Initial ballot thoughts

Between the texts I get from Kamala Harris, the emails I get from Donald Trump and the constant barrage of political commercials watching football games on TV, I am soooooo ready for this election season to be over. I can’t even imagine how bad it is in a swing state like Arizona or Pennsylvania.

Here at the News, we have another round of candidate questions coming so we’ll address the local endorsements for those running for Gunnison County commissioner next week. 

Nationally, no surprise here—for me, the angst of another four years of Donald makes me cringe. Waking up every day to see who he might have sent his Justice Department after, listening to how he got cheated out of something, hearing him lie to apparently just lie and insult people to just insult people, or describe which love letter he got from Korea, Hungary, Turkey or Russia, just makes the blood pressure rise thinking about it. His dark vision of America where buying a loaf of bread will get you shot, where illegal immigrants are taking away good American jobs like picking lettuce and where FEMA is screwing our fellow citizens in need (it isn’t), is sort of sad and really scary. Plus his recent dance moves and weird “weaving” answers to questions, like Joe’s debate confusion, indicate you are really voting for JD Vance.

Look, whoever is elected next to occupy the Oval Office should reap the benefits of all the infrastructure and true America First manufacturing spending Joe put in place, much of it with bipartisan support. So, unless Donald or Kamala really enact stuff to screw it up, the negative economic and cost-of-living feelings will likely catch up with the positive data. But Donald’s love of the dystopian darkness and reflexive bent toward victimization and division is reason enough to not for him and pull the lever for a happy woman warrior who is at least trying to be a uniter in an increasingly weird world..

Congressional choice

On the regional Congressional level, I will disagree with the letter written last week by the Crested Butte mayor, and suggest you vote for Democrat Adam Frisch for Congressional District 3. Both Frisch and his Republican opponent Jeff Hurd are far better than our current Mean Girls wannabe Lauren Boebert. In this Republican leaning congressional district, Hurd has the edge, but Frisch came within a whisker of beating Boebert last time and Lord knows he is again putting in the miles this time to reach out to voters in a very big district. 

I must say the answers both Frisch and Hurd provided me a couple weeks ago about their reaction to the GORP (Gunnison Outdoor Resource Protection) Act being introduced into the US Senate by Michael Bennet were disappointing. Frisch and Hurd each claimed to not know the details of the act and both emphasized that while they appreciated the apparent collaboration involved, both were wary of any intrusion into the district’s agriculture and mining industries. GORP is a big deal for western Colorado and especially for us, and both should be up to speed on it more than they apparently are. 

But the tipping point for a vote for Frisch is that the political party numbers in the US House are expected to be super close and while Frisch and Hurd both promise independence from their political parties, that is not always how it works in the House of Representatives. Given that, I would rather have a Dem influencing national policies. It becomes more important if Donald pulls out a W, which he very well could with the Electoral College. If on the edge with a decision, look at a vote for Frisch as a safety valve.

State issues

With more than a dozen state amendments and propositions on the Colorado ballot, I looked into them starting with the attitude of just vote ‘no’ on them all. After a little bit of research, I changed my attitude to vote ‘no’ on almost everything except the amendments and proposition that include a letter. 

I’ll vote ‘yes’ for Amendments G (helps disabled veterans with property taxes), H (provides more transparency with the discipline procedures for Colorado judges), I (allows a judge to deny bail for someone charged with first-degree murder), J (repeals the definition of marriage in the state constitution that recognizes marriages only between a man and a woman), and K (helps county clerks and election officials with election deadlines). Oh, and I’ll pull the trigger on two other letter issues— Proposition JJ that lets the state keep more gambling tax revenue to deal with water issues in the state, and KK that taxes guns and ammo with the money going to fund mental health and support services for crime victims. I’m sure I’ll delve a little deeper into the numbered issues and pull out a ‘yes’ on some of them, but on initial review, look to the letters.

State reps

As for our representatives to the Colorado State House, Kathleen Curry is a fantastic choice for District 58. She lives here in Gunnison County and has served in Denver as a state legislator before. She knows our community and the drill in the state capitol. Her top priorities are: water issues, of which she is knowledgable as her work as a water rights expert and her experience with Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District has proven; agriculture, of which she is an expert as a rancher and longtime supporter of agriculture in Colorado; and affordable housing construction. 

Water is probably the most important state issue on our horizon, and Kathleen can constructively add to the conversation on both sides of the aisle and hopefully help guide the state in a good direction.

Curry is the choice for 58.

The race for state senate in District 5 is between Marc Catlin of Montrose and Cole Buerger of Glenwood Springs. Both candidates have experience with water and agriculture, and both understand the importance of those issues. Catlin is actually very good in that realm. Buerger has visited Crested Butte often and he seems to have a broader understanding of the diverse nature of Western Slope communities like ours that include recreation and public lands. He has said he wants to make sure the state is “laser focused on forest and watershed health” and believes wildfire mitigation efforts are crucial. He sees significant potential for addressing methane leaks from abandoned wells and shuttered mines. He’s also said that “the transition to lower and zero carbon energy generation should continue to move us in the right direction as well.” 

Buerger seems the best fit for CB.

Ballots have been sent out and you have several weeks to return them before November 5. There’s a lot on it and there are plenty of places to do research. While some like the ceremony of waiting until Election Day to cast their vote, the county appreciates getting as many ballots as possible back as soon as possible to make counting easier…help them out. 

We’ll look at a few other races next week.

—Mark Reaman