Mike Johnston, Cary Kennedy, Donna Lynne and Jared Polis addressed more than 100 people in attendance at the forum at Denver’s New Hope Baptist Church. The event was organized by NAACP Denver, Aurora NAACP-CO-MT-WY State Conference, Colorado Black Women for Political Action (CBWPA) and the Colorado Black Leadership Caucus.

“For too long here in the metro area, candidates have not had to speak specifically to African American concerns,” said Halisi Vinson, president of CBWPA. “We wanted to make sure that specific questions that deal with our community and our unique needs were answered and documented so that if any of these folks win, we can hold them accountable.”

Questions were collected beforehand and covered a variation of topics, including affordable housing, criminal justice reform, gun control, education, economic equity and the impact of a slavery clause still in Colorado’s constitution.

The conversation kicked off with a focus on how Colorado’s African American population are behind their white counterparts in terms of economic advancement, even with more education and skills.

Lynne, currently Colorado’s lieutenant governor, vowed that if elected she would ensure that the state puts more funding toward supporting women and minority-owned businesses.

Polis, an e-commerce entrepreneur and a congressman representing the Boulder-based 2nd Congressional District, pointed to the need to create pathways for the formerly incarcerated to be able to reintegrate into the workforce despite prior convictions. He also spoke of building more opportunity for black homeownership and of increasing income for Coloradans.

Johnston, a teacher and former state legislator, declared that he would ban companies from asking potential hires about their income at their last job, which can pigeonhole workers into low wages that don’t match their experience. He also proposed a paid family medical leave policy that would pay workers 75 percent of their income for up to eight weeks.

Kennedy, a former Colorado state treasure, highlighted the fact that after years of fighting for social justice and equity, black Americans are “losing ground” and discriminatory practices in housing, arrests, voting and others are contributing to continuing economic inequities.

Attendees who spoke with Colorado Politics were pleased to have four Democratic candidates who showed interest in the black community, but most remained on the fence with who will get their vote in November. They said the candidates will have to do more than show up to get their vote.

Jeff Fard, a longtime community advocate and host of  the Facebook live interview program, “30 Minutes with Brother Jeff,” said he has interviewed three out of the four Democratic gubernatorial candidates to date. Fard says he still undecided on who he will cast his vote for ultimately, but is excited that the black community and its supporters came out and is engaged in this process.

“The community is very concerned about who will represent the state of Colorado and the turnout is another indication that our community is not apathetic. If you give us something that we’re excited about, we will show up, but if you don’t have a platform we’re interested in, we vote with our feet, meaning we are not going to cast a ballot at all.”

But community activist Jumoke Emery felt at times the candidates weren’t  connecting with attendees on a genuine level and may have failed to adequately prepare.

“We already know the water is wet and don’t need the statistics read back to us. The folks who have concrete platforms and policy plans are the ones who deserve our vote in this election,” Emery said.

According to event organizers, the forum was open to all gubernatorial candidates, Democrats and Republicans. NAACP Denver said it had also emailed questionnaires and invitations to the four Republican candidates – Greg Lopez, Victor Mitchell, Doug Robinson and Walker Stapleton – but did not hear back.

But representatives of the GOP candidates told Colorado Politics on Friday that they were not aware of the event.