Until she was lieutenant governor, Donna Lynne was an executive for Kaiser Permanente. As a candidate for governor, she’s talking about universal healthcare.

Lynne voiced her support for universal care in campaign stops in Glenwood Springs and Greeley, at least, during her nine-stop statewide tour to talk about healthcare last week, according to the local papers.

“I support universal (health care) coverage,” Lynne said and the Greeley Tribune reported. “It’s like public education.”

The Democrat in Denver said later in the piece, “We have to care for people who don’t have the basic economic means (to care for themselves).”

Universal healthcare would stake out a distinctive position in the crowded gubernatorial field. The more people who make it to the primary makes it even more important to have a reliable base of voters, even if it’s around one wedge issue like single-payer healthcare.

But the issue doesn’t have a good track record with Colorado voters. Last year, Amendment 69 would have created ColoradoCare, the first state universal healthcare system, but it got just 21 percent of the vote.

“We have to care for people who don’t have the basic economic means (to care for themselves),” Lynne said in Greeley.

Lynne isn’t going so far as to say single-payer supported by higher taxes, however.

In Fort Collins, the Coloradoan reported her saying, “The first step is universal coverage. That’s important. Everybody ought to have health insurance. How you get it, I think, is still subject to a lot of conversation. It shouldn’t be dependent on where you work or where you live or what your income is. Everyone in Colorado ought to have health coverage.”

There are nine Democrats in the race. Depending on how many make it onto the primary ballot, a large portion of ColoradoCare’s 21 percent would provide a cushion for Lynne, if not put her over the winning margin if three or more candidates are on the primary ballot.

On her website, Lynne says:

I’ve fought alongside Governor Hickenlooper to help save the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to make improvements to it. The ACA has been a success, especially here in Colorado where we have cut in half the number of people who didn’t have health coverage – it’s now less than seven percent of our population – with more than half a million more Coloradans getting coverage they didn’t have before.

But more must be done. As the Lt. Governor and Chief Operating Officer, I’ve worked on legislation to expand access, increase transparency, and make health care more affordable for all Colorado families.

I think health care is a right, not a privilege, and I support universal coverage and will fight to make it a reality for all Colorado families.

Donald Trump wants to move us backwards by taking health care away from hundreds of thousands of Coloradans – this is wrong. As governor, I’m going to keep working to expand coverage, improve care, and lower costs.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, another top contender in the primary, doesn’t list healthcare among his top issues on his website, instead prioritizing eduction, the environment and the economy.

Polis’ congressional website states, “Jared believes that all Americans should have access to high-quality, affordable health care. He is committed to promoting cutting-edge medical research, investing in innovative technologies, protecting our social safety net, and enacting policies that enable Americans throughout the country to access higher quality health services at a lower cost.”

Cary Kennedy said on her gubernatorial campaign website, “I support a federal single payer system, but until that happens, we can’t sit back, cross our fingers, and rely on a dysfunctional federal government.”