Inside the “old” Old Supreme Court in the State Capitol (it’s been remodeled). State legislators spend a lot of time in hearings like this, deliberating on bills and resolutions.
The Colorado General Assembly is made up of 35 Senators and 65 Representatives. While each legislator represents a geographic district, their primary responsibility is to address proposed legislation and budgets, typically applying to the entire state. For this guide, I only wrote about the three 2020 races in districts that include part or all of the City of Boulder.
Senate District 18
Colorado Senate District 18 basically covers the City of Boulder and most of western Boulder County, including Nederland, Lyons, Allenspark, Niwot, Ward, and unincorporated areas. It’s one of 35 total state Senate districts, and districts are created after every Census so each district has more or less the same population. Senators are limited to two four-year terms.
Steve Fenberg, Democratic
Fenberg is the incumbent in this race, elected to his first four-year term in 2016. He was a co-founder and driving force behind New Era Colorado, an influential organization that works to get younger Coloradans involved in the political process. Fenberg became Senate Majority Leader in 2018, just two years after winning his first election. In 2018, he was a prime sponsor of three resolutions that led to referred ballot measures and ultimately amendments to the Colorado Constitution. He was a prime Senate sponsor of Senate Bill 19-181, one of Colorado’s most comprehensive public safety bills regarding oil and gas exploration in recent history. I would like to write more, but there’s a full list of Fenberg’s policy priorities and sponsored bills on his website, and this simply isn’t a competitive race.
Peg Cage, Republican
Cage has been a Boulder County resident for 50 years and has chaired and vice-chaired the Boulder County Republican Party. A blog post on her website indicates she’s not afraid of COVID-19, has attended rallies where few people wore masks or practiced social distancing, and attended a rally to protest the vaccination bill Senate Bill 20-163. She has a “platform” link on her site, but it has very little information about actual policy positions while it’s heavy on why the Republican Party is the only party that can protect our republic.
Richard’s Take: Vote Fenberg. He won in 2016 by about 80%-20%, as did his predecessor Rollie Heath in 2012. The district boundaries haven’t changed and the demographics haven’t changed much. Fenberg’s done an admirable job as Senator and as Senate Majority Leader, while the few policy positions you can find while searching online indicate that Cage’s views are only in line with a small percentage of this district.
House District 10
Colorado House District 10 is for the most part the City of Boulder east of Broadway, Gunbarrel, and a small portion of unincorporated Boulder County adjoining the City of Boulder. This is one of 65 House districts statewide, and districts are created after every Census so each district has more or less the same population. Representatives run for two-year terms, and they’re limited in Colorado to four terms in the House. Full disclosure – I do contract work for HD 10’s current Rep. Edie Hooton.
Edie Hooton, Democratic
Edie Hooton is the incumbent in this race, and she’s running for her third two-year term in the House. Since 2018, she’s been the Caucus Chair for the 41-member House Democratic Majority, and the Vice Chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee. She has lived in Boulder since 1997, and has a master’s in public policy. Since being elected to her first term in 2016, she has passed three bills updating Colorado’s Mobile Home Park Act, several bills on marijuana policy and medical marijuana regulation, and has been active in proposing legislation in the interest of sheltering youth experiencing homelessness. She has also served as a member of the House Transportation and Local Government Committee, the House State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee, the House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee, and the Statutory Revision Committee, among other responsibilities.
Kenneth Stickney, Republican
Kenneth Stickney has lived in Boulder since 1987, has a master’s in biopsychology, worked for decades as a software engineer, and is the co-author on two patents. A short view on his policy stances include: keeping economic activity as a priority even when considering policy; support for choice in K-12 education; favoring free-market decisions in energy policy; disagreement with certain gun safety laws (he has an image of the Second Amendment text behind his policy position text); support for the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR); and opposition to state and local sanctuary laws pertaining to immigration status.
Richard’s Take: Vote Hooton, and I would even if I didn’t work for her. She takes careful stock of the values of her district, she’s got a great voting record on environmental and other issues important to Boulder, and she’s held a House leadership position and a committee vice chair position in a large, diverse caucus. As with Senate District 10, the demographics are very favorable to Democrats, and Hooton won in 2018 by about 87%-13%. Stickney’s got a nice professional resume but no experience in elected office, and his policy positions are far too mainstream Republican for this district.
House District 13
Colorado House District 13 is much larger geographically than House District 10. It includes the City of Boulder west of Broadway, much of western Boulder County, along with Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, and Jackson Counties in north-central Colorado.
Judy Amabile, Democratic
Judy Amabile is making her first run for office in 2020, and would replace current Rep. KC Becker if she wins. She has a master’s in business administration from CU-Boulder, and co-founded the Polar Bottle water bottle company about 25 years ago. Like many Boulder-area Democratic candidates, she’s a supporter of climate action, and she’s released her own climate plan including support for carbon pricing, more renewables, and greater energy efficiency, available at https://judyamabile.com/climate-plan/. She supports bolstering Colorado’s mental health system, and it’s both a policy position and personal since one of her sons has what she describes as a “serious mental illness.” She also supports livable wages for workers, equal pay for equal work, and better funding for public education, among other positions.
Kevin Sipple, Republican
Kevin Sipple is making his second run for House District 13 in 2020. He’s lived in the district since 1969, is a cofounder of Eldorado Natural Spring Water, and has volunteered with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office. The short version of his policy positions includes: support for free-market solutions to healthcare, belief in TABOR, criticism of “new taxes disguised as fees,” support for school choice, support for free-market energy choices, opposition to energy subsidies; support for the 2nd Amendment; opposition to abortion; and emphasis that while use of renewable energy is probably going to continue growing it’s not yet sufficient to replace fossil fuels.
https://www.sippleforcolorado.com
James Gilman, Libertarian
Gilman ran unsuccessfully for Colorado Senate District 16 in 2018. He’s from Black Hawk. I couldn’t find a web site or a great deal of information on the candidate.
Richard’s Take: Vote Amabile. House District 13 is slightly more competitive than Senate District 18 or House District 10, but it’s still very safely Democratic in sheer demographics. Speaker KC Becker beat Sipple in 2018 by about 73%-27%. Amabile has not served in elected office, but she’s not inexperienced since she’s been active in the local political scene and has often testified on bills at the Capitol. I’ve heard Sipple speak and read his website, and he’s able to articulate his positions in a reasoned manner, but his policy stances are too boilerplate Republican for this district as currently drawn. Still, between Amabile’s experience with Polar Bottle and Sipple’s with Eldorado Natural Spring Water, it seems as if the two candidates should go into business together after the election.
