My family has been rooted in service for generations. You see, I am a third-generation military spouse. I’m also a mom, and I’m deeply involved in our children’s homeschool education and our local public schools, I help run our household budget, a sustainable hobby farm, and I’m friends with several victims of repeated crime. Like many of my neighbors, I feel like life is spiraling out of control and that our political leaders are out of touch with the issues that face everyday working families.
I have never seen a politician run on a platform of protecting children or families, so I decided to run for the Colorado State House. We need a mom to advocate for Colorado’s future.
Northwest Colorado is a beautiful place to live, but it is becoming unaffordable for us. I’ve heard from a mother who couldn’t buy cupcakes for her kid’s birthday party because she couldn’t pay for gas. Seniors on fixed incomes have said groceries are too high, and many are worried about being able to pay their property taxes. They’ve lived here their whole lives but are pondering whether they can stay. And if childcare is even available, it is way too expensive. Our workforce can’t return if they can’t find a place for their children or an affordable home to live in. Our state budget has grown by billions upon billions of dollars, yet wages haven’t grown at the same rate. At some point, we need to ask where our money is going instead of advocating to raise taxes. I will work diligently to bring down the cost of living by opposing new taxes, fees, regulations, and government spending. With our $36 billion dollar budget, I want to fund things that families like mine prioritize, like fire mitigation, water, schools, and roads.
The Western Slope is facing serious threats to our economy and Colorado way of life and the families and small businesses of Northwest Colorado are expected to just deal with wolves, which my opponent supported before running, with no plan for how to manage those wolves. This will destroy our local outfitters and ranchers and, in time, will also negatively affect our winter and summer tourism industry too. I will introduce legislation to repeal wolf reintroduction as my first bill. Our local energy workers are having their jobs taken away by the state, and there’s no plan for funding our schools without those incomes. Many families will be moving out of the area because their jobs are being taken away. We must do better to build and respect all aspects of our diverse economy. Families are depending on us to do just that.
You can count on me to put families first and criminals behind bars.
In Oak Creek, an abusive, violent criminal was repeatedly let out back into our community. He went on a rampage and killed a young man named Dustyn, shot and injured two others, and, finally, the criminal himself was killed in self-defense. Many families will never be the same, and it hurts knowing that this murder and two attempted murders were preventable. The criminal needed to be kept behind bars to face the full consequences of his original abuse. This sad example is only one of many in our state since laws were changed to allow criminals to be turned quickly back into our neighborhoods. Our laws need to protect survivors and victims, not their abusers and criminals. I will fight to end the dangerous policies that turn criminals back out into our communities and will press to keep our neighborhoods safe.
The wonderful people of House District 26 deserve representation by a person who will vote their interests, not the interests of Boulder.