism at best, and at worst, a continuation of dangerous and cannibalistic government expansion.”