On June 1, Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) was honored with the Mizel Community Enrichment Award. The annual event honors “deserving individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the community and worked to significantly enhance the lives of others.”
Among the event’s numerous attendees was Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO). Boebert has routinely clashed with Polis, having made numerous anti-LGBT statements as well as having called his executive actions during the COVID pandemic “tyranny.”
However she and the Governor share a connection to Mizel Institute founder Larry A. Mizel, who has been a major donor to both of them.
Mizel gave Boebert the federal maximum $2800 in 2020 and 2021. He donated $25,000 to a pro-Polis super PAC last year. After Polis’ landslide win over Heidi Ganahl, Mizel joined the Governor’s inaugural committee, which required a commitment to give or raise one million dollars.
Photo Credit: Evan Semón Photography
No Labels Colorado Co-Chair Roger Hutson, who is also Boebert donor, also attended the event.
According to the event’s website, “funds raised from the Mizel Institute Annual Event support its two centers, the Mizel Museum and the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab (CELL).”
Boebert’s relationship with the Jewish community of Colorado is nuanced to say the least. Since her first campaign when she said she hoped QAnon is real (which she later walked back but never retracted), Boebert also made offensive comments she later dismissed as jokes at a Jewish tour group at the U.S Capitol. Earlier this year she posts tweets dismissing the Biden administration’s strategies for combating antisemitism, earning a rebuke from the White House.
Around the time of the Polis event, Boebert’s fundraising team was using Mizel’s name, along with that of beer baron Pete Coors, to solicit additional donors for a high-dollar event at the Brown Palace. However it was canceled after the Colorado Times Recorder reported on the planned event.
Erik Maulbetsch contributed to this story.
