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The Colorado state treasurer’s race pits Fremont County Commissioner Kevin Grantham, a Republican former president of the state senate, against state Sen. Jeff Bridges, the Democratic vice-chair of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee.
The state treasurer’s office oversees the state’s finances, ensuring state dollars are distributed to public agencies. It manages a $15 to $20 billion state investment portfolio and secures financing for construction projects for schools and local governments. And it runs a number of programs, including the unclaimed property trust fund, the state’s lost and found for assets such as old bank accounts, security deposits and insurance payouts.
The treasurer also serves on the board for the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, the pension for teachers and state workers.
Colorado’s current state treasurer, Democrat Dave Young, is term-limited and can’t run for reelection.
Jeff Bridges, a Democrat from Greenwood Village, is serving his second term in the Colorado state senate, after spending two years in the state House. He has been a member of the Joint Budget Committee since 2022, and chaired the JBC in 2024 and 2025. Before he was elected to state office, he worked on Democratic political campaigns.
Kevin Grantham, a Republican from Cañon City, is in his second term as a Fremont County commissioner. He served two terms in the state Senate, where he was elected president in 2017 and 2018. He spent two years on the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee. He has also worked as a real estate appraiser.
Two minor-party candidates are also running: Libertarian Party nominee Jodie Barr and Marilee Langner Sturgis of the Approval Voting Party.
The Colorado Sun interviewed the major party candidates to see how they plan to manage the state’s finances, the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association and the unclaimed property trust fund.
Here are their answers.
Jump to a topic
- State budget
- TABOR
- Investments
- New initiatives
- SecureSavings
- PERA reforms
- PERA staff bonuses
- PERA investments
- Unclaimed property program
- Spending unclaimed funds
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STATE BUDGET
The state budget has historically been a negotiation between the legislature and the governor’s office. How would you use your position to shape the state’s financial future amid annual budget shortfalls?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
Bridges said he would use the treasury’s $15 billion to $20 billion investment portfolio to invest in things like housing, infrastructure and childcare that the state budget lacks the money to pay for.
“The reason I’m running is to invest those dollars into Colorado, and to not just have them in that standard national portfolio of Wall Street, Washington, and mortgage-backed securities. The reason for that is that the budget is so tight right now.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
Grantham said he would use his platform to be the voice of the opposition against a future Democratic administration when it comes to state spending — especially Medicaid. “That’s going to be negatively affecting all the taxpayers of Colorado as we continue to dig the hole and ask for a bigger shovel.”
“We always have the federal government now, hanging over our shoulders, looking for excuses to bring the hammer down, and we’re giving them a bigger hammer with our inability to budget this property,” he said.
TABOR
The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights restrains taxation and government spending. Do you view TABOR primarily as a positive or a negative for Colorado? How would you use your position to either protect TABOR or push for changes?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
Bridges said some parts of TABOR are “fine,” but others, like the annual limit it puts on state spending, are “disastrous.” He said he hopes voters will pass Proposition NN, which would raise the limit to spend more money on K-12 education.
“If that measure does not pass, that is a fight that I will continue through the Office of the Treasury using the bully pulpit.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
“I view it entirely positively,” Grantham said. “The taxpayers since 1992 have viewed it as a means to protect themselves against the overreaching government when it comes to taxation, when it comes to spending. And I think they have guarded their right to vote on those matters very jealously.”
INVESTMENTS
The state treasurer manages $15 billion to $20 billion of state money. Do you have any priorities for how those dollars should be invested?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
Bridges said he wants to invest more of those dollars in Colorado companies and in the infrastructure the state needs to address its cost of living crisis.
“We have a housing crisis here in Colorado. We should be doubling down on solving that,” he said, instead of investing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to finance housing built across the country.
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
Grantham said past treasurers in both parties have traditionally invested state dollars with a “very conservative philosophy,” prioritizing safe investments and liquidity. “I would certainly intend to keep it that way.”
“You don’t put money at risk, unnecessarily,” Grantham said. He said he would not prioritize investing state money locally. “That’s not the purpose of those dollars. Investment of those sorts can happen through private sector capital, and that’s where they should happen and not with taxpayer dollars.”
NEW INITIATIVES
In the last several years, the state legislature has expanded the treasurer’s responsibilities in various ways. Are there any new initiatives you want to take on as treasurer that the office doesn’t do currently?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
Bridges said his top priority is to create a Colorado Fund that would invest in housing, infrastructure, childcare and renewable energy projects in the state.
But, he added, there would be safeguards to ensure the state doesn’t put dollars at risk that it needs to pay the bills. “There’s no question the checks for state employees can’t bounce, checks for school districts can’t bounce.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
Grantham said he didn’t plan to launch any new programs. “But there will be priorities, there will be focus on certain things that, historically, have been the treasurer’s role.”
He said his biggest goal as treasurer will be returning as much of the unclaimed property fund to the public as possible, “because it’s not our money. As long as that money sits there to tempt the legislature, it will continue to be stolen from.”
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SECURESAVINGS
One initiative that the current state treasurer took on is SecureSavings, a state-sponsored retirement program that most small businesses are required to offer employees if they don’t provide 401(k) benefits. Do you think that program has been successful? What, if any, changes would you make to it?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
Bridges said he was an early proponent of the program, and it has been successful.
“Because of the way that we’ve set it up, people have savings they can access in an emergency if they need it, and they also have savings for retirement.” But, he added, “it is a challenge for small businesses to comply with. We can do a better job giving them the support they need.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
“The intent is great,” Grantham said. “I would not argue that it’s been successful.”
He said there hasn’t been enough buy-in from employers and employees. And he objects to the use of taxpayer funding to staff and operate the program.
PERA REFORMS
It’s been eight years since the legislature passed Senate Bill 200, which cut state pension benefits and increased contributions to the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association. Is it time to revisit that deal?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
“The reason I was a no on Senate Bill 200 is I thought that the state (should have) a larger role in repaying the dollars that it took from PERA the last time we were in a budget crisis like we are now,” Bridges said. “That being said, I think that we are on a stable path to full funding of PERA and staying on that path is critical. I would worry that any opening of that deal could threaten that path.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
“Senate Bill 200, I think, was a great stride forward in setting us back on the right track,” Grantham said. “I think it’s done wonders. What we shouldn’t do is fiddle with Senate Bill 200.”
PERA STAFF BONUSES
A Colorado Sun investigation found that PERA had been paying much larger bonuses to investment staff than its peers, including in years when its investments lost money. Do you think there should be additional guardrails on PERA bonuses?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
“Yes,” Bridges said. “And I think the folks at PERA understand and agree with that. Whether that needs to be legislative or administrative, I think, remains to be seen.”
Bridges said he didn’t have a specific proposal for what the guardrails should be. “I’m fairly certain there will be legislation this coming year on it.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
“Yes, there should be guardrails — if not completely doing away with the in-house staff that receive those bonuses and putting this out to contract with private firms,” Grantham said.
He said that bonuses should be tied to PERA’s overall performance, to prevent large bonuses from being paid even when the pension loses money. “But they shouldn’t be exorbitant,” Grantham said. “I think they should be commensurate with other state employees’ benefits.”
PERA INVESTMENTS
There have been pushes to limit how public pensions invest their money, such as divesting from fossil fuels, private equity firms, and companies with ties to either Israel or Palestine. Do you think PERA should invest its money with moral or political goals in mind, or should its investments be solely determined by financial considerations?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
“Those two goals are not at odds,” Bridges said, adding that investment portfolios that screen for environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors tend to earn similar returns as the market as a whole.
“There is a way to invest responsibly — both fiscally and morally. I think there is a role for PERA to invest more in the state.”
But, he added, “PERA’s first and primary responsibility is to the people that depend on PERA and to maintain the promise that we’ve made.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
“I think that investing according to political whims is not actually investing,” Grantham said. “I think it’s gambling with our retirees’ pensions by not seeking the best investment.”
But, he said investing shouldn’t be amoral when it comes to matters of national security. “If all of a sudden, some investment in communist North Korea was the best thing in the world, that would still be wrong,” Grantham said.
UNCLAIMED PROPERTY PROGRAM
The state owes $2.4 billion in unclaimed property, and despite efforts to reconnect people with their assets, the trust fund keeps growing year after year. What are your priorities for that program if elected?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
“The treasurer should prioritize proactively sending out checks for the people the money belongs to,” Bridges said. “If you overpaid your Comcast bill, and you have $25 sitting in the Treasurer’s Office, the Department of Revenue knows who you are. We should know who you are, too, and we should send you that check.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
Grantham said the state makes it too hard for people to claim their money today.
“I think it’s the additional documentation, upon additional documentation, upon additional documentation,” he said. “That needs to be streamlined for people who just lose patience, and they find that getting a couple hundred bucks back from the government just ain’t worth it.”
Grantham also said the state needs to be more proactive about finding people who are owed money.
SPENDING UNCLAIMED FUNDS
The state legislature has spent $900 million out of the unclaimed property fund on public services. Should those funds continue to be used for state programs?
Jeff Bridges
DEMOCRAT
Bridges said the money should not continue to be used for state programs, noting that this year he voted with the Joint Budget Committee to stop using unclaimed property dollars for Medicaid dental benefits.
“Every claim in the Unclaimed Property Fund should stay valid and available for people to claim for all of time — forever,” he said. “You don’t lose your money because you didn’t know about it for 10 years. That’s crazy.”
Kevin Grantham
REPUBLICAN
Grantham said the money should not continue to be used for state programs.
“That fund has one purpose, and that is to sit there and wait until it’s reunited with its owners,” Grantham said. “As good as a program might be, it still doesn’t outweigh the fact that it’s not tax money. It never will be. And using it in that fashion is, honestly, an abuse of that money and the citizens that it belongs to.”
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