The Record.
Michael Bennet's political career, examined start to finish.
DPS Superintendent (2005–2009)
Michael Bennet had never run a school when John Hickenlooper pushed the DPS Board of Education to appoint him Superintendent of Denver Public Schools in 2005. He came from the Anschutz Investment Company, a private equity firm. His qualification was management experience, not education experience.
During his four-year tenure, Bennet presided over the beginning of what would become the most consequential — and most controversial — era in DPS history:
- Expanded charter school authorization, opening the door to the portfolio model that would eventually close 48+ neighborhood schools
- Implemented ProComp, the performance-based teacher pay system that relied on bonuses rather than base salary increases — the same system teachers would strike over a decade later
- Centralized decision-making in the superintendent's office and expanded the data-driven reform apparatus
- Built the administrative infrastructure that, by 2019, would employ 46 cabinet members and spend $50 million on overhead
Bennet left DPS in 2009 when Governor Bill Ritter appointed him to the US Senate. He left before the consequences of his reform agenda became fully visible. The school closures, the $2 billion in debt, the teacher strike — all of that happened after he was safely in Washington.
United States Senate (2009–Present)
Bennet was appointed to the Senate by Governor Bill Ritter in January 2009. He was not elected — he was chosen to fill the vacancy left by Ken Salazar. He won election in 2010, re-election in 2016, and again in 2022.
His legislative record includes genuine accomplishments:
- NCLB Reauthorization (2015) — As a HELP Committee member and the only former school superintendent in the Senate, Bennet helped write the Every Child Achieves Act, replacing No Child Left Behind with 85 bipartisan votes
- PREPARE Wildfires Act — Co-authored with Senator Crapo, establishing $20-30 million annual wildfire risk mitigation funding
- LNG Tax Reform — Worked with Senator Burr to fix unfair excise tax treatment of natural gas fuels
Bennet voted with the Obama administration 95-100% of the time, according to CQ data. He served on the HELP, Finance, and Agriculture committees.
The fair critique is not that Bennet was a bad Senator. It's that he left DPS before facing accountability for the reforms he championed, and now wants to leave the Senate without telling voters who would replace him.
2020 Presidential Campaign
Bennet ran for president in 2020. He did not qualify for multiple debate stages and dropped out after the New Hampshire primary. His campaign centered on pragmatic education reform and bipartisan deal-making — a message that did not resonate with Democratic primary voters who were looking for bolder visions.
2026 Governor's Race
Now Bennet wants to be governor. He is leaving a safe Senate seat to challenge Attorney General Phil Weiser in the Democratic primary, replacing term-limited Jared Polis.
The questions that follow this decision:
- Why leave the Senate? Bennet has never given a clear answer. Voters keep asking. The Colorado Sun keeps reporting that the question remains unanswered.
- Why skip the caucuses? He petitioned onto the primary ballot with 17,000+ signatures, bypassing the caucus/convention process where he would have faced grassroots Democratic activists.
- Who replaces him? Bennet won't say who should fill his Senate seat. Critics call this disrespectful to voters.
- Why attack Polis? Bennet calls the sitting governor "allergic to building coalitions," despite Polis's 74% Democratic approval rating.
The Pattern
Bennet was appointed DPS Superintendent without education experience. He was appointed to the Senate without being elected. He ran for president and lost. Now he's running for governor while skipping the caucus process. At every step, he has found a way around the standard path that other candidates take.
This is not a condemnation. It is an observation. The question for Colorado Democratic primary voters is whether this pattern reflects strategic skill or an unwillingness to submit to the same vetting process that every other candidate endures.
