Julie Gonzales
Our Endorsement
Boulder Progressives is proud to endorse Julie Gonzales for U.S. Senate. A proven legislator and longtime community organizer, Julie has delivered landmark wins in the Colorado Senate on affordable housing, reproductive freedom, immigrant protections, and voting rights. If elected, she would make history as the first woman and first Latina to serve as U.S. Senator from Colorado — and we believe she is exactly the bold, people-powered leader this moment demands.
"I've spent my life organizing communities who have often been either taken for granted, or not taken into consideration at all by the establishment of the Democratic Party."
About Julie
The sixth of seven children, Julie Gonzales was born in Arizona and raised in South Texas where her family worked ranches — shaped by parents who modeled relentless work, radical honesty, and the conviction to always lift as you climb. Her mother — a former rodeo queen who was widowed at 20 with two children — rebuilt her life and became an elementary school teacher. Her father worked cattle and later became a medical cannabis producer. Julie's family has deep Colorado roots stretching back before statehood. During high school she spent her summers in Denver saving for college, then graduated from Yale University before returning to Colorado permanently.
Before running for office, Julie spent years as a community organizer building people-powered campaigns for affordable housing, education equity, and immigrant rights. In 2018 she was elected to the Colorado State Senate representing north, west, and downtown Denver. In the years since, she has enshrined abortion as a fundamental right in state law, advanced voting rights, allocated millions for affordable housing construction and preservation, strengthened immigrant protections from ICE, lowered prescription drug costs, and helped repeal the death penalty. She currently chairs the Judiciary Committee, serves as vice chair of Local Government & Housing, and co-chairs the Colorado Democratic Latino Caucus.
Julie lives in Denver's Jefferson Park neighborhood with her husband Ben and their two shih tzus, Panda and Beans.
Q&A with Julie Gonzales
Will you prioritize voting rights protections and filibuster reform?
I was proud to be a prime sponsor of the Colorado Voting Rights Act (SB25-001), which secures Coloradans' voting rights in the face of federal attacks. As a U.S. Senator, I will advocate for the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and will support reform of the filibuster.
How will you protect Colorado people and cities from ICE and CBP?
I grew up along the borderlands of south Texas, and given that firsthand experience of witnessing the militarization of the US Mexico border, I've organized to defend and advance immigrant rights since long before I ever ran for public office. I was a founding member of the national network of United We Dream, and previously served as the director of organizing for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition. In the state legislature, I was the prime sponsor on the bill (SB25-276) that banned local law enforcement's cooperation with ICE until ICE obtains a judicial warrant.
ICE is maximizing its policies of cruelty and fear, turning Americans against one another, and outright lying in order to continue justifying endless spending on immigration enforcement, to the tune of billions of dollars annually. To make the madness stop: extract the profit motive from immigration detention and surveillance, restore due process to the immigration system, create pathways to citizenship, pass strict standards on the use-of-force, and ensure that immigrants have access to legal counsel. The agency has no legitimacy left, and the only answer left is to Abolish ICE and build an immigration system for a country that claims to believe in rights, dignity, and the rule of law.
How will you fight for housing affordability at the federal level?
I know firsthand the transformational impact of affordable housing, because I live in an affordable housing unit in Denver myself. I will co-sponsor the ROAD to Housing Act on day one as a U.S. Senator, and have been proud to champion affordable housing legislation in my time in the state legislature, including HB26-1001 (Housing Developments on Qualifying Properties).
Colorado needs to invest in affordable housing driven by community needs, not profit margins. I support supercharging affordable housing construction by utilizing HUD to expand community development block grants, because we know that the most expensive aspect of affordable housing construction is often the land itself. Furthermore, I support national rent stabilization, a universal right to counsel for tenants facing eviction, and increasing emergency rental assistance dollars. I'll take on corporate rent-fixing algorithms, predatory practices by landlords, junk fees, and short term rentals that distort the housing market.
What changes would you make to support the continued viability of Social Security?
Every American deserves a dignified retirement. It is absolutely crucial that we secure that future of Social Security. In order to do so, we need to invest less in foreign wars and tax breaks for billionaires, and more in our social safety net.
Should Medicare be expanded, and how would you approach increasing coverage?
First and foremost, my healthcare policy is that we must pass an expanded and improved Medicare for All system; not doing so will continue to shepherd hundreds of billions of dollars into the pockets of insurance corporations that are profiting off of providing substandard coverage to workers and patients. Medicare For All cannot be an eventual solution, it must be an immediate priority for any legislator who recognizes the for-profit healthcare system as an existential threat to the health and wellbeing of every person in our country.
How will you expand the party's appeal to working class voters and address the affordability crisis?
I've spent my life organizing communities who have often been either taken for granted, or not taken into consideration at all by the establishment of the Democratic Party. The way the party should rebuild trust with working class voters is by no longer bowing down to the billionaire donor class, and instead fighting for an economy that works for all of us. I will fight to crack down on monopolies and the rigged system that allows them to consolidate power, tax the rich, and reinvest in our social safety net, including Medicare for All, universal child and elder care, housing, and education.
Additionally, a core pillar of my campaign is to build worker power. We need to raise wages, protect the right to organize and collectively bargain, and ensure that the people directly impacted by policies, not merely the wealthy and well-connected, are finally at the table when policies that impact our lives are being contemplated and discussed.