Walker Stapleton on Civil Rights

My grandfather was in the KKK but I denounce racism

Stapleton's ancestral family has a history of public service dating back more than a century, something Stapleton touted in campaign ads. He noted his great grandfather served 5 terms as Denver's mayor and helped build the first civic center in Colorado, and the first municipal airport in the Mile High City.

But Benjamin Stapleton's legacy also includes a dark chapter. He was a high ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's, which had infiltrated both parties and virtually all levels of government.

Stapleton says he's not his great grandfather--he was born 25 years after the elder Stapleton died--but he hasn't expressly denounced Benjamin Stapleton's involvement in the KKK, until now. "I categorically condemn racism of all forms and I categorically condemn hate organizations and they will have no place in my administration as governor," he said.