CELEBRITY FRIDAY: The Next Governor of Colorado Could Be Openly Gay Jared Polis

Openly gay Congressman Jared Polis, 42, has announced that he is running to become Governor of Colorado. Polis has represented a Boulder-area Congressional district (CO-02) since 2007 and is one of the wealthiest members of the U.S. House, with assets estimated in the $400 million range. If elected to succeed termed-out John Hickenlooper in 2018, he would become the first openly gay governor of a state, although Kate Brown of Oregon is the nation's first elected LGBT governor (she is bisexual). Brown was Oregon's Secretary of State when the previous governor resigned and then won election as the incumbent governor. Polis' task of winning a competitive election as an openly LGBT person to become chief executive of a state would be a landmark achievement.