Colorado Right to Life's candidate survey and comments here are based on one, simple definition: No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they have pledged never to support any policy or law that would allow the killing of even one child.
Additionally, we expect that they will support Amendment 62, Colorado's Personhood Amendment. If they do not, this is noted. In practice, these two positions (Personhood and the definition of pro-life above) are one and the same. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.
Candidates who we consider 100% Pro-Life will be listed in Bold (Note: Scott Tipton's and Ryan Frazier's names appear in bold because sentences are bolded for emphasis, NOT because we believe them to be Pro-Life).
One final note -- Support for Amendment 62 has been used against some candidates, who are faced with the charge (untrue) that it would ban all birth control (it only bans forms of birth control that would cause an abortion). Senate candidate Ken Buck made a series of missteps in responding to the challenge, but is now officially "pro-Personhood, but neutral on Amendment 62". It's worth noting that very few of the other candidates are backing away from their commitments to support Amendment 62!
Colorado Governor
Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo has not responded to CRTL's survey, but he has assured both us and the Constitution Party leadership (as well as Ben Goss, the man who he replaced) that he is 100% Pro-Life with no exceptions, and we have no reason to doubt this. The Constitution Party is firmly supportive of Personhood in its party platform. Both Tom Tancredo and his running mate, Pat Miller, have endorsed Amendment 62. Tancredo was recently challenged on this position in a media interview, and he re-emphasized that he supports Amendment 62.
Republican Dan Maes supports the Personhood Amendment, has responded to our survey correctly (he had to be convinced to give up support for embryonic stem cell research) and his current statements seem to agree with Colorado Right to Life's positions. He has made statements in the past which we disagreed with, but has met with Colorado Right to Life since then. However, his appointment of pro-abortion Tambor Williams (former state representative) as his running mate shows a complete lack of understanding for what it means to support pro-life principles. Recent revelations have also made us question Maes' credibility in what he says. If Maes is ever forced to resign, that would leave Colorado with a pro-abortion Republican Governor (Tambor Williams). That is not something CRTL can accept, and we ask you to consider this before voting for Dan Maes.
Democrat John Hickenlooper is pro-abortion.
U.S. Senate
Republican Ken Buck has said in the past he supports Personhood, and has responded to CRTL's survey with answers that seemed to be correct (with the caveat that he hasn't taken a position on state ballot measures). A recent Denver Post article claimed Buck had reversed his support for Amendment 62. Buck's campaign explained that was not true, and said he had never endorsed Amendment 62. However, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel and other sources claimed he had. It's not entirely clear whether he's changed his position, but his comments about not knowing it would "ban birth control" (an untrue claim - see note above) have concerned us. A representative met with him long ago to explain that some forms of birth control are abortifacient, and would be banned, but that other forms would not be.
Every time Buck tries to clarify his stance, he makes things worse, and even seems to be officially supporting abortifacient birth control (he says he doesn't support banning any common forms of birth control).
Ken Buck now seems to be embarrassed by the very pro-lifers who enabled him to win the GOP nomination, which is very disappointing, and in contrast to many GOP candidates it's the last thing we expected from him. Buck has turned his back on the pro-lifers who have supported him, and gone back on his promises to us in several ways, including that he now says he will vote to allow "pro-choice" judges. This is a betrayal, much like what we came to expect from Republicans in recent decades who campaigned on pro-life issues, then did nothing to fulfill their promises. We're tired of electing people who use us to get elected, and then do their own thing.
CRTL vice president Leslie Hanks says, "We would rather he be a statesman than a politician." Thomas Jefferson said, "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." If Ken Buck is elected, CRTL will work with him, as with any other politician, but we will have a special expectation that he will follow through with what he has promised his supporters. It's not CRTL's job to back candidates, but rather to tell you who we have confidence in. We have no confidence in Ken Buck.
Democrat Michael Bennet is pro-abortion.
Unaffiliated candidate Charley Miller responded to our survey with very mixed responses. While his heart seems to be in the right place, he does not believe life begins at conception, supports euthanasia, and opposes government involvement in abortion.
Congressional District 1
Republican Mark Fallon is not overtly pro-life. The Denver Post said, "Fallon, a practicing Catholic with traditional religious beliefs, says he would remain neutral on social issues like a woman's right to an abortion and gay rights."
Democrat Diana DeGette is pro-abortion.
Congressional District 2
Both Republican Stephen Bailey and Democrat Jared Polis are strongly pro-abortion.
Constitution Party candidate Jenna Prather-Goss has responded to the CRTL survey, supports Amendment 62, and is 100% Pro-Life.
Congressional District 3
Democrat John Salazar is pro-abortion.
Republican Scott Tipton won't go on record, and tells people he is pro-life but is NOT considered by us to be honestly pro-life. Scott Tipton has avoided responding to CRTL surveys for 3 years, has lied to us and others about having responded, regularly tells voters he's pro-life and that he's responded to our questionnaire, and his website says he is pro-life but he approves of abortion in cases of rape or incest. Scott Tipton is NOT PRO LIFE and is lying in order to get your vote!
Write-In candidate John Hargis is 100% Pro-Life, and has responded to CRTL's survey. If you want to cast a write-in vote, the Secretary of State's website says a voter must write the candidate's name (John W. Hargis Sr.) in the space reserved on the ballot for write-in votes, and properly marks the oval OR connects the arrow on optical scan ballots according to the directions provided to the voter. If you want to find out more about John Hargis, his website is here (CRTL does not endorse candidates, but since he is a write-in candidate not connected to a major party, it seems reasonable to show you where to find him).
Congressional District 4
Republican Cory Gardner supports Personhood, responded to our survey, has participated in CRTL events, and is considered 100% Pro-Life.
Democrat Betsy Markey is pro-abortion.
There is a Constitution Party candidate, Doug Aden, but CRTL has not heard from him to establish his positions. The ACP normally supports Personhood.
Congressional District 5
Incumbent Republican Doug Lamborn has always been solid on life issues, and has co-sponsored Personhood legislation at the national level.
Congressional District 6
Incumbent Republican Mike Coffman is on record supporting Personhood and is on record as Pro-Life with no exceptions. However, he does not appear to have co-sponsored the Personhood legislation introduced in Congress. We hope that he would vote to support such legislation if he had the opportunity, as he has pledged.
Congressional District 7
Republican Ryan Frazier has never indicated support for Personhood or a 100% Pro-Life position. He has told pro-life voters he is pro-life, but is also on record saying he doesn't believe it is government's place to interfere on the issue, except to prohibit public funding. We believe Ryan Frazier is lying to get the votes of pro-lifers, saying he is pro-life without committing to do anything about it. Ryan Frazier is NOT pro-life by any reasonable measure.
Democrat Ed Perlmutter is pro-abortion.
State Senate District 1
Greg Brophy (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State Senate District 2
Kevin Grantham (R) has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 correct, supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State Senate District 3
Vera Ortegon (R) has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 correct, supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State Senate District 6
Both the Republican and Democrat candidates in this race are pro-abortion (pro-Personhood Dean Boehler was defeated in the primary).
State Senate District 7
Steve King (R) responded to the CRTL survey, supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions. (King did support "emergency contraception" in a previous legislative session -- we take this as his promise he will not do so again)
State Senate District 9
Kent Lambert (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State Senate District 11
Owen Hill (R) hasn't responded to our survey but we believe he is 100% pro-life.
State Senate District 13
Scott Renfroe (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions (in fact he's the only Colorado legislator to have carried the equivalent of Personhood legislation).
State Senate District 15
Kevin Lundberg (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State Senate District 16
Tim Leonard (R) has said that he has not taken a position on Amendment 62, but he believes life begins at conception and past evidence indicates he is willing to protect that life through legislation. Without concrete information we cannot be more concrete in our assessment of his position.
State Senate District 20
No pro-life candidates that we're aware of.
State Senate District 22
Mike Kopp (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State Senate District 24
No pro-life candidates that we're aware of.
State Senate District 30
Ted Harvey (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State Senate District 31
Doug Smith (R) is a new candidate we've not been able to contact. We have no reason to believe he's pro-life except that he appears to have supported pro-life candidates in the past. If you know Doug and can get him in touch with us, please do so.
Clifton Powell (Constitution) is another candidate we've not been able to contact, but he has a track record of pro-life activism and we have every reason to believe he is 100% Pro-Life. His party is also 100% pro-life.
State Senate District 32
Tyler Kolden (R) has responded to our survey and is 100% Pro-Life.
Democrat Chris Romer (son of the previous governor) is pro-abortion.
State Senate District 33
Lisa Ringle (R) is a new candidate we've not been able to reach. No reason to believe either way so far.
State Senate District 34
No pro-life candidates.
NOTE ABOUT CANDIDATES: Senate Districts 31-34 and House Districts 1-9 are City of Denver districts, and even pro-life candidates from these districts often don't want to be on record. We would prefer if they would be public about their beliefs, but it is typical candidate behavior to avoid controversy. The same goes for Boulder Districts (Senate 16 and House 10-14).
State House District 1
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 2
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 3
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 4
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 5
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 6
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 7
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 8
No pro-life candidates we're aware of.
State House District 9
C.J. Garbo (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(his Republican opponent does not appear to be pro-life)
State House District 10
We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.
State House District 11
We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.
State House District 12
We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.
State House District 13
We believe some of the Boulder Republicans are pro-life - please contact them.
State House District 14
Janak Joshi (R) says he is pro-life but we've not received his survey.
State House District 15
Mark Waller (R) says he is pro-life and is willing to talk with CRTL - haven't had an opportunity to talk with him yet.
State House District 16
Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 17
Mark Barker (R) responded to our survey, supports Personhood, pro-life without exceptions.
State House District 18
Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 19
Marsha Looper (R) may support Personhood, and considers herself pro-life. Have not received survey responses to evaluate her positions. Please ask her to contact us.
State House District 20
Amy Stephens (R) may support Personhood, and considers herself pro-life. Have not received survey responses to evaluate her positions. Please ask her to contact us. Amy also stood up for us at the legislative council hearings over Bluebook wording for Amendment 62, which CRTL very much appreciates.
State House District 21
No reason to believe candidates are pro-life (Bob Gardner supported "emergency contraception" -- abortifacients -- in the legislature)
State House District 22
Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 23
Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 24
Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 25
Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 26
Candidates would not return surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.
State House District 27
Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys, but we believe she is 100% pro-life.
State House District 28
Jim Kerr (R) has not returned his survey, but he did sign the Personhood petition, and may be fully pro-life. Please have him contact us.
State House District 29
Robert Ramirez (R) has responded to our survey, and is 100% Pro-Life.
Democrat Debbie Benefield is pro-abortion.
State House District 30
Candidates have not returned surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 31
Tom Janich (R) has responded to the survey with 7 of 7 responses correct except that he says he supported the 2008 Amendment but has difficulty with the wording of the 2010 Amendment. We're sure this could be worked out by talking through the different wording and why it was chosen. We believe he is 100% Pro-Life.
State House District 32
Kaarl Hoopes (R) responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.
Edward Casso (D) is pro-abortion.
State House District 33
If you know Don Beezley (R) please have him respond to the survey. We hear he's pro-life but need confirmation.
State House District 34
Brian Vande Krol (R) was thought to have supported Personhood, but has since contacted our office and indicates he does not, that he is pro-abortion.
State House District 35
Edgar Antillon (R) said he was pro-life but has since distanced himself from Amendment 62. His reasons for doing so appear to be that he mistakenly believes it would prevent medical treatment for a woman whose pregnancy has life-threatening complications, which is just not true. Hopefully after the election we can work through these things with him.
State House District 36
No pro-life candidates.
State House District 37
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life. Spencer Swalm supported "emergency contraception" (abortifacients) in the legislature.
State House District 38
Kathleen Conti (R) has responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is 100% Pro-Life.
Democrat Joe Rice is pro-abortion.
State House District 39
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.
State House District 40
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 41
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.
State House District 42
Sally Mounier (R) has responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is 100% Pro-Life.
Democrat Karen Middleton is pro-abortion.
State House District 43
Frank McNulty (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.
State House District 44
Chris Holbert (R) responded to our survey, supports Personhood, and is 100% pro-life with no exceptions.
State House District 45
Candidates did not respond to our survey. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 46
Steven Rodriguez (R) responded to our survey and supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.
State House District 47
Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.
State House District 48
Glenn Vaad (R) signed the Personhood petition this year, which implies that he is pro-life without exception. We have not received a survey response from him though, to confirm this. He did support "emergency contraception" in the legislature, and if he would respond to our survey we could confirm his promise not to do so again.
State House District 49
B.J. Nikkel (R) supports Personhood, and we have reason to believe she is pro-life with no exceptions. We've not received her survey, so we cannot confirm this for certain.
State House District 50
Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 51
Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 52
Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 53
Candidates have not responded to our survey. We have no reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 54
Ray Scott (R) supports Personhood, and is 100% pro-life with no exceptions.
Claudette Konola (D) is pro-abortion.
State House District 55
Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 56
Candidates have not responded to our survey. No reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 57
Randy Baumgardner (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
State House District 58
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 59
J. Paul Brown (R) has been seen on recent debate video announcing that he supports Amendment 62, and standing firm even when publicly challenged by his opponent. Though we have not heard from him, it seems reasonable to believe from his statements he is 100% Pro-Life.
Democrat Brian O'Donnell is pro-abortion.
State House District 60
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life. Tom Massey supported "emergency contraception" (abortifacients) in the legislature.
State House District 61
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 62
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 63
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 64
Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.
State House District 65
Jerry Sonnenberg (R) supports Personhood, and he is pro-life with no exceptions.
Thank you for the update.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this list, but what about the Judges? Retain or not.
ReplyDeleteThat would be more useful.
Here is the recommendation of Ken Lambert:
No on Michael Bender, Alex Martinez and Nancy Rice
Yes on John Daniel Dailey, Richard L. Gabriel, Nancy J. Lichtenstein, and David J. Richman
However, I needed the recommendation for Jeffco Judges that are Pro-Personhood. We seem to be ignoring the hell out of the Judges. I know there is Judge review, but I am referring to whether if they are Pro-Personhood or not. Thanks.
~BigBenFactor
BigBen,
ReplyDeleteCRTL has not surveyed judges, primarily because their likelihood of responding is very low. Judges, as a practice, don't want to go on record.
A judge's decision record is our only real way of knowing where a judge stands on pro-life matters, and we are unaware of any specifically pro-life matters Colorado judges have ruled on.
In future years, hopefully someone will be able to help us evaluate judges for their votes, especially if Amendment 62 passes, which may put some judges on record. For now, Kent Lambert's opinion can be trusted in general, and also perhaps the opinion of CleartheBenchColorado.org.
CRTL is aware of no "pro-Personhood" judges, per se. It can generally be assumed that none of them are, and until the political climate changes due to the election of pro-Personhood candidates, that is unlikely to change.
Thanks for your reply.
ReplyDelete~BBF
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis will be interesting. I am running in the 3rd Congressional district as the write-in candidate against Salazar and Tipton, whom according to this blog, are not 100% pro life, so technically I should receive the vote of every 3rd CD right to life voter.
ReplyDeleteIt will be a sad day if CRTL voters compromise CRTL for party. Write-in "John W Hargis Sr"