2026 Arvada Voter Guide

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2026 VOTER GUIDE

Through the B.O.L.D. 2026 initiative, Advocacy KAPS Council, the Jefferson County Business Lobby (JCBL), and consistent outreach to elected officials at all levels of government, the Arvada Chamber strives to stay informed on the latest policy developments while advocating for a strong local economy.

This year, Arvada ballots will include federal, state, and county elections, as well as several propositions. We encourage our local business community to review the below outlined information and determine the impacts for your business.

Included in this guide:

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THE ISSUES

Amendment 87: Graduated Income Tax (“The Income Tax Fairness Act”)

Amendment 87 would replace Colorado’s flat 4.4% income tax with six brackets ranging from 3.7% to 8.4% for individuals and corporations, beginning in tax year 2027. Filers with Colorado taxable income below roughly $510,834 would pay less, and those above would pay more. Taxable income above $500,000 would be taxed at 7.4% to 8.4%. The Legislative Council Staff
estimates about $1.97 billion in new revenue in FY 2027-28. The new revenue would be exempt from the TABOR limit and used for K-12 education, health care, and early childcare and education. The measure changes the Colorado Constitution and statute, and the brackets are not indexed to inflation.

Who supports and opposes: Supporters include the Protect Colorado’s Future Coalition (Bell Policy Center and more than 80 organizations). The Colorado Chamber of Commerce opposes.

Arvada Chamber Position: OPPOSE

Rationale: The Arvada Chamber opposes Amendment 87. We share the goals of funding education, health care and childcare. However, Amendment 87 would raise Colorado’s top income tax rate to 8.4%, the highest among neighboring states, and many of our most successful small businesses would pay it. Most Arvada businesses are S-corps, LLCs and partnerships
whose profits pass through to the owner’s personal return. Once that income crosses $500,000, those owners would pay 7.4% to 8.4%. The brackets are not indexed to inflation, and because this is a constitutional change, future legislatures could not adjust it. We
believe a permanent change of this size to Colorado’s tax structure puts business investment and competitiveness at too much risk.

Top Business Impacts (Implications for Jefferson County Employers)

Direct tax effect: Most member businesses and their owners fall under $500K in taxable income and would see a small cut (roughly $175–$325/year for individuals; a modest reduction for small C-corps). Owners and C-corps above $500K in Colorado taxable income pay substantially more: +$1,175 at $550K, +$11,550 at $875K, +$55,925 at $2M.

Competitiveness & site selection: Top marginal rate becomes a visible line item in relocation and expansion comparisons against Utah, Wyoming, Texas, Florida and Arizona — the states the Chamber report identifies as destinations for departing firms.

Workforce & talent: Risk of losing high-earning executives, physicians, founders and investors whose personal returns cross $500K; proponents argue the research does not support large-scale tax migration.

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Proposition 136: Income Tax Rate Cap

The Arvada Chamber supports Proposition 136. It keeps Colorado’s income tax rate at the current 4.4% for individuals and businesses, giving employers a predictable ceiling for planning, hiring and investment. It does not raise or cut anyone’s taxes and has no fiscal impact. It also reinforces the low, flat rate voters approved in 2022, which keeps Colorado competitive with neighboring states. Our support for Proposition 136 goes hand in hand with our opposition to Amendment 87.

What it does: Proposition 136 sets 4.4%, the current rate, as the maximum state income tax rate for individuals and corporations beginning January 1, 2027. It is a statute, not a constitutional change. The Legislative Council Staff reports no fiscal impact. Its practical significance is its interaction with Amendment 87: if both pass, the measure with more votes generally controls, and the outcome may require legislative or court resolution.

Who supports and opposes: The Colorado Chamber of Commerce supports. The Bell Policy Center and Protect Colorado’s Future oppose.

Arvada Chamber Position: SUPPORT

Rationale: The Arvada Chamber supports Proposition 136. It keeps Colorado’s income tax rate at the current 4.4% for individuals and businesses, giving employers a predictable ceiling for planning, hiring and investment. It does not raise or cut anyone’s taxes and has no fiscal impact. It also reinforces the low, flat rate voters approved in 2022, which keeps Colorado competitive with neighboring states. Our support for Proposition 136 goes hand in hand with our opposition to Amendment 87.

Top Business Impacts (Implications for Jefferson County Employers)

Direct tax effect: None on its own. No business or individual pays more or less because of 136.

Predictability: A statutory ceiling gives a modest signal of rate stability for multi-year investment decisions, though TABOR’s voter-approval requirement already provides most of that assurance.

Interaction with Amendment 87: For most members (income under $500K), a 136 win over 87 forgoes a small tax cut. For members above $500K and for large C-corps, a 136 win avoids rates of 7.4–8.4%. If both pass, businesses face uncertainty about 2027 withholding and estimated payments until the conflict is resolved.

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Proposition NN: TABOR Revenue Cap Increase for K-12 Education

Proposition NN permanently raises the state’s TABOR revenue cap by an amount equal to the K-12 budget (about $5.6 billion). It does not change any individual or corporate tax rate, but the state would keep revenue it would otherwise refund to taxpayers. For 10 years, state K-12 spending must grow at least 2% per year, directed to teacher pay, teacher retention, smaller class sizes, and career and technical education (CTE). Any additional retained revenue must go to programs that prepare children to be successful in school, such as early childhood and after-school programs. The measure requires an independent state audit and local transparency reporting. The state forecasts roughly $970 million less in TABOR refunds in FY 2027-28.

Who supports and opposes: Supporters include Yes on NN for Colorado Kids, a coalition of more than 60 organizations, and the Jeffco Board of Education. Opponents include Your Family’s Future Alliance and the Colorado Chamber of Commerce.

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Arvada Chamber Position: Neutral

Rationale: The Arvada Chamber is neutral on Proposition NN. Public education is central to Colorado’s economy, and NN would direct new funding to teacher pay, teacher retention and career and technical education. Those are investments that strengthen the talent pipeline our employers rely on. At the same time, many of our businesses raised concerns about permanently raising the state’s revenue limit with no sunset. That would mean smaller TABOR refunds for employees, customers and business owners, about $970 million less in the first full year alone, during an already challenging time. Members were also concerned that not all of the new revenue would go to education. Once the K-12 commitment is met, additional retained revenue could go to other programs. Both of these concerns carry real weight with our members. We respect each business’s ability to weigh them for itself, and we will continue to advocate for education and workforce investments that are targeted, accountable and responsive to employer needs.

Top Business Impacts (Implications for Jefferson County Employers)

Tax burden: No change to individual or corporate income tax rates or to property taxes. Businesses and employees would receive smaller or no TABOR refunds in years the state exceeds the current cap (state forecast: ~$970M less refunded in FY 2027–28).

Talent pipeline & CTE: Funding is explicitly directed to CTE, teacher pay, and retention — areas that feed local hiring. Jeffco Public Schools reported 1,888 industry credentials earned in 2024–25 (4x 2020–21) and ~1,500 students waitlisted for Warren Tech.

Cost of living & workforce affordability: Committee members raised concern that employees and customers already struggle to afford living in Jefferson County; forgone refunds add to household pressure even without a rate change.

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Ballot Issue 7A: Front Range Passenger Rail District

Ballot Issue 7A creates a 0.333% sales tax (about 33 cents on a $100 purchase) in the Front Range Passenger Rail District, which includes Arvada. It would raise about $295 million per year, authorize up to $580 million in debt (maximum repayment cost of $785 million), and has no sunset. The money would fund full-corridor service from Fort Collins to Pueblo by 2032, later expansion, and a local return program for station-area improvements. Gasoline, food, residential electricity and gas, prescription drugs and medical supplies are exempt. The Fort Collins to Denver starter service, planned for 2029, is funded separately and will proceed whether or not 7A passes. No planned station is in Jefferson County.

Effect on Arvada’s sales tax rate: The combined rate would rise from 7.96% to 8.29%, and to 9.29% if Ballot Issue 6C also passes.

Who supports and opposes: Supporters include Coloradans for CoCo, Arvada Mayor Simpson and several chambers. The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce opposes.

Arguments For Arguments Against

Arvada Chamber Position: OPPOSE

Rationale: The Arvada Chamber opposes Ballot Issue 7A. We support smart transportation investment and recognize the potential of passenger rail along the Front Range. However, 7A asks for a permanent new sales tax with no sunset and no performance requirements before the service has proven itself. If 6C also passes, Arvada’s combined rate would reach 9.29%. The Fort Collins to Denver starter service is already funded and will launch in 2029 whether or not 7A passes. We encourage the district to let that service demonstrate real ridership and costs before asking voters for a permanent regional tax.

Top Business Impacts (Implications for Jefferson County Employers)

Direct cost: Businesses in district municipalities (including Arvada and Lakewood) collect 0.333% more on taxable sales: about $3,330 more from customers per $1M in taxable sales. Merchant fees rise with the tax. Card processing fees apply to the full transaction including tax, so businesses absorb roughly $65–$100 more a year per $1M in taxable card sales (at typical 2–3% card rates).

Jeffco-specific effect: Jefferson County shoppers and businesses in the district would pay the tax with no station in the county. Benefits to Jeffco come through regional connections and economic activity rather than direct access.

Fiscal risk: A permanent tax with $580M in debt and ongoing operating costs; long-term subsidy needs depend on ridership that has not yet been proven. Adds to cumulative 2026 asks: in Arvada, 7A plus AFPD 6C would raise the combined rate from 7.96% to 9.29%.

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Ballot Issues 5A and 5B: Jeffco Public Schools Mill Levy Overrides

Ballot Issue 7A creates a 0.333% sales tax (about 33 cents on a $100 purchase) in the Front Range Passenger Rail District, which includes Arvada. It would raise about $295 million per year, authorize up to $580 million in debt (maximum repayment cost of $785 million), and has no sunset. The money would fund full-corridor service from Fort Collins to Pueblo by 2032, later expansion, and a local return program for station-area improvements. Gasoline, food, residential electricity and gas, prescription drugs and medical supplies are exempt. The Fort Collins to Denver starter service, planned for 2029, is funded separately and will proceed whether or not 7A passes. No planned station is in Jefferson County.

Effect on Arvada’s sales tax rate: The combined rate would rise from 7.96% to 8.29%, and to 9.29% if Ballot Issue 6C also passes.

Who supports and opposes: Supporters include Coloradans for CoCo, Arvada Mayor Simpson and several chambers. The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce opposes.

Arguments For Arguments Against

Arvada Chamber Position: Neutral

Rationale: The Arvada Chamber is neutral on Ballot Issues 5A and 5B. Jeffco Public Schools plays a major role in our local economy, and these measures would directly strengthen the talent pipeline our employers rely on. That includes expanding career and technical education, where about 1,500 students are waitlisted for Warren Tech, and building on the work-based learning partnership we have developed with the district. At the same time, many of our businesses told us they are concerned about taking on additional costs during an already challenging time, especially commercial property owners, who pay about 3.6 times the residential rate. Both of these concerns carry real weight with our members. We respect each business’s ability to weigh them for itself, and we will continue to support Jeffco Public Schools and our shared work on behalf of students and employers.

Top Business Impacts (Implications for Jefferson County Employers)

Direct tax cost: Commercial property owners carry the largest per-dollar share: $12.74/month per $100K of actual value (~$1,529/year on a $1M property). Multiply for larger holdings or portfolios. Tenants in triple-net leases and renters will typically see the increase passed through.

Talent pipeline & CTE: 5A expands CTE capacity when 1,500 students are already waitlisted; industry credentials earned quadrupled between 2020–21 and 2024–25. Directly feeds local skilled-worker supply.

Accountability risk: The 2018 MLO accountability gap is the most-cited reservation. The strength of the citizens’ committee, annual reporting, and public dashboard will determine whether business support is warranted.

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Ballot Issue 6C: Arvada Fire Protection District

Ballot Issue 6C creates a new 1.0% sales tax beginning January 1, 2027, for fire, emergency medical and rescue services, raising about $23.1 million in the first year. It applies within the Arvada Fire Protection District (Arvada, large portions of Wheat Ridge, and unincorporated Jefferson County). Groceries, prescription medications, diapers and other categories exempt under state sales tax law are exempt. The district says the money would maintain current service levels, including staffing, wildfire mitigation, vehicles and equipment, and firefighter health and safety.

Effect on Arvada’s sales tax rate: The combined rate would rise from 7.96% to 8.96%, and to 9.29% if Ballot Issue 7A also passes.

Who supports and opposes: The Arvada Fire Protection District Board supports. Arvada for Common Sense opposes.

Arguments For Arguments Against

Arvada Chamber Position: OPPOSE

Rationale: The Arvada Chamber opposes Ballot Issue 6C. We value the service Arvada Fire provides and do not question its need for funding. However, a new 1% sales tax would raise Arvada’s combined rate from 7.96% to 8.96%, putting our retailers, restaurants and service businesses at a disadvantage against online sellers and neighboring communities. Businesses would also absorb higher card processing fees, because those fees are charged on the tax as well as the sale. Because sales tax is the City of Arvada’s main revenue source, a large district sales tax also limits the city’s future options. We encourage the district to pursue a more balanced, stable funding approach that does not concentrate the cost on businesses and their customers.

Top Business Impacts (Implications for Jefferson County Employers)

Direct cost: Businesses in the district collect 1% more on taxable sales; customers pay it. On $1M in annual taxable sales, that is about $10,000 more collected from customers. Merchant fees rise with the tax. Card processing fees are charged on the full transaction, including sales tax, so a higher rate raises fees that the business absorbs and cannot pass through as tax. At typical card rates of about 2–3%, every $1M in taxable card sales adds roughly $200–$300 a year in fees on the new 1% tax alone.

Retail competitiveness: Arvada’s combined rate would move from 7.96% to 8.96% (9.29% if 7A also passes), widening the gap with online sellers and with nearby jurisdictions that do not add a similar tax.

Municipal revenue: The City of Arvada funds its operations mainly through sales tax. A higher overlapping rate may limit future city revenue options for roads, police and economic development.

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THE CANDIDATES

Source: Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce 2026 Voter Guide. The Chamber and partner Jefferson County business organizations invited candidates to forums and questionnaires focused on issues affecting the business community. Candidate responses are reproduced as submitted, from forum transcripts and written submissions. Claims and figures are the candidates’ own and have not been independently verified. Candidates who did not attend or respond are noted. The Chamber does not endorse candidates at any level.

Party abbreviations are as shown in the guide: D = Democratic, R = Republican, LIB = Libertarian, LP = Libertarian Party, UAF, AMC, and CO FWD (Forward Party) as listed.

U.S. House of Representatives, District 7

Source: County and Federal Candidate Forum, September 25, 2026.

Candidate responses are reproduced as submitted, from forum transcripts and written submissions. Claims and figures are the candidates’ own and have not been independently verified. The Greater Arvada Chamber of Commerce does not endorse candidates at any level.

Candidates: Brittany Pettersen (D), Tim Bennett (R), Susan Hall (UPA)

Notes: Representative Brittany Pettersen was unable to attend the event and submitted written responses. Susan Hall was unable to attend the event and submitted written responses.

Federal trade and tariff policy affects what many Colorado businesses pay for materials and what they can sell abroad. What is your position on current trade policy, and how would you represent District 7 employers in those decisions?

Pettersen (D): I oppose Trump’s reckless tariffs, which have raised costs on everything, started a trade war with Canada who is our largest trading partner, disrupted supply chains, and destabilized businesses. Small businesses need predictability and stability, and these constant unexpected costs are threatening their ability to stay afloat. I have used my position to fight back again these tariffs by voting to rein in Trump’s actions and worked to force votes on the House floor to reclaim oversight on trade policy. I’ve also introduced the Trump Tariff Transparency Act to require quarterly reports on what these tariffs cost consumers and small businesses. I will continue to represent District 7 employers by hearing directly from manufacturers, farmers, and small business owners and bringing their perspectives when I work on legislation and vote on the House floor. I will continue to use my position to press this Administration for answers and work to bring relief from economic pain and suffering families and businesses are facing.

Bennett (R): The first thing I think you have to do when you look at tariffs is understand that there’s a direct connection between wages and tariffs. And if you don’t understand that, it’s not going to make a whole lot of sense to you regardless. But if we look at a litmus test for tariffs and say, one, does it protect vital U. S. Industry and does it bring down the cost of living? Then the answer is yes. If not, then the answer is no. So, you can have good tariffs and bad tariffs. But the other thing is that keep in mind that buying power ultimately is far more important than numbers on a check. So, if you get a paycheck for $1,000,000 but a loaf of bread costs $1,000,000 it doesn’t do you a lot of good. So, buying power is key.

Hall (UPA): I think the US needs to be very careful with tariffs. My son ordered the first metal cutter machine from Turkey, and it has been a good investment for his business. It was a good thing for him & his customers not to have to deal with tariffs that make items too expensive. Also, I have been hearing more & more about how Chinese electric cars are being used all around the world and only in California in the US. I think maybe there could be an opportunity for new types of businesses if the electric cars did not have such a high tariff on them.

Employers across the district report difficulty finding skilled workers. What federal actions, if any, would you support on workforce training, apprenticeships, and work-based learning, and on employment-based visas?

Pettersen (D): I support federal investments in registered apprenticeships, career and technical education, and paid work-based learning, with employers, unions, community colleges, and workforce centers. I helped develop the New Democrat Coalition’s Innovation Agenda which calls for investments in apprenticeships and on-the-job training so workers can adapt as technology changes. I also support employment-based visa programs that help employers fill critical workforce shortages while protecting American wages and working conditions. That’s why I have proposed policies that would require DHS to release a full authorized allocation of H-2B visas when the Department of Labor confirms employers can’t find qualified U.S. workers willing to fill these essential jobs. We must invest in our domestic workforce while maintaining legal immigration pathways that help businesses grow and keep our economy thriving.

Bennett (R): So, I’m on the D30 School Board and we have a CIC down in 38 and that’s the Career Innovation Center. And what we do is plumbing, electricians, robotics, programming – any number of other things other than going to college. I think in the early 90s, a lot of Americans were sold this bill of goods and said every single person needs to go to college. That’s not true. Certainly not true today. And I think the government should address those skills by mediating between industry. What do you need? And how can we provide that? Or how can we provide a pathway so that just like somebody wants to become an accountant, they can become something else?

Hall (UPA): Certainly there should be tax deductions and other federal assistance for training needed for businesses, including for those holding visas.

District 7 is home to federal facilities, research institutions and the private sector jobs connected to them. How would you approach federal investment in these institutions and the local businesses that depend on them?

Pettersen (D): District 7’s research institutions, federal facilities, and innovative businesses create jobs, attract investment, and keep Colorado competitive. I will fight for sustained funding and oppose cuts that jeopardize research, disrupt contracts, and weaken services. When Trump canceled more than $600 million for Colorado-affiliated energy projects, I joined our delegation demanding answers and restoration. I also introduced the Constituent Services Impacts of Federal Workforce Firings Act to examine how his mass layoffs undermine essential services. More than 6,000 federal employees in Colorado conduct research, manage public lands, and serve our communities. Reckless cuts threaten their livelihoods, and the economic activity communities depend on. My approach pairs investment with accountability: protect research and workforce development, connect businesses with federal opportunities, and ensure taxpayer dollars deliver results. I will keep listening to employers, researchers, workers, and communities to strengthen District 7’s economy and quality of life – and defend the investments that make that possible.

Bennett (R): When I was in the army, I was a space officer. So, I was down at Peterson Air Force Base and very, very highly technical. And I’ve always thought that Colorado should be like a technical hub. Huntsville, Alabama, there’s a big fight with Space Force where they were gonna go. And we all know how that turned out. But Colorado should be a technological hub. And when you look at the federal resources that are here in Colorado, that’s something we should be able to take advantage of. One of the things that I look at is economic opportunity zones so that you can bring that industry back to Colorado. I think it belongs here.

Hall (UPA): The Federal Center is the largest conglomerate of federal agencies outside of Washington DC. So, these businesses should be supported. Certainly, tax money should be put aside to support these institutions rather than prioritizing Argentina’s beef & massive amounts of weapons.

Colorado Attorney General

Source: Written questionnaire responses.

Candidates: Jena Griswold (D), Michael Allen (R)

Note: Jena Griswold was unable to submit written responses by the deadline.

How do you see the role of the Attorney General’s office in working with Colorado’s business community?

Griswold (D): No response

Allen (R): The Attorney General should view Colorado’s business community as a partner in building a strong, competitive economy while protecting consumers. My enforcement philosophy is straightforward: be aggressive with fraud, deception, exploitation, and anti-competitive conduct, but fair and predictable with businesses acting in good faith. Enforcement should be based on clear law, solid evidence, and proportionality, not used to punish political disfavor or create new regulations through lawsuits. As a former consumer protection prosecutor, I know strong enforcement protects responsible businesses as well as consumers by holding bad actors accountable. I would maintain open communication with businesses, provide clarity where possible, and focus resources on intentional misconduct, repeat violations, and conduct that causes real harm. The goal should be a fair marketplace where consumers are protected, honest businesses can compete, and entrepreneurs have confidence that the rules will be applied consistently.

How would you set priorities for consumer protection enforcement, including fraud, scams, and unfair competition? How would you weigh the impact of enforcement on businesses that are trying to comply?

Griswold (D): No response

Allen (R): I would prioritize cases based on harm, intent, scale, and whether misconduct is repeated or organized. That means aggressively pursuing fraud, scams, elder exploitation, deceptive practices, and anti-competitive conduct that harms consumers or puts honest businesses at a disadvantage. Small businesses deserve particular consideration because they often lack large legal and compliance departments. Enforcement should distinguish between deliberate misconduct and a good-faith mistake by a business trying to follow complicated rules. I favor clear guidance, consistent standards, and proportional enforcement so responsible businesses know what is expected of them. Government should be tough on bad actors without creating fear or uncertainty for small businesses that are trying to do the right thing. My goal would be to protect consumers, preserve fair competition, and give honest Colorado businesses the confidence to invest, grow, hire, and succeed.

The Attorney General enforces the Colorado Privacy Act and related data security laws. How would you balance enforcing these laws with helping businesses, especially smaller ones, understand and meet their obligations?

Griswold (D): No response

Allen (R): The Attorney General should lead with clarity, accountability, and an understanding that protecting personal information has real public-safety consequences. Recent events in Colorado, including the exposure of confidential voter information by Griswold’s office, demonstrate why data security cannot simply be treated as a compliance exercise. I would provide businesses, especially small businesses, with practical guidance, outreach, and clear expectations so those acting in good faith have a meaningful opportunity to comply. At the same time, the state must hold organizations accountable when inadequate safeguards, intentional misconduct, or repeated violations put Coloradans’ private information at risk. Leadership means applying those standards consistently, to private businesses and government alike. My approach would combine clear rules, accessible compliance assistance, proportional enforcement, and real accountability. Protecting Coloradans’ personal information should never depend on who holds the data.

When a business is out of compliance with state law, how do you decide whether to pursue litigation, negotiate a resolution, or issue guidance? Please give an example of when each would be appropriate.

Griswold (D): No response

Allen (R): I would base enforcement decisions on the seriousness of the violation, the harm caused, intent, compliance history, and whether the business is acting in good faith. Guidance is appropriate when the law is unclear or a business is trying to comply but needs direction. Negotiation makes sense when a violation can be corrected promptly, consumers can be made whole, and the business accepts responsibility and changes its practices. Litigation should be reserved for serious or repeated misconduct, fraud, intentional violations, or cases where a business refuses to comply. For example, a small business struggling with a new regulatory requirement may need guidance. A company that discovers a compliance problem and cooperates may warrant a negotiated resolution. A business that knowingly deceives consumers, ignores warnings, or repeatedly violates the law should expect enforcement. The goal is consistent, proportional enforcement that protects consumers without punishing businesses acting in good faith.

Beyond enforcement, how would your office engage with the business community to address legal and regulatory concerns before they become disputes?

Griswold (D): No response

Allen (R): The Attorney General’s Office should engage with Colorado businesses before problems become lawsuits, while keeping consumer protection at the center. I would regularly meet with employers, chambers, trade associations, and small-business organizations to identify unclear requirements, emerging risks, and areas where better guidance can prevent harm. That matters for affordability too. Unnecessary legal uncertainty and avoidable compliance costs can ultimately raise prices for consumers, especially when small businesses are forced to spend resources navigating rules they do not understand. The goal should be clear expectations, strong consumer safeguards, and consistent enforcement. By helping responsible businesses comply before problems escalate, the Attorney General can protect consumers, reduce unnecessary costs, preserve fair competition, and support a healthier business climate without compromising accountability.

Some businesses report being targeted by abusive legal tactics, such as bad-faith demand letters or serial lawsuits. What role, if any, should the Attorney General’s office play in addressing these practices?

Griswold (D): No response

Allen (R): Businesses, especially small businesses, should not be forced to spend limited resources responding to bad-faith demand letters, abusive litigation, or schemes designed primarily to extract settlements. As Attorney General, I would make it a priority to identify and address patterns of abusive conduct when they violate Colorado law. That includes using the office’s consumer-protection and fraud authority where appropriate, issuing public guidance about emerging schemes, and working with the General Assembly when statutory gaps leave businesses exposed. Legitimate claims and access to the courts must be protected, but the legal system should never become a tool for harassment or extortion. I would expect the Attorney General’s Office to distinguish carefully between valid legal advocacy and demonstrably abusive practices, then act decisively when the evidence supports enforcement. My commitment would be clear: protect consumers, protect honest businesses, and ensure Colorado’s legal system is not manipulated for improper gain.

How would you approach antitrust enforcement in Colorado, and which industries, if any, would you focus on? How would you consider the effects on consumers, workers, and businesses of different sizes?

Griswold (D): No response

Allen (R): Antitrust enforcement should protect consumers, ensure fair competition, expand choice, and help address Colorado’s affordability challenges. When unlawful price-fixing, bid-rigging, or anti-competitive conduct raises the cost of housing, health care, food, technology, or other essentials, the Attorney General should act. I would focus on markets where reduced competition has the greatest impact on Colorado families and small businesses. I would also aggressively enforce Colorado’s protections against price gouging after natural disasters, when families are most vulnerable and should not face exploitation for necessities, housing, fuel, or rebuilding services. The goal is not to punish successful companies or legitimate growth. It is to preserve fair competition, protect consumers from exploitation, and ensure small businesses have a fair opportunity to compete. My standard would be evidence, market impact, consumer harm, and the law, with affordability as an important measure of whether competition is working for Coloradans.

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Colorado Secretary of State

Source: Written questionnaire responses.

Candidates: Amanda Gonzalez (D), James Wiley (R), Amanda Campbell (AMC), Sean Vadney (LIB), Celeste Landry (CO FWD)

Note: Amanda Campbell was unable to submit written responses by the deadline.

How do you see the role of the Secretary of State’s office in working with Colorado’s business community?

Gonzalez (D): The Secretary of State’s office is often a business owner’s first interaction with state government, and that experience should be easy, informative, and welcoming. The office should be a partner to the business community, not a barrier. That means modern systems for filings and registrations, responsive customer service, and a willingness to listen when something isn’t working. As Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder, I’ve built that kind of relationship with the people we serve. We’ve digitized records back to the 1800s, eliminated backlogs, and earned over 10,000 five-star Google reviews by putting customer service at the center of everything we do. I’d bring that same approach to the Secretary of State’s office. The role also goes beyond filings. Businesses thrive in a stable environment, and protecting secure, accessible elections and public trust in our democratic institutions is part of creating that stability.

Wiley (R): Every Colorado business files through the Secretary of State. My job is to treat that office like a utility: fast, clear, and predictable, not a political bottleneck. Main Street shops and growing employers should get the same published timelines, plain-language forms, and honest answers when a filing stalls. At the same time, businesses need elections they can trust. Contested, opaque rules create risk that shows up in hiring and investment. I will run business filings as a service and keep elections citizen-visible, so Colorado’s business climate rests on paperwork that works and ballots people can audit.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I believe the Secretary of State’s office should be a partner to Colorado’s business community, not an obstacle. As a business owner myself, I understand how important it is to make starting and maintaining a business as simple and affordable as possible. My priorities would include reducing unnecessary fees, cutting red tape, and streamlining the business registration process while maintaining accurate records and protecting against fraud. I would also work closely with small business owners and entrepreneurs to identify areas where the office can improve its services. Ultimately, I want Colorado to be a state where entrepreneurship is encouraged, businesses can thrive, and government makes it easier, not harder, for people to succeed.

Landry (CO FWD): The Secretary of State’s office, i.e., the Colorado Department of State (CDOS), is the repository for business license filings. When I was a manufacturing production scheduler, I earned an APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society) certification and understand just how important it is to maintain accurate records and to emphasize continuous Improvement. In 2023 the CDOS Business and Licensing Division won the International Association of Commercial Administrators (IACA) Merit Award for Innovative Customer Service in a Post-Covid World for creating a modernized check-in process. Yay CDOS! I would not sit on CDOS’ laurels though; rather I would always have my door open to hear ideas for further improvements. Some different state agencies that also work with businesses include the Department of Labor and Employment, the Department of Regulatory Agencies, and the Department of Revenue.

What changes, if any, would you make to Colorado’s online business filing and registration system, and how would you keep it fast, affordable, and easy to use?

Gonzalez (D): I hear mostly positive feedback from business owners about the current system, and that’s worth protecting. Any changes should build on what’s working, not start from scratch. I’d focus on continuing to modernize the user experience, making sure forms are intuitive, instructions are clear, and the system works well on any device. I’d also prioritize ongoing conversations with business owners and the organizations that represent them to identify pain points early. Sometimes the biggest improvements aren’t dramatic overhauls but small fixes, like clearer error messages, better search functions, or faster processing times. At the Clerk’s office, we’ve found that investing in technology and staff training together is what makes systems work well for people. The best online system in the world doesn’t help if there’s no one to call when something goes wrong.

Wiley (R): I would rebuild the filing experience around published clocks and fewer “gotcha” fields. Filers should know median turnaround for standard entity filings and annual reports, why a filing was rejected, and how to fix it without starting over. Cut redundant steps and mystery queues. Keep fees tied to real operating costs, not surprise surcharges. When process rules change, give notice before the effective date. Affordable means no paid middleman just to complete a form the statute already requires. Easy means plain language, mobile-friendly flows where possible, and a help path that answers in hours, not weeks.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I believe Colorado’s online business filing and registration system should be fast, affordable, and accessible to everyone. As a business owner who has personally gone through the registration process, I understand the importance of keeping things simple. I would focus on completely eliminating unnecessary fees, simplifying forms, and making the website easier to navigate, especially for first-time business owners. I would also explore ways to automate routine processes, improve customer support, and ensure the system is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Landry (CO FWD): I would not make any immediate, unilateral changes to the online filing and registration system. Any substantial changes would be a group decision, involving high-level CDOS staff, the CDOS front-line staff who interact with businesses and/or write and implement the software, and representatives from the Colorado business community. Business filing and registration fees help pay for CDOS’ Administrative, IT and Elections Divisions. Elections cost money, partly borne by the local jurisdictions and partly by CDOS. Some communities are clamoring for costly single-winner ranked voting elections, but they might instead consider approval voting – a simple, no-extra-cost voting method that is still more expressive than our choose-one voting method. I would prioritize writing rules for approval voting so that the Littleton, Douglas County and other supporters can more effectively advocate for adoption of approval voting and save money on better elections.

How would you evaluate the fees and administrative requirements businesses face when registering, renewing, or updating filings? Would you change them, and how would you fund the office’s operations?

Gonzalez (D): Fees and requirements should be regularly evaluated to make sure they’re reasonable, clearly communicated, and serving a real purpose. If a fee or requirement exists, business owners should understand why. And if something no longer serves a useful purpose, we should simplify or eliminate it. I’d want to hear directly from businesses about where the friction is. Sometimes the burden isn’t the fee itself but the process around it, like unclear instructions, confusing timelines, or difficulty reaching someone when there’s a problem. The office’s operations need to be funded sustainably, and fees are part of that. But we should also be looking at efficiencies that reduce costs. As Clerk, I saved taxpayers $2 million in 2024 by increasing efficiencies in our election processes and returned that money to the county’s general fund. I’d bring that same commitment to responsible stewardship to the Secretary of State’s office.

Wiley (R): I would publish a clear fee schedule mapped to actual service costs and scrub requirements that add steps without adding security or accuracy. Fees should fund the filing and elections functions Coloradans rely on, not grow a bureaucracy. Where a fee or form field cannot be justified in plain English, it should go. Funding stays inside lawful fee authority and the budget process, I will not invent new taxes from this office. The scoreboard is public: turnaround times, rejection rates for fixable errors, and backlog reporting so businesses can see whether the office is earning what it charges.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I would start by conducting a thorough review of the fees and administrative requirements businesses face when registering, renewing, or updating their filings. My goal would be to identify unnecessary costs, eliminate redundant requirements, and make the process as affordable and straightforward as possible. I believe government should not create unnecessary financial barriers for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Where possible, I would work to reduce fees, simplify paperwork, and streamline administrative processes without compromising the accuracy and security of business records.

Landry (CO FWD): I would assemble a team to evaluate the fees and administrative requirements involved in business filings. Making the fees commensurate with the level of work required for CDOS staff and the value of that work for businesses and the state – while not discouraging valid business filings – seems appropriate. The fees collected currently fund the Business and Licensing Division as well as some of the costs of the other three CDOS divisions. Just as we want the voter database to be up-to-date, we want the business database to be up-to-date. I’d also like to consider improvements to the business database to make searches more user-friendly and useful. Registering and filing with CDOS takes time and money. Since “time is money” in business, I’d prioritize making the online process as simple as possible, ensuring businesses don’t have extra, irrelevant steps. I would consider reducing or waiving fees for small or new businesses.

The Secretary of State oversees elections run by Colorado’s county clerks. What would you do to keep elections secure, accurate, and trusted by voters across the political spectrum?

Gonzalez (D): Colorado already has one of the most secure election systems in the country, and that’s the result of years of investment by clerks and election workers across the state. My job would be to protect and build on that foundation: staying ahead of evolving threats with strong cybersecurity, supporting county clerks with training and resources, and continuing Colorado’s practices like risk-limiting audits, bipartisan election judges, and paper ballot verification. Trust is just as important as security. At the Clerk’s office, I created a community advisory board with members from across the political spectrum to help shape our work, and I’d expand that model statewide. When people can see the process for themselves and have a voice in it, trust follows. I also believe the Secretary should be honest and accessible, answering questions directly rather than letting misinformation fill the gap.

Wiley (R): Restore elections Coloradans can see. Day One direction: one day of voting for in-state voters, government-issued voter ID, paper ballots, and hand counts where clerks choose, with strict chain of custody and citizen observers. Continuously audit and clean voter rolls of deceased, duplicates, and non-citizens, with citizenship checks at registration, while protecting every eligible voter. Pair statewide security standards with home-rule authority for county clerks who know their counties. Trust comes from paper, observers, and published procedures, not from asking anyone to take the machines’ word for it.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I believe the Secretary of State’s office has a responsibility to ensure that every election in Colorado is fair, secure, accurate, and accessible. I would work closely with county clerks from across the state to maintain consistent election standards while respecting their responsibility to administer elections locally. My priorities would include strengthening cybersecurity, maintaining accurate voter registration records, conducting regular election audits, and ensuring that election equipment and procedures meet established security standards. I would also emphasize transparency by making election procedures, audit findings, and relevant data easily accessible to the public.

Landry (CO FWD): Having a nonpartisan Secretary of State would be a great first step to gaining trust by voters across the political spectrum. I’m the nominee of the Forward Party, a political party that is about as nonpartisan as a party can be. Meanwhile, Colorado will have about a dozen nonpartisan county clerks in 2027 compared to five in 2023. Colorado elections have many safeguards in place already. BallotTrax lets voters monitor the status of their ballot. All but one small county uses machine tabulation, which is more accurate than hand counting. The public may observe the pre-election Logic and Accuracy Tests and the post-election risk-limiting audits which together ensure that the machine tabulation is correct. Electronic ballot return is limited to only those voters who truly need it. County clerks and I have discussed ways to close two known security gaps, one in mail ballots and one in election audits.

How would you balance public transparency with privacy for business owners whose names and addresses appear in state filings?

Gonzalez (D): Public records serve an important purpose. They protect consumers, help people verify who they’re doing business with, and support accountability. At the same time, I understand the concerns, especially for home-based business owners whose personal addresses are in public filings. Working in the elections space, the need for protection of voters and election workers information has continued to evolve. It needs to continue to evolve for business owners as well. I’d want to work with the business community and the legislature to explore options that maintain transparency while reducing unnecessary exposure of personal information. The key is being thoughtful about what information truly needs to be public and what’s exposed simply because we’ve always done it that way.

Wiley (R): Colorado’s business records exist so the public and counterparties can know who stands behind an entity. That transparency stays. Privacy means we do not expose more than statute requires, we fight filing fraud that hijacks someone’s identity, and we give owners a fast path to correct false records. I support clear notice of what is public, strong authentication before agents or addresses change, and rapid response when someone reports a fraudulent filing. Open books for accountability; locked doors against identity theft. Both are SOS duties.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I believe the Secretary of State’s office must balance public transparency with protecting the personal privacy of Colorado business owners. Public access to business records is important for accountability, preventing fraud, and maintaining trust, but business owners should not have to sacrifice unnecessary personal information simply to operate a business. I would review what information is currently required to be publicly disclosed and identify opportunities to better protect sensitive personal information, particularly residential addresses. I would also explore ways to make it easier for business owners to use alternative mailing addresses where legally permitted, while ensuring that law enforcement and appropriate agencies can still access necessary information. Ultimately, my goal would be to maintain accurate and transparent business records while respecting individual privacy and ensuring that government requirements do not unnecessarily expose business owners to risks.

Landry (CO FWD): Every business on record with the Secretary of State must have a registered agent with a physical address in Colorado. The registered agent receives service of process and other legal documents. All professional registered agents for hire should have their address publicly on file, but perhaps Colorado should allow other registered agents to have their address behind a wall that CDOS staff can access during business hours when presented with an appropriate legal document. In almost all cases, business owners’ names and business addresses should appear in state filings. Some exceptions might be appropriate for businesses dealing with highly sensitive matters and which also have a need to keep a low profile. Having a back-up address, such as next-of-kin or the business’ attorney’s office, makes sense, in case the business property is destroyed by a natural or human-caused disaster.

How would you improve the way the office communicates filing deadlines, compliance requirements, and policy changes to businesses?

Gonzalez (D): Businesses shouldn’t have to go looking for the information they need to stay in compliance. The office should be proactive, communicating deadlines, changes, and requirements through multiple channels: email reminders, an updated website, and partnerships with business associations and chambers of commerce. I’ve heard from a lot of business owners that they’re already pretty happy with how the Secretary’s Office is supporting them, and also there are some great ideas out there for how we can continue to improve. I don’t ever want government to make someone feel dumb, which is why it’s been so important to me in my work as Clerk to focus on clear, plain-language communication. You shouldn’t need a lawyer to navigate our processes. I’ve invested in making my office’s communications clear and accessible. And I know it’s working, because we’re measuring the improvements we’re seeing. I’d bring that same approach to the Secretary of State’s office.

Wiley (R): Publish plain-language calendars for annual reports and common deadlines. Send advance notice when rules or forms change, before the effective date, not after a rejection. Maintain a single public page for process changes, backlog status, and contact paths. Offer email/SMS opt-in reminders for filers who want them. Stop burying material updates in jargon. Businesses should not need a lobbyist to learn when a form changed. Measure success by fewer surprise rejections and fewer “I never heard about that” calls.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I believe the Secretary of State’s office should communicate clearly, consistently, and proactively with Colorado businesses. Business owners should not have to navigate complicated government websites or confusing regulations just to understand their responsibilities. I would prioritize improving email reminders, providing clear notifications about upcoming filing deadlines, and making compliance information easier to find and understand. I would also ensure that policy changes are communicated well in advance whenever possible, using plain language rather than unnecessary legal terminology. Additionally, I would seek feedback directly from business owners to identify communication gaps and improve customer service. My goal would be to make compliance as simple and straightforward as possible, allowing entrepreneurs to spend less time dealing with government requirements and more time growing their businesses.

Landry (CO FWD): First, I would ask for a report on the current communication protocol and for any public feedback on that protocol. I provided feedback to CDOS Campaign Finance Support on July 12. I noted that the IRS mileage reimbursement rate suddenly increased from 72.5 cents/mile to 76 cents/mile, backdated to July 1, and suggested that CDOS should alert “candidates, issue committees, businesses, etc.” I don’t know if there was any such communication. I also informed a journalist who files mileage reports whose employer hadn’t said anything. Full communication of changes and deadlines is part of providing good public service. Open communication builds trust. I know that there have been communication hiccups in the CDOS Election Division. I have been meeting with the county clerks to develop relationships with them, build trust, and assure them that we are working on the same team. I would do likewise with businesses.

If a business believes a filing was wrongly rejected, delayed, or flagged, what process should be available to resolve it, and would you change the current one?

Gonzalez (D): There should be a clear, accessible process for any business that believes a filing was handled incorrectly. That starts with responsive customer service: someone who can look into the issue quickly, explain what happened, and help resolve it. No one should have to navigate a bureaucratic maze to get a straight answer. To understand what’s working and what’s not, I’ll need the experts– the users–to share their experiences. At the Clerk’s Office, I started a community advisory board to inform exactly these kinds of changes and conversations, and it’s been immeasurably helpful to have their insight to help make good decisions. So, if there are gaps in the current process, we should fix them, and we should fix them with the folks who understand them best.

Wiley (R): Every disputed filing should get a ticket number, a named contact, a published response clock, and a written reason tied to the statute or rule. Escalate to a supervisor on a fixed timeline. If the office was wrong, fix it and note the correction. If the filer must amend, say exactly what field failed. I would replace opaque black-hole delays with that tracked appeals path and publish aggregate metrics so the public can see whether disputes are resolved in days or buried for months.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I believe every Colorado business should have access to a fair, transparent, and timely process for resolving filing disputes. If a filing is rejected, delayed, or flagged, the business owner should receive a clear explanation of the issue and straightforward instructions for correcting it or requesting a review. I would evaluate the current process to identify unnecessary delays and opportunities for improvement. I would support a streamlined appeals process with reasonable response deadlines, accessible customer service, and the ability to have disputed decisions reviewed by a qualified staff member rather than relying solely on automated systems. My goal would be to ensure that businesses are treated fairly, mistakes are corrected quickly, and legitimate fraud prevention measures do not create unnecessary obstacles for entrepreneurs.

Landry (CO FWD): I am not familiar with the current process for challenging a filing and resolving that challenge, but my APICS certification has prepared me to seek efficient, win-win solutions. Perhaps CDOS should assign a specific staff person to closely monitor the challenge and provide daily status reports to the business. Government is often criticized for being slow and bureaucratic in contrast to a nimble, flexible business. I have a much bigger sense of urgency than most people, and I don’t want to unnecessarily tie the hands of CDOS staff. I am always looking for ways to improve processes and would do so for challenging a filing status. The CDOS core values are • To serve • To innovate • To act with integrity • To strive for excellence • To be inclusive. I take the values seriously.

Fraudsters sometimes file false changes to a company’s records, such as its registered agent or address, to commit identity theft or fraud. What would you do to prevent and respond to business identity theft through state filings?

Gonzalez (D): Business identity theft is a real and growing problem, and the Secretary of State’s office has a responsibility to both prevent it and respond quickly when it happens. This is an area I’m watching closely and want to move quickly on. On prevention, I’ll be looking at verification safeguards and what we can learn from other sectors. The DMV is dealing with increasing vehicle title fraud, Records & Licensing offices are dealing with home title fraud–it’s not an isolated issue. There’s a lot of potential to learn from what’s working with notification systems that alert business owners to changes, monitoring tools, and more. On response, businesses that discover fraudulent filings need a fast, clear process to correct their records and protect themselves. We’ll treat these cases with urgency and continue to shore up processes to protect our business owners. I’ve dealt with a lot of fraud prevention as Clerk. I’m also a former CEO and business owner. This is another area I’m passionate about and can bring my experience to at the state level.

Wiley (R): Require stronger authentication before registered-agent or address changes post. Flag high-risk changes for secondary verification. Give owners a one-stop fraud report line with same-day triage and a freeze option while we investigate. Coordinate with law enforcement when criminal fraud is clear. Restore correct records fast and keep an audit trail of who changed what. Prevention is authentication and alerts; response is speed and rollback. Business identity theft through SOS filings is a security failure, and I will treat it that way.

Campbell (AMC): No response

Vadney (LIB): I believe protecting Colorado businesses from identity theft and fraudulent filings should be a priority for the Secretary of State’s office. Business owners should have confidence that their records are secure and cannot be changed fraudulently without their knowledge. I would focus on strengthening account security, expanding notifications when changes are made to business records, and exploring additional verification measures for sensitive filings, such as changes to registered agents or business addresses. These protections should be designed to prevent fraud without creating unnecessary costs or delays for legitimate business owners. When fraudulent activity is reported, I would prioritize a clear and timely process for investigating disputed filings, correcting inaccurate records, and coordinating with law enforcement when appropriate. I would also work to educate business owners about common scams and ways to protect their information. Ultimately, my goal would be to maintain a secure and reliable filing system that protects businesses while remaining affordable, accessible, and easy to use.

Landry (CO FWD): A disclaimer on the Business Database Search webpage reads, “The Secretary of State’s Office acts as a filing registry for businesses. This office lacks the authority to certify if a business is operating legally.” The disclaimer does not state what fraud investigations CDOS may or may not undertake. In 2026 the CO legislature passed HB26-1088 which allows the SOS to remove or mark business entities as fraudulent when certain conditions are met. The number of entities marked fraudulent rose from ~7,700 in the previous 3½ years to ~20,500 since the bill took effect; additionally, more than 10,000 entities were removed from the database. Since this legislative authority is less than 1 year old, CDOS should continue to monitor progress. I would like to know if fewer fraudulent filings happen over time or if we are just cleaning up the records at the back end.

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Colorado House of Representatives, District 24

Source: Statewide Legislature Forum, September 9, 2026.

Candidates: Lisa Feret (D), Kristopher Johnson (R)

Small businesses tell us regulatory complexity and compliance costs are their biggest headache. Name one state law or rule that you would repeal, simplify, or fix.

Feret (D): One of the things that I’ve noticed when I got elected is that we kind of are siloed in the way that we make policy. So, I have this idea and I run this idea, but I haven’t looked historically at what we’ve done or what other people are doing. It’s a block in communication, so it feels that we’re layering these policies. And one of the things I would love to do is every five years we don’t run a new bill. You have to stop and look at all the old bills and actually see what matches and what works. That will never happen. But that’s my aspirational goal. One of the things that I did want to note is when I was on City Council, I got to the nitty gritty around housing policy, and I recall that we had to approve a permit at the city level that was the same permit around environmental factors at the state level. And I remember asking on the dais, “Well, why are we doing this permit if it’s the same?” and they said, “Well, that’s just because then we can have that local review and make sure everything’s good.” Even though it was the same, that’s duplicative. That wastes a lot of time to have to go to the state. So that’s just one example of a policy that might be well intentioned that we could review and cut. So, I think we could probably do a holistic view of some of the regulatory barriers and then trim it and then streamline it from there.

Johnson (R): You know, there is not just one bill. There are many bills that have gone through in the last two years, year, eight years. We have to sit down, and we need to look at creating, like Representative Feret said, a one-in, two-out situation at the state legislature. For every single new small business bill that comes through, we should have a fiscal note of exactly what it does for small businesses. And if it is not conducive to growth, it should be removed and repealed, and another one along with it that is also duplicative. We have to make sure that we give all of our families here in HD 24 and across Colorado the opportunity, if they would like to run a small business, that regulations aren’t the only hurdle that they have to come over in order to even open doors in the first place. When it costs you more to actually have that opportunity to just open your door, that’s not smart business. Nor is it smart for our economy or for our people living here. We’re already struggling. We’ve got to stop struggling.

What is the single most important issue facing Arvada that the state legislature can actually do something about and what would you do to improve it?

Feret (D): So, what I do a lot of healthcare policy, and this past year I ran a bill around the use of ER in first responders. So, when you call 911, you have to go to the ER, and that’s where you get your care, and that’s how first responders and paramedics are reimbursed. I changed that policy for Medicaid people. So, now they can transport to other locations to rehab to detox, and they can also get treatment in place. So, if you go out and they just need a quick triage, they can do that and not transport you to the ER, or they can do telehealth and get that prescription for you. That saves Medicaid, that’s us as taxpayer dollars, $5 million minimum a year. Now I’m going back this next year to run it for the entire private health insurance companies. So that way, anyone that has insurance that calls 911, they don’t have to go to the ER. We are using ERs as primary health providers. We are using it for basic things that don’t need to be done. It’s so expensive. It clogs up our emergency rooms and hospitals. So, if we can help our providers, we can help keep costs down for health insurance. That to me feels like the single most important thing because we all need to be healthy in order to work, in order to live, and in order to be in Colorado.

Johnson (R): Well, one of the largest ones that’s affecting Arvada is the fact that we can’t afford to live here. We are getting to a point where everything is too expensive. These are the places that you want your children growing up. You don’t want to have to have them move away because it’s unaffordable any longer. And that comes along with housing. We need to look at more medium income, more middle of the ground construction that helps middle of the road housing. We have to help with small businesses, of course, because that is our lifeblood. Here, at the end of the day, they are what keep our communities going. And if we strangle out our small businesses, it leads directly to the household table, right then and there.

Colorado’s cost of living keeps rising. What specific state-level actions would you support to make housing more attainable in Arvada?

Feret (D): This felt like a city council question almost when I was thinking about what we could do, and so I appreciate that I have that experience from City Council before I went to the state. I don’t know if you noticed, but micro loans, the repayment of micro loans is almost about 98%. So, if you’re giving small loans to people, they’re huge in terms of paying that out. I think we could do a lot where we have government funded micro loans. Rent-to-own, we could build off of. I think there’s a fast track that we could look at for attainable housing. I think that warrants more of a conversation with the business communities, with the developers, in how that might look. But let’s prioritize more affordable fund funding while also trimming the barriers that are required for affordable housing. Just yesterday, I was talking to a neighbor across the street, Stan. He had a sinkhole in the property that he had, so he had to demo the whole place. And he wanted to build attainable housing, and he was going on about how he has to build a roof that is capable to withstand 135 mile-an-hour winds. That’s just one of the regulations, and the amount of extra regulations we put on attainable housing and affordable housing makes it not exciting for people to do or not possible to do in a timely manner. So, I would look at a couple of those together, and then I would also look at some of the regulations.

Johnson (R): I think you got with my email because I had everything that you just said in my speech. You know what, but this is what’s fantastic. You know what? We can actually cross aisles. That would actually say that there is a blockade between sides, but these are things that we can do as legislators to help everyone. We can cross the aisle, have the conversation, win the vote, help the people, help with your businesses. Obviously, the contractors need less regulation in order to get these attainable homes. Yes, I agree with Lisa on the fact that the rent-to-own is a fantastic idea. It really is. Gives other options for single, first-time homebuyers, but these are things that we must work on as Coloradans, not as Republicans, not as Democrats. This is something that we have to do together for the people in our communities.

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Colorado House of Representatives, District 27

Source: Statewide Legislature Forum, September 9, 2026.

Candidates: Danielle Varda (D), Eric Bodenstab (R)

If elected, how will you stay accountable and accessible to Arvada residents and businesses between sessions, and how should we measure whether you have delivered?

Varda (D): So, I believe really strongly that having strong connections is the answer to most of our ways of building policy. So, I will always be available for folks. I have run my whole campaign by going to where people are, meeting them in the places where they gather to be sure that I’m hearing from them, listening to their concerns, and I have been that way as a school board director. I always said to people, “Invite me to anything, and I’ll come.” I’m going to people’s houses right now. So, I think being present and just really authentically looking people in the eye and understanding what’s going on with them is the best way to be available. For businesses, we need to listen to what business owners have to say. I think that’s a critical part of building good policy for a business, here in Arvada and across the state. So, I will always be in session and in between sessions, available to connect with people and answer questions. I also think that we will set up a pretty formalized way for folks to submit questions. I see Rep. Feret asking people surveys all the time on what’s important to them. So, I think for those people who don’t have time to show up and meet all the time, I want to make sure that accessibility happens in a number of different ways.

Bodenstab (R): This is probably the most important job of the legislature. We need to listen. If a business owner tells me a state rule is preventing them from hiring, expanding, or investing, you can be sure that I would fix that. If there’s something important going on in city council, I show up. I show up to all levels of government. Everybody knows that. Again, something’s not working. I want to fix it. I am an engineer by trade. Don’t measure me by the number of bills that I pass, measure me by the quality and the improvement in the law and the regulations that are lifted. One issue that has come to my attention is data centers. It is an issue I’m looking at. It’s something that Commissioner Zenzinger put a moratorium on for Jefferson County. Arvada is considering it. It’s something that is an issue that I like to be ahead of. So, I want to raise that and collect as much information as possible. My knowledge of data centers and the AI that underlies them is inefficient. I’m not a computer scientist, but I think as much time and care to put a new infrastructure in our region that will drastically affect the availability of power and water. The price of power, which has risen drastically here, is an important issue before we commit to building infrastructure like that.

Property tax relief has been a moving target. What long-term structural approach would you support so businesses and homeowners have predictability?

Varda (D): This was the one I was hoping to get. The key point you just asked about is predictability. So, I think we’ve all felt the volatile nature of property taxes. When we lost the Gallagher Amendment, we changed that structure in different ways that will eventually kind of play out. But in the meantime, we’re seeing property taxes react to the market, and so that’s making it feel very ugly. We know property taxes are incredibly important to pay for our core services. Our schools, transportation. So, it’s something that all of us care deeply about, wanting to contribute to, I think, and also feel the impact every single month when we are thinking about our bills. But perhaps the best thing that the state could do is stay out of the property tax business. So, I think that we could have other ways of dealing with these kinds of ups and downs, rather than the legislature always legislating the outcome.

Bodenstab (R): Businesses need a predictable picture of what the tax burden will be. The previous House District 27 candidate lost his business because he couldn’t. There was a spike in property tax, and he could no longer afford his business in Colorado. He started an exercise facility. It was at the absolute wrong time to start it during COVID, and he got hit. And he was the only candidate I gave money to last cycle around because I heard his story loud and clear. We got to fix it. There is a cap on how much the Colorado Treasury can take. I would suggest preserving that as much as possible, both at the state, county, and other levels. I do look at this issue a lot for a lot of different types of individuals. One community that’s been unfairly burdened by property taxes is the equestrian community. If you run a boarding facility, you will pay commercial rates. That will make your ability to run that business very difficult. I know there are a lot of ballot measures that affect the tax rates this year, beyond property taxes. There is a mill levy override put forward by the Jefferson County Public Schools, and I want voters to look very carefully for that and reward good behavior only.

Colorado’s economic competitiveness has slipped in several national ratings. What would you do at the state-level to make Colorado a place where businesses choose to start, stay, and grow?

Varda (D): This one is personal to me because I am a business owner. I have started two businesses here. I do think that Colorado has become a place where businesses are looking twice before coming, and that is detrimental to our economy. It is detrimental to our budget, and we have to do something. And I think one of the first things we have to do about this is listen to businesses and find out what’s working for businesses in our city, in our state, and then grow those policies. Find out where the roadblocks are and why they’re there, and work on revising those. We really have to link this question to the cost of housing, and the amount of childcare people can get and transportation, because being a business owner here, being an employee here of those businesses means we have to be able to live where we work. So, to have a thriving business economy, we have to think systemically about how we’re going to build a great system for folks who want to build those businesses and work here. And finally, we are filled with regulations in Colorado. I know regulations are necessary, but I think we also very much need to take a data-driven approach to this. We need to ask, what is the regulation meant to solve? How much is it going to cost the business to implement it, and is that even possible? How much does compliance of that regulation cost? And I think it’s time in Colorado that we think about some regulation, lots of regulation reform, and that’s something I would like to work on at the state.

Bodenstab (R): These rankings are important. It pains me to see Colorado fall. It pains me to see people leaving the state. I came here in 2002, and it was booming. It was the place to be. People were moving from all over the country, and it’s just not like that. So, we need balance in the legislature. I intend to provide that balance. We need to target well-intentioned but ineffective regulations to encourage business, promote business. We need to promote interstate commerce, expand licenses. Like I said, with my own licenses, reciprocity. Kansas has taken their sweet time to give me a license there, for instance. Colorado doesn’t need to be like that. Actually, I also appreciate the fact that Colorado does education bridging. Please keep that. It’s a waste of time, only because you should study what you want to study and not what. Yeah, it’s not a good system. Colorado does it right. Another issue is food trucks got a break with House Bill 1295, but the entire industry, food industry, food service needs help.

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Colorado Senate, District 20

Source: Statewide Legislature Forum, September 9, 2026.

Candidates: Sheila Lieder (D), Richard Mancuso (R)

How should the state support workforce development and career pathways, particularly for the trades, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing jobs that are concentrated in Jefferson County?

Lieder (D): So, as a former decade-long member of the Tri-County Workforce Board, investment board I should say, that works with businesses and labor to build jobs and assist people in getting the proper training. So, I believe the state needs to continue to support them. Additionally, the state should be promoting careers and skilled trades as a long-term plan for better economic stability. I’ve passed legislation giving school career counselors a navigator to help assist the students navigate the CDLE website for apprenticeships. I support bringing back vocational into schools. Also, making sure that there are apprenticeship halls accessible across the state that lets juniors and seniors earn credits for their trade or license for a whole two years before they graduate. Additionally, partnering with the Department of Corrections and allowing apprenticeship programs to partner with them by giving inmates training so that they have a trade when they’re released, and I believe that would also lower recidivism.

Mancuso (R): You know, I’m one of these people that believes that the more the government is out of our lives, the better our lives are. But the one thing I do agree with here, is that vocational is a big, big thing. It should be at each and every one of our high schools. When my kids were at Evergreen High School, I live in Evergreen, I’ve been in Evergreen forever, and it was a building trade program. It was an automotive program. The kids thrived in it. My son, by the time he graduated high school, had already built four houses. Both of my sons were in construction. The one I never expected. I always saw him as a professional basketball coach someday, but the thing is, he’s in construction too, and they’re doing very, very well. Today, a very dear friend of mine back in Minnesota, and I’m kind of both New York City roots and Winona Minnesota roots. So, if I say something Polish, you’ll understand why. But you know, it’s just a crazy situation. We are trying to send all our kids to college. We’ve lowered the standards in college. The only one benefiting the administrators and the teachers, no one else. When I graduated college, 10% graduated college. Today, it’s over 40% of our population are college graduates, and they can’t find jobs. You’re better off being a lineman for Xcel Energy and making $150,000 a year than being unemployed, maybe a major was underwater basket weaving. I have no idea what that is but thank you.

Legislating means working across the aisle. Describe a time you changed your mind or found compromise on a hard issue, and how that would show up at the Capitol.

Lieder (D): I was hoping for this question because I have continuously worked on bipartisan legislation, and I have no issues in doing so. For me, it has always been about the policy or the people, not the letter behind your name. I vote my district. Most recently, House Bill 26-1286, Automated Drive and Commercial Vehicles, was a bipartisan bill in the House and the Senate again. You heard me earlier, requiring a CDL licensed driver present in a semitruck, literally weighing greater than 26,001 pounds. They’re driving coming into Colorado. You know who possibly could go wrong with a 26,001 pound truck coming down our mountains. It’s just astonishing. You know, as well as a driver in the driver’s seat, not just in the cab when they’re carrying high-risk material. Unfortunately, it was vetoed twice by Governor Polis. Despite the bipartisanship, the changes we made, and the negotiations we all did. So, I have absolutely no problem at all reaching across the aisle. I’ve reached across the aisle my entire career.

Mancuso (R): Living with my wife. Anyway, I’ve learned how to compromise with her. I really have, and compromise to me is the big, big thing. But unfortunately, there’s an element of people that when you compromise with them, they see it as weakness, and it’s never weakness. You compromise. And I’ve got a number of handicaps. I’m ADD, okay. I’m dyslexic, and I’m also colorblind, so I think everybody looks Italian, okay. So, it’s just the glasses that I have. But you know, I think of my kids all the time when I was teaching school. When I retired from industry, from business, from corporate America. I decided to get into teaching. I went down to Jeffco. I said, “What do I have to do to teach? And they said, “Well, go down to the state.” So, I went down to four college degrees, and they said, “Just give us a check for 250, and you can teach school.” And I thought, “I’ll do it for one year and have some fun.” Instead, I wind up teaching 14 years at D’Evelyn High school, and it was a blast. It was a wonderful, wonderful thing. So, you talk about compromise. You talk about compromising, kids with fellow teachers, with the administrators. Compromise is part of my life, and I think a lot of it comes out of the fact that I do come out of an NYPD family. So, what I wanted to be when I was a little kid growing up was a cop.

The state has faced tight budgets under TABOR constraints. Where would you prioritize spending, and where would you cut?

Lieder (D): First, I would start by passing the Graduated Income Tax Ballot Initiative 87. Unfortunately, we’ve already cut from social services. Funding and phased out reduction targeted grants initiatives for teachers over the past few sessions. We capped caregiver hours. But I believe that we should put further guardrails around them. See, many states encourage Medicaid participants to move to Colorado to get paid to take care of their family members 24/7, which puts an undue burden on residents already here for years receiving it. So, I believe we need to put a residency guideline around the program, like the senior homestead exemption act. One requirement is you need to live in your home for 10 years, but I’m not saying we need to have that requirement for that home. Additionally, I would add back the supplement wage payment for nursing facilities workers. This program is slated to run for 2027, but it was ended a year early. Students were depending on that to graduate in the profession that we already have shortages in, as well as the Office of Community Living cuts, which administers long-term support for aging adults and individuals with disabilities.

Mancuso (R): Number one, our state overspends. It’s not that they lack money; they truly, truly overspend. Lisa, you did a great job when you were up here. I was really impressed. But you said one thing that just irked me. Okay, you referred to the people at the State Capitol as leaders. They’re not all leaders, folks. They’re our representatives, and they should represent you both. And if they’re not doing that job, they should be fired. Right now, Sheila said something else that just irked me. Graduated income tax. We don’t need a graduated income tax in Colorado. That’ll just drive more and more people away. We’re already losing population in the state. We’ve lost 34,000 businesses just in the last four years. But here are some real interesting statistics. Our state right now is one and a half billion dollars in the hole. Our state went from 500,000 people on Medicaid to one and a half million on Medicaid. Now you gotta understand something. I’ve got a medical background. I’ve got a what would I say? My care for people – a degree in sociology or degree in psychology – I care about people. The whole purpose behind Medicaid was a fantastic, fantastic purpose. It was to take care of your disabled child financially, so you don’t lose it-the house and everything else. But today, I like to know in our state who’s getting Medicaid because you don’t go in four years of 500,000 to 1.5 million.

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Colorado Senate, District 22

Source: Statewide Legislature Forum, September 9, 2026.

Candidates: Monica Duran (D), Stephen Harkess (R)

What is your position on funding for RTD, regional roads, and the connections Arvada residents rely on to get to work?

Duran (D): I know that this is a really big topic and big conversation, right? We want our roads to be repaired. We want to be able to make sure that where we’re living, we’re able to access getting to work, getting home. I live in a great area off of 52nd and Ward. I was on City Council when we actually passed that development right by RTD that borders Arvada. So, it’s great access to be able to get to downtown or wherever you need to get. I think we really need to continue those conversations. Budgeting is really tough right now, obviously, but I think we can be creative. But most importantly, it’s conversations. Conversations with those experts in this field, and us not trying to decide what is that going to look like, what it should be, like with so many different pieces of policy. We really need to engage with each other and really try to figure out what can we do, how can we be creative, what does that look like, right? And I know that when we bring up TABOR, that’s something that you know may make some people cringe. But I think it’s an important conversation to have. Everybody should be at that table to figure out what that looks like. If it’s a small step, it’s a small step. But that’s where we find compromise, and that’s where we can find solutions. In my opinion.

Harkess (R): Highway and transportation funding is one of the main priorities for the state government. Some things need to be done at different levels. Many things shouldn’t be done by government at all. But this is one of the things that the state has to do, and it has to be a priority. I think it’s necessary to look at different ways to get the funding because our roads are getting more and more congested, and that needs to be addressed. In some cases, public transportation can help address these issues, but in general, Colorado and the metro area isn’t set up for that to be the complete solution. People need to be able to travel, a lot of us need to be able to travel on the roads, and the government needs to keep things operating. Not everybody lives next to where they work, and many times, if you do, you need to have the flexibility to look for openings in different parts of the city or different parts of the area, and we need functioning, effective roads to do that.

Water is a long-term constraint on growth across the Front Range. What role should the legislature play in securing supply and encouraging conservation?

Duran (D): I’m a proponent of bringing everyone to the table, the state obviously can play a role when we’re looking at conservation, storage, and infrastructure. These are all conversations we are having, and we know we need to continue having to figure out what we’re going to do. I mean, we’re talking about increasing housing, attainable housing, whatever that looks like, but we also have to be mindful of water, the lack of water that we have. So, these are conversations that I think in the state legislature we need to work in partnership, right, with other advocates, organizations, and community to really figure out a solution. I agree that it is a multi-state issue and concern, and how can we partner with our neighbors around us because they are also looking at the same issue and having the same problem. So, I continue to support the conversations for now. Truly, what we’re going to do, what is meaningful, and what does that look like.

Harkess (R): Well, water is a multi-state issue. The state government certainly has a role to play in ensuring that Colorado has access to this resource. A lot of water starts in the Colorado Mountains and flows into other states. It’s important for the state government to keep an eye on this and ensure that we deal with other states and retain an appropriate amount of water for our needs. Additionally, the state government can encourage conservation of water resources, but top-down mandates don’t tend to do the job. I think ensuring access to water, especially the water that we already have in this state, is one of the most important things for the state level of government.

Public safety, homelessness, and behavioral health are often intertwined. What state-level investment policy changes would make the biggest difference for our community?

Duran (D): With the work I do with domestic violence and child and human trafficking, we’re always talking about homelessness. Being homeless myself at one point in my life, having services combined, so they’re not in the silo. And I’m saying, if you’re looking at housing for the homeless, then how are we going to provide the other services that they need? Right? You can’t just put a roof over their head and say, “Okay, you’re on your way. You’re good.” We have to make sure that they have the counseling, the therapy they need, the access to be able to provide for themselves. So, I know that when you’re in a silo, these conversations are hard to have. First and foremost, if you’ve ever been there, there’s such a stigma to a lot of this, but I think as a state, we’re having these conversations in the legislature. We are being serious when we’re talking about how and what we can do. You know, we have a lot of buildings, right? Vacant buildings that are out there. Just thinking outside the box. How can we be mindful and thoughtful? But most importantly, I don’t want this in a silo. I want us to figure out, if we’re going to figure out, when it comes to housing, then how are we going to provide the wraparound services that we all need?

Harkess (R): I agree. Community safety measures, including community policing and encouraging the integration of police and mental health services is an important issue for the state government to address. A lot of this has to be done on a lower level, but there is a role for the state government. Also, it’s important that the state ensure appropriate funding for prisons and mental health facilities for those people who pose a danger if they’re left out in the public. I think there’s a number of facets that need to be addressed, but this is an increasingly significant issue over the last few years, and I agree that there needs to be coordination between different types of services and a discussion about different things that can be done to improve the situation.

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Jefferson County Commissioner, District 3

Source: County and Federal Candidate Forum, September 25, 2026.

Candidates: Lisa Cutter (D), Stephanie VandenBerg (R)

Businesses and developers often cite permitting and development review timelines as a factor in whether they invest in a community. How would you evaluate the county’s process, and what changes, if any, would you make?

Cutter (D): Proposition 123 created new requirements for affordable housing in Colorado, including an expedited permitting process. So, can we replicate for other permitting processes? Can we replicate that? And Jeffco recently introduced an app to schedule permit reviews in the building safety division, cutting the waiting time by one half of what it was. Pretty remarkable. And they’re also exploring more automation using limited AI and paring down the number of zoning codes. We should continue to explore, replicate, and build on these processes and efficiencies whenever possible. They’re really sensible ways to streamline this process and make it easier on businesses without compromising standards.

VandenBerg (R): So according to the documents that I found on the county website, the residential building permit checklist, the planning and zoning review takes about three to six weeks. This timeline assumes that all the required documents are turned in and are correct at submission. The online portal provides a decent place for an individual permit process and timeline. However, the six week documented timeline, in my opinion, is not realistic. I’ve worked with builders and contractors in my work and enough to know that there’s almost always something that needs to be reviewed or corrected. The county should put in place a dashboard with realistic timelines, like an average time to completion. And if there’s a backlog, that should be noted. In simple terms, when you reserve a book at the library, it tells you you’re number 10 with 15 books available. Something like that would be very helpful to businesses.

Counties across Colorado face budget pressures. How would you balance the county budget while maintaining the services businesses rely on, such as roads and public safety, and what is your approach to county taxes and fees?

Cutter (D): We need to be mindful of spending pressures and budget conservatively. Thinking about the future and not outgrowing our capacity so we don’t create a structural deficit like as you may have heard, there is at the state right now. The county is in pretty good shape with the passage of 1A, which made it possible to accept state grants among other good things about it. The county doesn’t need to contemplate new taxes or fees in the near future. More to the point is the assessment rate and the increase in home values, which increases the amount of taxes you pay. Two issues are largely impacting these assessments, wildfire risk and the lack of affordable housing, which is driving up the values of the available stock.

VandenBerg (R): First, I would work to improve the overall budget process. Zero based budgeting is probably not realistic in this instance, but I would do a modified approach, applying some, similar principles to the project. Just because the department gets, say, a $100,000 this year doesn’t mean that they automatically get a $100,000 next year, plus their inflationary budget, plus their added expenses. We need to justify every single dollar that we currently spend and then justify every single dollar that we’re asking for. What programs are essential and what programs need increased funding? We need to take a systematic approach to all of that. We need to protect the reserves, something Jeffco has not done well historically. When you constantly run a deficit in your budget and spend extra money that doesn’t really exist, that money doesn’t appear out of thin air. Contrary to what people think, we don’t just print money. When we run a deficit, that money gets pulled from our reserves.

What role should county government play in economic development, including retaining and attracting employers, workforce housing and child care, and working with economic development partners?

Cutter (D): The role of county government should be to support economic development in any way possible. And as you stated in the question, there’s just many factors impacting that. I am really impressed with Arvada’s B.O.L.D initiative, collaboration and community investment as a way to support economic development. When I was running my strategic communications firm, I often worked with businesses on P3s and other community projects and investments. We all have a stake in the outcome, it’s important that we work together to achieve that. I understand that Jeffco EDC is now looking to adopt a similar initiative, and I hope to be part of forwarding that.

VandenBerg (R): The county doesn’t need more government. We need safe communities, good roads, reasonable taxes, health and human services, and affordable living. If we get those right, people and businesses can thrive here. Zoning and housing regulations create barriers for affordable housing growth, and the county should look at zoning and permitting for home, faith, and employer-based childcare programs. If the barriers are too steep, we lose childcare providers. The state, county, and cities need to be more aligned in their processes. I have seen many businesses close because the rules are too hard to follow, and they feel the government is making it intentionally harder for them to operate. And I would be remiss if I failed to mention Senator Cutter’s legislation on low NOx water heaters, which instantly increased the price of water heaters by 30%. We felt that personally. Those prices flow down to businesses and then into the customers.

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Jefferson County Clerk & Recorder

Source: County and Federal Candidate Forum, September 25, 2026.

Candidates: Nicole Hensel (D), Paul Poston (R)

Businesses such as auto dealers, fleet operators and title companies rely on the Clerk’s motor vehicle and recording services every day. How would you improve wait times, online options and service for these high-volume users?

Hensel (D): The government should serve us and make our lives easier. And there’s two ways that Clerks can address this issue. First, it’s by improving customer service, and second, it’s for advocating for change and legislation. So as Clerk, I would ensure that high volume users have unique appointment slots and are assigned to specific customer service representatives that are able and understand their needs implicitly and can address them in a timely fashion. And I can promise that I will always have an open door to the business community to hear your feedback on how we can improve our customer service. But the reality is that clerk’s offices are often boundaried by the Department of Revenue when it comes to motor vehicle services. And I’m committed to working with the Department of Revenue to modernize our systems, to move more features online, to open access to things like automatic registration.

Poston (R): I would streamline the process for the high volume users.

Property and deed fraud, where someone files false documents to claim or borrow against a property, is a growing concern for owners and lenders. What would you do to prevent it and to help victims when it happens?

Hensel (D): Property and deed fraud is deeply concerning especially for our older residents who are already targets of fraud. Clerk’s offices often use systems like property alerts. They’re similar to our ballot tracking alerts or emergency response systems where you can get an automatic notification when there’s any activity on your property so that the sooner you know, the sooner you can act. Also, the Clerk’s office is already out in the community registering voters, educating about the clerk’s office. I would use that as an opportunity to educate on the dangers of property and deed fraud and encourage people to sign up for these alert systems. In terms of enforcement, I would work really closely with the appropriate law enforcement agency, whether it’s the sheriff, the local DA, or the attorney general consumer protection division to make sure victims are supported and that harm is repaired.

Poston (R): I would have the clerk’s office notify the owners and lenders whenever their property records are accessed. That way they have a little bit of lead time to respond should something happen.

How would you keep the Jefferson County elections secure, accurate and transparent, and build confidence in them among voters of all political views?

Hensel (D): Democracy works best when we all show up no matter your political party or ideology. Everyone’s voice must be heard for us to have a government that represents you. We already have secure, accurate, and transparent elections, and I’m gonna work with voters of all political parties and ideologies to build trust in our democratic processes. If you’ve ever worked as a poll worker, you will see the beauty of people from opposing political parties working together to make sure that every vote is counted. Yet we know that election disinformation and lies are undermining public trust, and we don’t have a democracy if we lose public trust. I also have a deep investment in our schools and our young people. I wanna work with students all across Jefferson County to help them to design and execute mock elections so they can see for themselves what it looks like to build a transparent process.

Poston (R): I would have the Clerk’s office pre-verify that all addresses are deliverable. When the post office gets the ballots, they are supposed to mail them out. But when the address is not deliverable, that voter is not getting their ballot. If the post office can determine that an address is not deliverable, then why can’t the Clerk’s office verify ahead of time with the post office to verify that all addresses are deliverable. It wastes money in the printing of ballots that cannot be delivered, and the voter does not get their ballot, which is something that needs to be fixed.

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Jefferson County Treasurer

Source: County and Federal Candidate Forum, September 25, 2026.

Candidates: Eric Proctor (D), Murl Hendrickson (LP)

Note: Murl Hendrickson was unable to attend the event and unable to submit written responses.

How would you make property tax bills, payment options and deadlines easier for business owners to understand and manage, including for business personal property?

Proctor (D): So, I think it’s really, as a former schoolteacher, but it’s education, education, education. So, whether that’s on the county treasurer’s website, whether that’s through brochures, whether that’s through Kiwanis, any club you can get in front of, just let people know. But I think one thing that would be really positive is for the Arvada Chamber and other chambers across the county to have a direct link on their website that coordinates with the county treasurer’s website where business owners and property taxpayers can get that information directly. Also, the county assessor, maybe similar links would be really positive.

Hendrickson (LP): No response

The Treasurer invests county funds on behalf of taxpayers. How would you balance safety, access to cash and return, and how would you report results to the public?

Proctor (D): So, the county treasurer currently has a very, very strong quality and safety and soundness measures that every investment has to meet. I want to continue that continuity from the current Treasurer’s Office. Also does a very good job with transparency, but I think there’s ways to expand upon that.

Hendrickson (LP): No response

When property owners, including small businesses, fall behind on property taxes, what options would your office offer before the property reaches a tax lien sale?

Proctor (D): Again, the current county treasurer, his priority is to keep people in their homes. And I think continuing that is a good, both ethical and moral thing to do. But you’ve got to find the balance right between the fiduciary responsibility of collecting the tax and finding that harmony between the fiduciary responsibility and providing grace and loving your neighbor and ensuring that you’re doing everything you can to keep that person in their home. So, whether that’s waiving late interest, whether that’s working on property payment deferments within reason, I think that’s a good place where government and loving your neighbor can find harmony together.

Hendrickson (LP): No response

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Jefferson County Assessor

Source: County and Federal Candidate Forum, September 25, 2026.

Candidates: Andy Kerr (D), Vera King (R), Greg Ketcham (UAF)

Note: Vera King was unable to attend the event and unable to submit written responses.

Commercial property owners will receive new valuations in the 2027 reappraisal. How would you ensure those values are accurate, and how would you explain the methods and data behind them to owners?

Kerr (D): One thing that I’ve done as a commissioner is that we actually made sure that the Assessor’s office has the funds necessary for a new software system that will help in that. And we really wanna make sure that commercial appraisals and individual appraisals are done with the most modern technology and also human beings, real life human beings overseeing that process as well. And I definitely wanna make sure that we continue to implement that software as efficiently as possible and also make sure that we have the right people overseeing that process as well.

King (R): No response

Ketcham (UAF): For me, ensuring that those values for 2027 are accurate comes down to, I have set up the modeling for commercial properties. I have an appraiser’s license, so I know exactly what our commercial department is going through because I am currently there right now. I’ve set values for 2025, for 2023, for 2021, 2019 throughout the county. And I know that we do have some mistakes, but we have licensed appraisers throughout our office that work on that and they work on it every two years. And we have modelers and we have those professionals and we have all of those years’ experience.

Many small business owners find the valuation appeal process hard to navigate without hiring a consultant. What would you do to make appeals clearer and more accessible?

Kerr (D): Definitely our small businesses, our individual property owners should not have to hire somebody else to take them through the process. And that’s actually why the Commissioners did agree to fund a new position in the Assessor’s office. Again, a real live human being to work with new software, but to be that person, to be that human being that can help and assist those small businesses through that process. So, I think that’s important. Yes. We’re gonna be using the latest technology, and we’re gonna have real life human beings that know what they’re doing overseeing that process.

King (R): No response

Ketcham (UAF): Our appeals process has slowly shifted ever since COVID to like mostly online, all online, that kind of thing. And whether it’s just a taxpayer, property owner, or a commercial business, our website is very thorough, but it doesn’t have a lot of bullet points and so it’s really hard to navigate. And we have a plethora of information, but I think we need it to be a lot easier for people to find out how to appeal, what to appeal, what the values are, and how they were derived on our website and that’s our online focus. And then when people are calling into our office, we need to speak plainly and in plain English rather than in appraisal terms.

Business personal property tax requires businesses to report equipment and furnishings every year. What would you do within the Assessor’s authority to reduce the filing burden, particularly for small businesses?

Kerr (D): You know, Jefferson County’s in a bit of a special place here. The county, while the Assessor’s office does the assessments and does help in the collection with the Treasurer in business personal property tax, the county itself doesn’t take that money in. It’s only the school district and special districts that actually still collect that money. We definitely need to make sure that the system is as smooth as possible. If you’re under $56,000 you shouldn’t need to file more than once, and we need to, going back to Eric Proctor where he said education, education, education, we need to make sure that we’re communicating that out.

King (R): No response

Ketcham (UAF): You took my line. Education, education, education. When the assessor’s not out in the community at the Metro District meetings, at the, you know, chamber of commerce meetings, talking with businesses, talking with these local businesses and these smaller businesses to get across how to file your business personal property declarations the first time and every time after that. We lose a lot of people in the weeds because they’re just confused by either how to online file, how to file in person, or whether they need to file because they are less than that $56,000. This kinda goes back to just our online presence as well as our in-person presence as well. And we need to be more proactive with how we’re telling small businesses how to file.

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Jefferson County Sheriff

Source: County and Federal Candidate Forum, September 25, 2026.

Candidates: Reggie (Regina) Marinelli (D), Randal Doizaki (R)

Retail theft, vehicle break-ins and other property crimes affect businesses’ costs and their ability to operate. How would you prioritize these crimes, and how would you work with businesses to prevent them?

Marinelli (D): I hate to sound like a broken record here, but education. Education has to be a priority. We have to get out there with the businesses and educate them on how to protect themselves. A lot of that is through…We have community resource deputies that go out and work with the businesses, whether it be lighting of the business, things out front to keep people from ramming into the businesses, cameras, so on and so forth. The vehicle break ins is a little different because those are more of citizens versus businesses, but our social media platforms need to be very intense on educating people on what the higher crimes are that are happening in the area, the rates that those crimes are happening, and why. If people are breaking into your car because you don’t lock it, then we need to educate people to lock your vehicles, so on and so forth.

Doizaki (R): Beyond the education, for me, it’s the same thing I tell the officers right now at DPS and I told my entire career Arapahoe County. Five words or less. The officers need to get out and connect with the community. I cannot tell you the last time an officer came through our community living unincorporated down by Chatfield. I tell the officers now, five words or less, get out and engage. Talk to people in the school. Talk to people in the community. You may know something that you’re telling us or you may know something. You may know something. And then we put that puzzle together. It starts with the boots on the ground. And that’s what I have always led. And that’s what I encourage officers to do now. We’ve got to be better integrated and incorporated into what’s going on in the community to see those little pieces.

How would you recruit and retain deputies and detention staff, and what response times should businesses and residents in unincorporated Jefferson County expect?

Marinelli (D): So, recruiting and retention of deputies. When I came on as sheriff, I realized that our recruiting staff had never been fully staffed. We were short and that’s where they would pull people from. In order to look at our recruiting and retention, I made sure that we were fully staffed in the recruiting area and so that we could go after those hundreds of people that apply to different jobs throughout the sheriff’s department and also be able to do the background checks for all of those. So, the recruiting and retention of our deputies right now has really advanced in the last three and a half, almost four years, because we now are to a point where by December 31st, we are very close to having every deputy that we are authorized hired with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and that hasn’t always been the case. Response times work through dispatch, and we constantly strategize for the placement of deputies in the deployment based on the needs of the community.

Doizaki (R): I’ll make the first part short and simple. Troops eat first. My capstone of my graduate degree is at employee development. You can have the best pay. You can have the most advanced equipment. But if the employees do not feel valued and an opportunity to grow and develop, they’re gonna look elsewhere. I’ve seen that. So, my passion is who’s coming next. As far as response times and should residents in unincorporated Jefferson County expect, honestly, we can look at all the data we want. The officers have gotta be available. We’ve gotta be able to prioritize and look at how they’re spread out. If they’re handling some of these certain calls that may not be a priority. I was 11 years old. My family was held hostage. I understand violent crime. But we’ve got to be able to empathize with all the victims. And if we’re not getting out there and working, we’re not doing our job.

Businesses often call for help with situations involving people experiencing homelessness, mental health crises or substance use. How would your office respond, and what partnerships would you rely on?

Marinelli (D): So, right now we are building our co-responder program. It used to be with Jefferson Center for Mental Health. We have recently, in the last three months, pulled that back to the sheriff’s office. So, these will be our employees moving forward. We’re currently writing the policy on that, and we will have case management reviews and follow-ups with the co-responder program. They will work hand-in-hand with human services, the health department, and also nonprofits to make sure that those citizens facing the homelessness and mental health crisis and also the substance abuse have a connection with our agency that will continue past the contact and we will be able to supply resources for them to be able to get their feet under them and back on the ground again.

Doizaki (R): This is a tough one. Working in DPS, I see these challenges not just with our community but with our youth. I would refer back to the work I did with Arapahoe County working with the State Office of Behavioral Health. And the transition, the eye opener it took for that to happen and bringing them in. I’m seeing that with the officers now, the CIT programs, all the different programs that are out there. But for me, it goes back to that comment earlier about that collaboration, that partnership, that getting out there. The team I’ve got now, we’re already talking about that and where we can build those partnerships. The State Office of Behavioral Health ran a program in Arapahoe County dealing with individuals in custody with mental health diagnosis not able to continue with trial. That was a paradigm shift for a lot of us.

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Jefferson County Voter and Election Resources

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• Nov. 5: Election Day

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