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Scott Beilfuss is a respected civic leader, entrepreneur, and grassroots organizer who has fiercely advocated for Medicaid and health care reform. A family counselor and activist, he has many years of experience working with local groups to support and expand public services, particularly for youth and seniors in Grand Junction. Beilfuss is the vice chairman of the Mesa County Democratic Party and is passionate about representing working families and low-income workers. His vision for the future of District 55 includes promoting new industries and technology, better supporting senior living with housing and transportation, and addressing public education funding.
Beilfuss is the recommended candidate in this race.
He hopes to unseat incumbent Republican Janice Rich. Rich is a former legal assistant, county clerk, and treasurer and has represented District 55 since 2019. One of her rallying cries is to “keep government out of our lives as much as possible,” and she strongly opposes public health care options. She is a vocal proponent of the oil and gas industry, and her record on climate change shows she will not work toward a sustainable future. Rich also voted against the red-flag gun law. Her ideological agenda will derail progress for the Western Slope.
Also challenging Rich for the seat is Sierra Garcia, who is the secretary of the Green Party of Colorado. She is an activist with Black Lives Matter Grand Junction and Stigma Fighters, a local mental health organization. Garcia pushes for economic growth through environmental reform. While she is experienced in local efforts, Garcia lacks a campaign website and seems to have no outlined concrete plans for her idealistic reforms, such as building a solar farm in the desert, which ultimately (and unfortunately) detracts from the potential power of her message.Scott Beilfuss
Scott Beilfuss is a respected civic leader, entrepreneur, and grassroots organizer who has fiercely advocated for Medicaid and health care reform.
Scott Beilfuss is a respected civic leader, entrepreneur, and grassroots organizer who has fiercely advocated for Medicaid and health care reform. A family counselor and activist, he has many years of experience working with local groups to support and expand public services, particularly for youth and seniors in Grand Junction. Beilfuss is the vice chairman of the Mesa County Democratic Party and is passionate about representing working families and low-income workers. His vision for the future of District 55 includes promoting new industries and technology, better supporting senior living with housing and transportation, and addressing public education funding.
Beilfuss is the recommended candidate in this race.
He hopes to unseat incumbent Republican Janice Rich. Rich is a former legal assistant, county clerk, and treasurer and has represented District 55 since 2019. One of her rallying cries is to “keep government out of our lives as much as possible,” and she strongly opposes public health care options. She is a vocal proponent of the oil and gas industry, and her record on climate change shows she will not work toward a sustainable future. Rich also voted against the red-flag gun law. Her ideological agenda will derail progress for the Western Slope.
Also challenging Rich for the seat is Sierra Garcia, who is the secretary of the Green Party of Colorado. She is an activist with Black Lives Matter Grand Junction and Stigma Fighters, a local mental health organization. Garcia pushes for economic growth through environmental reform. While she is experienced in local efforts, Garcia lacks a campaign website and seems to have no outlined concrete plans for her idealistic reforms, such as building a solar farm in the desert, which ultimately (and unfortunately) detracts from the potential power of her message.Scott Beilfuss
Scott Beilfuss is a respected civic leader, entrepreneur, and grassroots organizer who has fiercely advocated for Medicaid and health care reform.
Diane Mitsch Bush
Diane Mitsch Bush, a former state representative, is now running for Congress. She is a retired sociology professor and previous Routt County commissioner who has lived in the Western Slope — a part of Colorado’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District — for over 43 years. She previously ran for this seat in 2018, when she came closer to winning than any Democrat had in the three prior elections.
Colleagues from her other tenures have commended Mitsch Bush’s extreme attention to detail, her pragmatism, and her willingness to work with all sides. She has shown an ability to lead calmly through disasters, including the Great Recession, wildfires, floods, drought, and the swine flu epidemic. While in the state legislature, Mitsch Bush was a leading advocate for family agriculture, sustainable water infrastructure, and small rural communities. She sponsored many critically important bills, including ones to protect the environment and hold polluters accountable, lower health care and health insurance costs, and increase funding for rural schools. Over 80% of her bills were co-prime sponsored with rural Republicans.
Mitsch Bush has said her family’s early struggles with financial insecurity taught her the importance of helping others through public service. Her goal is to have an America that provides opportunities for all, not just the wealthy and well-connected. She intends to fight to make health care affordable for everyone, to protect the environment for generations to come, and to bring more good-paying jobs to rural communities.
Mitsch Bush is an experienced lawmaker and local leader who, if elected to Congress, will be ready on day one to get to work on policies that will benefit her district.
Running against her is Republican Lauren Boebert. Boebert is the owner of Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado — a restaurant known mainly for the fact that the wait staff openly carry guns on their person. Guns are one of the few things Boebert talks about regularly. She once drove across the state to go to a rally for Beto O’Rourke just to confront him about his gun safety position.
What voters really need to know, however, is that Boebert is a strong proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory: the wild idea that Donald Trump is waging a secret war against Democrats and movie stars who are running an international child trafficking ring. She has been quoted as saying, “I hope that this is real. … It only means America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values and that’s what I’m for.” She later added, “Everything that I have heard of this movement is only motivating and encouraging and bringing people together stronger ... it could be really great for our country.”
Boebert hasn’t explained more of her own positions beyond generic talking points, but it seems clear she is very far from being a progressive choice.