SAN LUIS VALLEY— The Crestone chapter of activist group Indivisible held roundtables on Saturday, Feb. 10 and Sunday, Feb. 11 throughout the San Luis Valley with candidates who hope to represent Colorado’s third congressional district as well as other special guests. Democratic candidates Diane Mitsch Bush and Karl Hanlon seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination attended events in Alamosa, Monte Vista, Crestone and Saguache. State Senator Larry Crowder and State Representative Donald Valdez attended events in Crestone and Saguache. Representative Scott Tipton was invited but declined the invitation.

Speaking in Monte Vista on Saturday, Feb. 10 organizers Mikela Tarlow and Barbara Tidd explained the concept behind the roundtables. “The idea comes from a conference I attended where they did something a little different. In a lot of events speakers talk to the entire room, and if you are like me after 50 minutes or so all of the speakers mesh together, I forget who said what and it gets boring. At this event they had speakers rotate around to small groups. After the event was over I felt like I really knew the speakers. So that’s what we are doing today. You will get to know the candidates better and be able to ask your questions,” said Tarlow.

The organizers then allowed Mitsch Bush and Hanlon the opportunity to introduce themselves to the audience before engaging with the two tables of bipartisan attendees. Mitsch Bush was the first to speak.

“Thanks for taking time to let us listen to you because that’s what a representative does. I was a county commissioner in Routt County for two terms. Then I served three terms on the Colorado State House of Representative where I was on several committees. I moved to Routt County 40 years ago...I started to work with ranchers in my communities on land issues, water issues, conservation. Being involved in the community was really important to me,” she said. Mitsch Bush outlined her years in education as a tenured professor at Colorado State University and at a small college in Steamboat Springs.

“I was known as a county commissioner for bringing people together and really listening. I got all the stakeholders in the room for whatever the issue was such as land, water or regulations. If it was going to have an impact on people’s business you need to get everyone together. I always use evidence not ideology to come up with decisions,” stated Mitsch Bush. “I work with both Republicans and Democrats.”

Mitsch Bush outlined her successful runs in 2012, 2014, and 2016 in the Colorado State House of Representatives. She pointed out that she has won all of her races by large margins with more than 60 percent of the vote. These have been in districts and counties where Republicans outnumber Democrats or where they are about even in number with independents being the largest voting bloc. “The reason I win by those margins is because I go out and I listen to people and people grow to trust me. They know that I always tell the truth and I have a high level of integrity. I make policies that make sense for people,” she said.

Mitsch Bush said that as an elected official she takes votes on behalf of her constituents and not to satisy mega donors or party leaders. She said she had to explain several times to the speaker of the house when she was a state representative that she took certain votes or wanted amendments because she was from rural Colorado and that’s what her constituents wanted. “That’s what representation is.”

Hanlon introduced himself next. “I’m not a professional politician and this isn’t the next rung up on the ladder for me. I think our district needs to go a different way than career politicians that we’ve seen in the past. Why did I decide to do this? The answer is really focused on my kids. I have four amazing kids and every day I ask them to go out and make a difference in the world. As a family we do a lot of that, we run a small non-profit, work with kids with autism and help veterans with PTSD and I do a lot of pro-bono work in my law practice...I realized during all the partisan rhetoric last year that I wasn’t stepping up as fully as I could. That’s really what this race is about. I need to step up for the people of the district, I am from the district,” he said.

Hanlon shared he has been an attorney in Glenwood Springs for about 21 years practicing water law. “It evolved into a position where I’ve been working as a municipal attorney for communities working on economic development...I was also instrumental in bringing broadband to Glenwood Springs and really understand the importance of those economic development opportunities for local communities. All politics are local. If we are going to see a change that change is going to start here,” said Hanlon.

After their introductions both of the candidates fielded questions from bipartisan attendees for about 15 minutes each. They were then rotated for another 15 minutes. Candidates received questions about farming issues, economic development, health care and rural representation. They then each gave a closing statement to the overall group.

Tarlow debriefed attendees and thanked them for their attendance. As she closed she stated, “A lot of what we heard today is how people don’t feel listened to and forgotten. These candidates took time to travel to the San Luis Valley and listen to you and your questions and concerns.”