Great minds think alike, and so do George Brauchler and Walker Stapleton. A careful reader pointed out to Colorado Politics on Friday that comments made by Brauchler, a Republican candidate for governor, sounded almost identical to those made by Stapleton about Jared Polis.

Polis is a congressman and Democratic candidate for governor who has spent millions of his own dollars to try to tighten regulations on the oil and gas industry in Colorado, even going up against current Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2014. Colorado Politics wrote in-depth about Polis’ and and present positions on energy production in August, if you want to learn more.

In a story Thursday by Colorado Politic’s Ernest Luning, Brauchler said in a statement:

“Extreme liberals, such as Congressman Jared Polis, have made it clear that they seek to destroy Colorado’s oil and gas sector, at the expense of Colorado’s economy and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of hard-working Coloradans With real leadership, Colorado can safely extract our natural resources, grow our economy, create jobs and preserve our environment.”

Stapleton’s campaign told Luning something strikingly similar a day earlier:

“Congressman Polis’ agenda is clear; he has been working for years to destroy the 230,000 jobs that oil and gas supports, all to appease his base of Bernie Sanders acolytes at the expense of hardworking Coloradans.”

Mix in what Stapleton’s website says:

“Together, we can safely develop our natural resources. We can have a booming energy sector, create thousands of well-paying jobs, and protect Colorado’s environment for current and future generations.”

Is that plagiarism? Technically, no. You can’t plagiarize a thought, even if you mix in a few key words. For Polis, however, it sounds like Brauchler has Stapleton’s playbook on how Republicans should talk about him. It also says Republicans see Polis as the shoo-in nominee they’ll face in next year’s general election.

Polis has some well-known Democrats to contend with in his primary, however, including Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, former state Treasurer Cary Kennedy, former state Sen. Mike Johnston in the nine-candidate primary.

Stapleton and Brauchler are considered the top-tier candidates in a seven-way GOP race.

Mara Sheldon, a spokeswoman for Polis, on Friday pointed to her comment to Luning about the mud being slung in her candidate’s direction:

“While the Republican candidates compete for special interest dollars, Jared is standing up for workers and protecting the health, safety, and jobs of Colorado families, not industry lobbyists.”

(Editor’s note: This story was updated with a response from the Polis campaign.)