Jared Polis

The Sierra Club endorsed 2nd Congressional District Democratic nominee Jared Polis on Wednesday in a statement that made a Polis victory in November seem like a foregone conclusion.

"With his strong concern for the environment and climate change, Jared Polis will continue our district's ongoing tradition of sending representatives to Washington who will fight for environmental protection," said Rebecca Dickson, Political Committee Chair for the Sierra Club's Rocky Mountain Region, in a press release. "We look forward to working with him."

Polis is indeed the heavy favorite to defeat Republican Scott Starin to succeed U.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) in the heavily Democratic 2nd Congressional District.

U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, appeared onstage at the party's national convention in Denver Tuesday, bringing eight Congressional hopefuls along with him.

Van Hollen said it wasn't enough for Democrats to elect U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to the White House; they had to expand their majority in Congress, he said. 

Among those Democratic challengers who appeared with Van Hollen was Jared Polis, who is seeking Colorado's 2nd Congressional District seat, which is being vacated by U.S. Rep. Mark Udall.

Some TV commercials from the 2008 House primaries:

Some TV commercials from the 2008 House primaries:

Some TV commercials from the 2008 House primaries:

Some TV commercials from the 2008 House primaries:

More PolitickerCO.com coverage: Polis completes comeback, wins CO-2 Democratic primary

Now that 33-year-old millionaire Jared Polis appears headed to the U.S. House of Representatives after his 1,761 vote victory over onetime front runner Joan Fitz-Gerald in the Democratic primary, some Colorado political insiders are wondering what’s next for this ambitious rising star.

Even a couple months ago, things didn't seem so great for Jared Polis.

But the Boulder online entrepreneur came back in a big way Tuesday night, capturing the Democratic nomination in the 2nd Congressional District. With scant opposition expected in the general election, the win almost certainly means Polis will take a seat in Congress next January.

With 452 of 457 precincts reporting, Polis nabbed 41.7 percent of the vote. Former state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald had 38 percent of the vote, while environmentalist Will Shafroth won 20.3 percent.

Polis' victory came in large part because of big wins in Boulder, Broomfield, and - especially -- Adams Counties. In Adams County, preliminary numbers showed that Polis beat Fitz-Gerald by almost 1,200 votes - two-thirds of Polis' total victory margin.

There’s some speculation among Democrats that Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald will emerge as a candidate for Secretary of State now that GOP incumbent Mike Coffman appears headed for Congress. Ironically, Fitz-Gerald also imagined she’d be headed to Washington before millionaire Jared Polis emerged as the Democratic primary winner by 1,761 votes. For Fitz-Gerald, SecState could be her consolation prize – and unless he takes it, there’s really no place for her to go.