It’s been a year since the insurrection at the Capitol and the country remains as divided as ever, but we see a ray of hope.

There has been and will continue to be coverage in the media of what happened on Jan. 6, but we want to focus on how we come back from such a dark place in our history. That is through coming together and working in a bipartisan way.

A huge part of the problem in Washington and in our politics as a nation is the lack of compromise and willingness to work with the other side of the aisle. If a politician isn’t seen as pure or is too friendly with the people in the other party, they’re often run out of office.

As voters we don’t see Democrats and Republicans as colleagues with different approaches anymore. They’re enemies to be defeated.

That wasn’t always the case and doesn’t have to be going forward.

With the goal of working with the other side, even when you’ve been political adversaries, we have to commend Governor Jared Polis for appointing former State Treasurer Walker Stapleton as the Governor’s Designee on the Economic Development Commission.

Stapleton was defeated by Polis in the 2018 gubernatorial election, but here they are a few years later and the governor taps his former rival for a significant position in the government. This example, especially now as we look back on Jan. 6, is something every elected leader should follow.

“A strong recovery with the healing we need to overcome the pandemic-induced challenges and divides means we need an all-hands-on-deck approach from Democrats, Republicans and Independents to put our state and our people first,” Polis said in a statement.

We have big challenges as a state and a nation and the governor is right, we need everyone pulling together. A good leader looks for the best help he can get, period.

Good for Stapleton as well. Too many politicians when out of power use the opportunity only to criticize from the sidelines. He agreed to put his knowledge and experience to good use and help us recover as a state.

“I look forward to working hard on this commission to ensure that Colorado’s economy thrives,” Stapleton said in a statement. “Colorado always works better when people set aside their differences and work together to solve problems. This is what today is all about.”

But, putting aside differences isn’t easy today. As we said above, agreeing to work across the aisle is often punished these days. Stapleton is rising above this toxic partisan environment to work for Colorado.

It’s a scary time in our democracy, but we’re not doomed yet and bipartisanship like what Polis and Stapleton have shown here is proof of that.

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel editorial board