Thursday, October 16, 2014

Pro-Life Candidates in Colorado - Oct 2014 Update

Updated as of 10/20/2014. This post will continue to be updated all the way up to Election Day with new information -- keep checking back if you're concerned about a specific candidate. Also if you doubt the information given below about Rep. Cory Gardner (running for Senate) not being pro-life, please see our more detailed post on the US Senate race)

Notes to readers:

1) The 2014 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 7 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on key pro-life issues. This list will be continuously updated. This list only includes Colorado legislative, congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

2) Many candidates say they’re “pro-life” but mean something very different than what true pro-lifers mean. Please keep this in mind before supporting candidates who do not respond to the CRTL Questionnaire.

3) No candidate who supports abortion for any reason is "pro-life.” Regardless of what they may say, any truly pro-life citizen/candidate believes that government has an obligation to protect all human life from conception forward, and therefore pledge to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors) – every innocent human being has an inalienable Right to Life at every age or stage of development.

4) Candidates from any party are invited to respond to the survey. However, CRTL has never been made aware of a candidate from either the Democrat Party or Libertarian Party who is truly pro-life.

5) CRTL does not endorse candidates, but rather issues a “white list” – people who we believe take their responsibility to unborn children under the law seriously. Candidates who are pro-life are listed in bold.



Ballot Initiatives


Amendment 67 is on the ballot this year.  Many people think Colorado Right to Life opposes "incremental" laws and measures.  That's not really true.  CRTL opposes "compromised" laws and measures -- those that make it seem like not all human beings have the same value or deserve the same rights as every other innocent human being.  Sadly, most incremental measures are also compromised, but Amendment 67 is not.  It is a "Personhood compliant" incremental measure that may not protect all unborn children from harm by abortion, but it can at least protect unborn children who are victims of crimes also perpetrated against their mothers.  Vehicular homicide, wife beating, etc.  The law currently treats the baby not as a victim but as a "loss to be considered" in deciding judgment for the crime against the mother.

That's wrong.  Amendment 67 would make the law treat those unborn children as human victims of violence, and would treat the murder or assault upon the child the same as against any other human being.

There is a lot of disinformation out there about what Amendment 67 would do.  Most news organizations refuse to recognize any difference between Amendment 67 and other Personhood measures.  The fact is, the concept of Amendment 67 -- protecting the unborn children of pregnant mothers who are victimized as victims themselves -- is widely popular, and it's also a stepping stone to teaching society the value and the need to protect all unborn children the same way.

Candidates for Governor


Fmr. Cong. Bob Beauprez (R) has not responded to the survey. He does not support abortion for any reason, to the best of our knowledge (he was the first Republican nominee for Governor in 2006 who supported no exceptions for abortion). He is on record not supporting Personhood, and is not listed in "bold" for that reason, but it appears he questions the strategy, not the goal.

Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) is pro-abortion.

From statements on websites and from other information it appears that the other candidates on the ballot -- Harry Hempy (Green), Matthew Hess (Libertarian), Mike Dunafon (Unaffiliated) and Paul Noel Fiorino (Unaffiliated) are all pro-abortion.

Candidates for US Senate


There IS a pro-life candidate for US Senate running in Colorado!

However, he is not named Cory Gardner.

Raul Acosta (I) has answered the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. Acosta is an independent candidate for the US Senate who has been confirmed on the November ballot, so anyone in Colorado can vote for him without having to write his name in.

Raul Acosta is the ONLY candidate for the US Senate in Colorado who opposes abortion in all cases and believes in a Right to Life for unborn children from conception on.

Raul Acosta ran as a pro-life candidate for the US Senate in 2004, and has been an ally of Colorado Right to Life for many years.

Rep. Cory Gardner was once a strong pro-lifer and ally of CRTL, but that has changed! Cong. Cory Gardner (R) (see new info here) supported Personhood for many years but recently rejected a pro-life position in order to become more palatable to moderate voters. Since entering Congress he has steadily “marched left,” turning his back on solidly conservative positions he held on many issues. He says he is “still pro-life” but rejects protections for all innocent human beings at all stages of development and won’t oppose abortifacient birth control.

(More detail on US Senate Race and why Gardner is NOT pro-life.)

Sen. Mark Udall (D) is pro-abortion.

Due to statements on their websites or other statements we believe Gaylon Kent (Libertarian), Bill Hammons (Unity), and Steve Shogan (Unaffiliated) are all pro-abortion.

1st Congressional District


From statements on websites, and other public statements, it does not appear there are any pro-life candidates for this office.

2nd Congressional District


George Leing (R) is pro-abortion.

Cong. Jared Polis (D) is pro-abortion.

3rd Congressional District


Cong. Scott Tipton (R) claims to be pro-life but has never responded to a CRTL survey and cannot be pinned down on specific positions. CRTL considers him unengaged and effectively pro-abortion.

Fmr. Sen. Abel Tapia (D) is pro-abortion.

Travis Mero (L) is assumed to be pro-abortion, as that is the position of his party.

Tisha Cassida (Unaffiliated) is pro-abortion.

4th Congressional District


Ken Buck (R) has changed his position on Personhood after reflection.  After publicly rejecting the position in 2010, he now supports Personhood publicly. He has made statements to this effect, but has not responded to the CRTL survey so we cannot issue a "bold" pro-life indicator.

Vic Meyers (D) is pro-abortion.

Jess Loban (L) has not answered the CRTL survey. She indicates on her website she believes the unborn should be protected as individuals (a commendable and unusual position for a Libertarian candidate), but believes they should be protected by state law, not by federal law as an unalienable human right. This is in conflict with a full understanding of Personhood.

Grant Doherty (Unaffiliated) has not answered the survey. His position is unclear.

5th Congressional District



Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year, but has in the past and has consistently maintained a pro-Personhood record in public statements and in his career in Congress, even co-sponsoring federal Personhood legislation.

Irv Halter (D) is pro-abortion.

6th Congressional District



Cong. Mike Coffman (R) is no longer considered pro-life. Like Gardner, he has steadily “marched left” since entering Congress and made his rejection of the Personhood standard public this year.

Andrew Romanoff (D) is pro-abortion.

Gary Swing (Green) is pro-abortion.

Norm Olsen (Libertarian) is pro-abortion.

7th Congressional District


Don Ytterberg (R) calls himself pro-life but has refused to take solid positions, focusing on other issues and leaving doubt as to his real beliefs on the Right to Life. CRTL has seen this from other candidates who turned out not to be pro-life to any substantial degree. In past elections Ytterberg said both, that he supports abortion for rape and incest, and he believes abortion should not be a subject for public policy, but these responses are old and it's possible he has changed. If so, it is VERY unclear from his website and public statements. He appears to be ducking the issue entirely.

Cong. Ed Perlmutter (D) is pro-abortion.

Doug "Dayhorse" Campbell (ACP) was going to be on the ballot but we're sorry to say this pro-life stalwart passed away recently.




State Senate Candidates


State Senate District 1

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Doug Aden (ACP) is presumed to support Personhood, as it is the official position of his party. He has not responded to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 2

Sen. Kevin Grantham (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Martin Wirth (Green) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 3

Sen. George Rivera (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. Rivera is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has signed a petition to place Personhood on the ballot and has said he makes no apologies for a pro-life position.

Leroy Garcia (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 5

Don Suppes (R) is "personally pro-life" but won't legislate on the issue (which means he's officially pro-abortion).

Kerry Donovan (D) is pro-abortion.

Lee Mulcahy (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 6

Sen. Ellen Roberts (R) is regarded as the most pro-abortion Republican in the legislature. She is unopposed by either party.

State Senate District 7

Rep. Ray Scott (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past.

Claudette Konola (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 9

Sen. Kent Lambert (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed.

State Senate District 11

Sen. Bernie Herpin (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not responded to the CRTL survey. He did tell Pikes Peak Citizens for Life that he believed Personhood should begin at conception (single cell) but has since backed off on that and told the Colorado Independent that he does not support Personhood.

Rep. Mike Merrifield (D) is pro-abortion.

Norman "Paotie" Dawson (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion.
State Senate District 13

John Cooke (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Joe Perez (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 15

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed.

State Senate District 16

Fmr. Sen. Tim Neville (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 19

Laura Woods (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed she is pro-life.

Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 20

Larry Queen (R) has indicated that he is strongly pro-life and has said he will respond to the survey.
Sen. Cheri Jahn (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 22

Tony Sanchez (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Sen. Andy Kerr (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 24

Beth Humenik (R) has not responded to the survey this year, and did not in previous years either. Please ask her to contact CRTL.
Judy Solano (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 30

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Bette Davis (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 32

Dawne Murray (R) has not responded to the survey. We have no solid information one way or another on her positions.
Sen. Irene Aguilar (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 34

Stuart Siffring (R) is believed to be pro-abortion based on public statements.

Sen. Lucia Guzman (D) is pro-abortion.


Brian Scriber (L) is pro-abortion.

State House Candidates (Updated 10/20)

State House Districts 1 - 13

The first 13 Statehouse districts are situated in Denver and Boulder counties – most of the announced candidates thus far are Democrats, and the few Republicans who have announced generally will not indicate pro-life beliefs even if they are pro-life so we have not surveyed these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.

The one exception here is District 4:

State House District 4

David Dobson (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He ran a campaign in 2012 based primarily on Personhood, and is expected to run a similar campaign in 2014.

Rep. Dan Pabon (D) is pro-abortion.


State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

Glenn Carlson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 15

Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has returned his survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. (The Christian Coalition may have falsely reported Klingenschmitt during the primary as not 100% pro-life. This information is incorrect -- Klingenschmitt supports Personhood and opposes all abortions).

Lois Fornander (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not returned his survey yet. He says he is pro-life on his site, and is believed to support Personhood but this is not confirmed. He has worked closely with CRTL for several years in drafting a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure for consideration by the legislature. He is associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee, and also attended the CRTL Banquet in 2012. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey.

Ryan Macoubrie (D) is likely to be pro-abortion, but was NOT endorsed by Planned Parenthood.

State House District 17

Both Catherine “Kit” Roupe (R) is pro-abortion.

Rep. Tony Exum (D) is pro-abortion.

Susan Quilleash (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 18

Michael Schlierf (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Pete Lee (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 19

Paul Lundeen (R) has not returned his survey yet. He is running unopposed.

State House District 20

Terri Carver (R) has not yet responded to the survey. Her website claims she is pro-life. She is running unopposed.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) has not returned her survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past. She is running unopposed.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Mary Parker (D) is pro-abortion.

Lynn Weitzel (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Jane Barnes (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Max Tyler (D) is pro-abortion.

Michael Beckerman (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 24

Joseph Demott (R) has not yet responded to the survey.

Jessie Danielson (D) was formerly a director for the local branch of pro-abortion NARAL (i.e. is avidly pro-abortion).

State House District 25

Jonathan Keyser (R) has not responded to the survey.

Janet Doyle (D) is pro-abortion.

Jack Woehr (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (D) is pro-abortion.

Thom Haupt (L) claims to be personally pro-life, but his website makes it clear he is politically pro-abortion.

State House District 27

Rep. Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting.

Wade Michael Norris (D) claims to be a "theologian" (which could mean alot of things). His position on abortion is unclear. He did NOT receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood, but has worked on behalf of many pro-abortion candidates.

State House District 28

Stacia Kuhn (R) has not responded to the survey. She makes pro-life statements on her website, but the degree of her commitment is unclear. Her opponent accuses her of wanting to ban all abortions, which is a claim often bandied about, but it's rarely made so explicit if there isn't evidence of support for Personhood.

Rep. Brittany Petterson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 29

Susan Kochevar (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D) is pro-abortion.

Hans Romer (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 30

JoAnn Windholz (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Jenise May (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 31

Carol “Jody” Beckler (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Joe Salazar (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 32

Edgar Antillon (R) says he is pro-life but has previously renounced Personhood. He has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Dominick Moreno (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 33

Marijo Tinlin (R) defeated a likely pro-abortion Republican in the primary, and Tinlin appears to be pro-life and may support Personhood. Please ask her to contact CRTL or respond to the survey to establish this for certain.

Rep. Dianne Primavera (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

Carter Reid (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 34

Alexander "Skinny" Winkler (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Mike Melvin (R) has not responded to the survey.

Faith Winter (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 36

Richard Bowman (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Su Ryden (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 37

Jack Tate (R) has not responded to the survey yet.

Nancy Cronk (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues.

Robert Bowen (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.

James Huff (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, but did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

State House District 40

JulieMarie Shepherd (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. John Buckner (D) is pro-abortion.

Geoff Hierholz (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 41

Molly Barrett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

Rep. Jovan Melton (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 42

Mike Donald (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has been very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is pro-abortion.

State House District 43

Kevin Van Winkle (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Henry Barlow (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, but did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

State House District 44

Kim Ransom (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life. She is also a former board member of Colorado Right to Life.

Karen Jae Smith (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, but did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

Lily Williams (L) has not returned the survey, and is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from her party are.

State House District 45

Patrick Neville (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Brandon Wicks (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, though he did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

James Jeansonne (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 46

Brian Mater (R) has not responded to the survey.

Daneya Esgar (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) claims to be pro-life, but needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions.

Lucretia “Robbie” Robinson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. He is running unopposed.

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not returned her survey yet, but we believe she is pro-life. She is running unopposed.

State House District 50

Isaia Aricayos (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Dave Young (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) has not responded to the survey but has supported Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 52

Donna Walter (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Joann Ginal (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 53

Tim Bessler (R) has not responded to the survey.

Jennifer James Arndt (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 54

Yeulin Willett (R) has not responded to our survey.

Brad Webb (D) is pro-abortion.

Kyle Davis (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

James Fletcher (I) is an unknown quantity.

State House District 55

Dan Thurlow (R) has not responded to the survey.

Christopher Kennedy (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) has not responded to the survey.

Vicki Snider (D) is pro-abortion.

Chris Baerns (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 57

Rep. Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, nor in 2012, even after multiple contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life.

Sacha Mero (L) is pro-abortion.

State House District 58

Rep. Don Coram (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year or in the past. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Coram is currently running unopposed.

State House District 59

Fmr. Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.

Rep. Mike McLachlan (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

James Wilson (R) has expressed a pro-life testimony on his webpage, so is believed to be sincerely pro-life, but has not responded to this year’s survey (he did not respond in 2012).

Curtis Imrie (I) is pro-abortion.

State House District 61

Debra-Lynn Irvine (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask her to contact CRTL.

Rep. Millie Hamner (D) is pro-abortion.

Mac Trench (L) is presumed to be pro-abortion, as most candidates from his party are.

State House District 62

Marcy Freeburg (R) has not responded to the survey.

Rep. Ed Vigil (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 63

Rep. Lori Saine (R) has not returned our survey. She refused to answer the survey in 2012, and has expressed reservations about Personhood, though otherwise claims to be pro-life.

Dustin Urban (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion, though he did not receive an endorsement from Planned Parenthood.

State House District 64

Rep. Tim Dore (R) has not responded to the survey. He has expressed support for Personhood in the past. He is running unopposed.

State House District 65

Fmr. Rep. Jon Becker (R) has not responded to the survey. He is running unopposed.




**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Candidates from other parties, including 3rd parties, will be contacted before the November election.

Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Important Update on Candidates (Oct 2014)

CRTL will publish a complete update in the next few days. The information collected before the primary is here, listing many candidates who are already confirmed as pro-life.

In the meantime we wanted to make you aware of some important updates.

First, updates have been added to indicate pro-life candidates Jerry Sonnenberg (running for CO Senate District 1) and Mike Donald (running for CO House District 42).

Second, we have good news and bad news on the US Senate race in Colorado:

US Senate (Colorado)

There IS a pro-life candidate for US Senate running in Colorado!

However, he is not named Cory Gardner (R-CO).

Raul Acosta (I) has answered the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. Acosta is an independent candidate for the US Senate who has been confirmed on the November ballot, so anyone in Colorado can vote for him without having to write his name in.

Raul Acosta is the ONLY candidate for the US Senate in Colorado who opposes abortion in all cases and believes in a Right to Life for unborn children from conception on.

Raul Acosta ran as a pro-life candidate for the US Senate in 2004, and has been an ally of Colorado Right to Life for many years.

Cory Gardner:

Rep. Cory Gardner was once a strong pro-lifer and ally of CRTL, but that has changed!

As you probably heard, Cory Gardner announced publicly that he no longer supports Personhood. He apologized for ever supporting it. He said he was well-meaning, but it was a mistake.

Of course the reason he gave for not supporting Personhood -- that it would ban "contraceptives" -- is completely false, and is a propaganda claim of NARAL and Planned Parenthood that is often repeated by the media.

Cory Gardner has attended briefings on Personhood by CRTL where this was discussed -- Cory should KNOW better! But since he knew it was a false statement and he made it anyway, we can only conclude he has made a cynical choice to give up on principles so he would be more attractive to moderate voters.

Cory promised to meet with CRTL to discuss his position, but that meeting never occurred. He doesn't want to talk.

Personhood is not the only position Gardner has changed since giving up his safe conservative Congressional seat and deciding to run for the US Senate statewide.

When told by the Denver Post that Sen. Mark Udall charged that Gardner was opposed to abortion "even in cases of rape and incest," Gardner told the Post Udall was lying.

So Cory Gardner now officially supports abortion in cases of rape or incest. That is 8,000 babies killed per year, for those reasons, nationwide.

Cory Gardner is also putting underage girls at risk for more sexual abuse because abortion is often used to cover up acts of incest, as shown recently by lawsuits in Colorado and Arizona, and as demonstrated by numerous stings run by Lila Rose's LiveAction. Planned Parenthood has shown a pattern of not reporting possible cases of child sex abuse as required by law. If abortion were made illegal in all cases, abortions could not be used to cover up the crimes.

As if that's not enough, Cory Gardner has more recently begun running ads saying he's for "birth control" over the counter!

What kinds of birth control? All kinds, apparently -- he's done this to counter the "opposes birth control" ads of the Democrats, which were based on his support of Personhood, and yet the only kinds of birth control Personhood could affect are abortifacients which can kill an already-conceived child.

So CRTL can only assume Cory Gardner wants to provide abortifacients (falsely called "emergency contraceptives") over the counter so women can have their abortions at home.

Besides "over the counter abortifacients" being an extremely pro-abortion proposal, and besides the likelihood this would encourage more permissive sex at younger ages, over the counter abortifacients could even make things easier for child sex traffickers who need to cover up their own crimes without risking going to a medical facility where staff are required by law to report any suspicions.

We also believe it is wildly irresponsible for a candidate for the US Senate to propose allowing potentially harmful high dose drugs be made available without the advice and prescription of a doctor.

The Mayo Clinic advises women to work closely with their health care providers and indicates, "Some [birth control] complications can be serious. They include the following:
    •Blood clots in the legs (recent studies suggest that the type of progestin used in the pill may affect the risk of blood clots, with pills containing drosperinone showing a higher risk)
   •Gallbladder disease
   •Heart attacks and stroke (smoking greatly increases the risk of these complications)
   •Liver tumors"

Even The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health links birth control pills to risk of breast cancer and other forms of cancer.

Hmm... Over the counter, without a doctor, with those sorts of potentially fatal side effects? That sounds like a decision that should be made by a doctor who knows someone’s medical history, not by a politician.

Where are the defenders of our children? Clearly Gardner isn’t one of them.

Other candidates:

Obviously, Sen. Mark Udall (D) is pro-abortion.

We believe all of the other independent and third party candidates are also pro-abortion, as confirmed on their websites, or from public statements.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

2014 Pre-Primary Candidate Info

UPDATED 10/1/14
(also added new information on US Senate race)

Notes to readers:

1) The 2014 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 7 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on key pro-life issues. This list will be continuously updated. This list only includes Colorado legislative, congressional and gubernatorial candidates.

2) Many candidates say they’re “pro-life” but mean something very different than what true pro-lifers mean. Please keep this in mind before supporting candidates who do not respond to the CRTL Questionnaire.

3) No candidate who supports abortion for any reason is "pro-life.” Regardless of what they may say, any truly pro-life citizen/candidate believes that government has an obligation to protect all human life from conception forward, and therefore pledge to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors) – every innocent human being has an inalienable Right to Life at every age or stage of development.

4) Candidates from any party are invited to respond to the survey. However, CRTL has never been made aware of a candidate from either the Democrat Party or Libertarian Party who is truly pro-life.

5) CRTL does not endorse candidates, but rather issues a “white list” – people who we believe take their responsibility to unborn children under the law seriously. Candidates who are pro-life are listed in bold.




Candidates for Governor



Fmr. Sen. Mike Kopp (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He has been a supporter of Personhood throughout his legislative career and has attended CRTL legislative briefings.

Fmr. Cong. Tom Tancredo (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He has supported Personhood in the past.
Sec. State Scott Gessler (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He does not support Personhood and does not seem to be interested in serious changes in the status quo with regard to abortion.
Fmr. Cong. Bob Beauprez (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He is not believed to support Personhood.
Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) is pro-abortion.



Candidates for US Senate

*Updated 10/1

(New Info Post on US Senate Race)

Raul Acosta (Ind.) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.  Raul Acosta has also been a longtime CRTL donor and ran as a pro-life candidate for US Senate in 2004.

Cong. Cory Gardner (R) (see new info here) supported Personhood for many years but recently rejected a pro-life position in order to become more palatable to moderate voters. Since entering Congress he has steadily “marched left,” turning his back on solidly conservative positions he held on many issues. He says he is “still pro-life” but rejects protections for all innocent human beings at all stages of development and won’t oppose abortifacient birth control.


Sen. Mark Udall (D) is pro-abortion.


1st Congressional District



Still evaluating Republican candidates – if there’s a pro-life candidate please ask them to contact CRTL.

2nd Congressional District



George Leing (R) is pro-abortion.
Cong. Jared Polis (D) is pro-abortion.

3rd Congressional District



Cong. Scott Tipton (R) claims to be pro-life but has never responded to a CRTL survey and cannot be pinned down on specific positions. CRTL considers him unengaged and effectively pro-abortion.
David Cox (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey – please ask him to, or contact us if you have information. Fmr. Sen. Abel Tapia (D) is pro-abortion.

4th Congressional District



Sen. Scott Renfroe (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He has been a supporter of Personhood throughout his legislative career and has attended CRTL legislative briefings.
Barbara Kirkmeyer (R) has also responded to the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

(Update 6/23) Steve Laffey (R) has not responded to the survey, but apparently opposes Personhood and is not pro-life (supports abortion for rape & incest).
Ken Buck (R) says he supports Personhood again, after publicly rejecting the position in 2010. He has made statements to this effect, but has not responded to the CRTL survey and CRTL still has doubts about his position on key pro-life issues where he created much confusion and disruption in 2010. Please encourage him to answer the survey.
Vic Meyers (D) and Dan Chapin (D) are presumed to be pro-abortion.

5th Congressional District



Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year, but has in the past and has consistently maintained a pro-Personhood record in public statements and in his career in Congress, even co-sponsoring federal Personhood legislation.

Gen. Bentley Rayburn (R) has supported Personhood in the past, but recent statements make it seem like he’s criticizing Lamborn’s focus on pro-life and other social issues. Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey to establish his position this year.
Irv Halter (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

6th Congressional District



Cong. Mike Coffman (R) is no longer considered pro-life. Like Gardner, he has steadily “marched left” since entering Congress and made his rejection of the Personhood standard public this year.
Andrew Romanoff (D) is pro-abortion.

7th Congressional District



Doug “Dayhorse” Campbell (ACP) has not yet responded to this year’s CRTL survey, but has done so in the past and his personal and party platforms are strictly pro-Personhood – we have confidence that Campbell is pro-life.

Don Ytterberg (R) calls himself pro-life but has refused to take solid positions, focusing on other issues and leaving doubt as to his real beliefs on the Right to Life. CRTL has seen this from other candidates who turned out not to be pro-life to any substantial degree. Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.
Cong. Ed Perlmutter (D) is pro-abortion.


State Senate Candidates


State Senate District 1

*Update 10/1
Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.
Doug Aden (ACP) is presumed to support Personhood, as it is the official position of his party.

State Senate District 2

Sen. Kevin Grantham (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He is the only candidate so far for this office.

State Senate District 3

Sen. George Rivera (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not yet responded to the survey.
Leroy Garcia (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 5

Don Suppes (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Kerry Donovan (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 6

Sen. Ellen Roberts (R) is regarded as the most pro-abortion Republican in the legislature. She is currently unopposed by either party.

State Senate District 7

Rep. Ray Scott (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Claudette Konola (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 9

Sen. Kent Lambert (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed so far.

State Senate District 11

Sen. Bernie Herpin (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not responded to the survey yet.
Rep. Mike Merrifield (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 13

John Cooke (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Joe Perez (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 15

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has been a steadfast supporter of Personhood in the past. He is unopposed, so far.

State Senate District 16

Fmr. Sen. Tim Neville (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 19

Laura Woods (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed she is pro-life.

Lang Sias (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey (this is his 3rd election cycle) and his statements indicate he is only opposed to late term abortions (meaning he may support all the rest). He is NOT pro-life. Many Republicans claim to be pro-life but don’t want to explain that they define that term loosely.
Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D) was appointed to this seat after a recall effort forced the resignation of the previous senator. Zenzinger is believed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 20

Larry Queen (R) has indicated that he is strongly pro-life and has said he will respond to the survey.
Sen. Cheri Jahn (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 22

Tony Sanchez (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Mario Nicolais (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Sen. Andy Kerr (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 24

Beth Humenik (R) has not responded to the survey this year, and did not in previous years either. Please ask her to contact CRTL.
Judy Solano (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 30

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Bette Davis (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 32

Dawne Murray (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Sen. Irene Aguilar (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 34

Stuart Siffring (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Sen. Lucia Guzman (D) is pro-abortion.



State House Candidates

State House Districts 1 - 13

The first 13 Statehouse districts are situated in Denver and Boulder counties – most of the announced candidates thus far are Democrats, and the few Republicans who have announced generally will not indicate pro-life beliefs even if they are pro-life so we have not surveyed these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.

The one exception here is District 4:

State House District 4

David Dobson (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He ran a campaign in 2012 based primarily on Personhood, and is expected to run a similar campaign in 2014.

Rep. Dan Pabon (D) is pro-abortion.


State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.
Glenn Carlson (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 15

Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has returned his survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.
Dave Williams (R) has returned his survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

(NOTE: Surveys by other groups -- Christian Coalition and/or Christian Family Alliance -- have discounted Klingenscmitt's support for Personhood and have instead "knocked points off" because he will not support anti-abortion regulations which undermine Personhood and deny the Right to Life of the unborn child. They are falsely claiming he is not completely pro-life. Beware! Keep in mind that many pro-life and Christian groups do not have the same understanding of Personhood as CRTL does.)

Lois Fornander (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not returned his survey yet. He says he is pro-life on his site, and is believed to support Personhood but this is not confirmed. He has worked closely with CRTL for several years in drafting a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure for consideration by the legislature. He is associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee, and also attended the CRTL Banquet in 2012. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey.
Ryan Macoubrie (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 17

Both Catherine “Kit” Roupe (R) and Rep. Tony Exum (D) are pro-abortion, which is unusual for such a conservative district.

State House District 18

Michael Schlierf (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please encourage him to do so.
Rep. Pete Lee (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 19

Paul Lundeen (R) has not returned his survey yet -- please encourage him to do so. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 20

Kristen Selzer (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

Terri Carver (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Miles Dewhirst (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Daniel Stanforth (R) has not yet responded to the survey.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) has not returned her survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Loren Bauman (R) is running as a “pro-choice” alternative candidate against Everett, (i.e. is NOT pro-life).
Mary Parker (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Jane Barnes (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Max Tyler (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 24

Joseph Demott (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please help us get in touch with him or ask him to respond.
Jessie Danielson (D) was formerly a director for the local branch of pro-abortion NARAL (i.e. is avidly pro-abortion).
Kristian Teegardin (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 25

Jonathan Keyser (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Janet Doyle (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) is running again, but he still has not contacted CRTL. Please ask him to contact us.
David Moloney (R) has not returned his survey. Please ask him, also, to answer his survey.
Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 27

Rep. Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting.
Wade Michael Norris (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 28

Stacia Kuhn (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Brittany Petterson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 29

Fmr. Rep. Robert Ramirez (R) has supported Personhood in the past, but has not responded to this year’s survey.
Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 30

JoAnn Windholz (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Jenise May (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 31

Carol “Jody” Beckler (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Joe Salazar (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 32

Edgar Antillon (R) has not responded to the survey yet. He says he is pro-life. Please ask him to contact CRTL.
Rep. Dominick Moreno (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 33

Marijo Tinlin (R) defeated a likely pro-abortion Republican in the primary, and Tinlin appears to be pro-life and may support Personhood. Please ask her to contact CRTL or respond to the survey to establish this for certain.
Rep. Dianne Primavera (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 34

Alexander Winkler (R) has not responded to the survey yet. If you know him, please have him contact us.
Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Mike Melvin (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Faith Winter (D) has not been surveyed, but is probably pro-abortion.

State House District 36

Richard Bowman (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Rep. Su Ryden (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 37

Michael Fields (R) has responded to our survey, and rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

John Tate (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Nancy Cronk (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues.
Robert Bowen (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.
James Huff (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 40

JulieMarie Shepherd (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. John Buckner (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 41

Rep. Jovan Melton (D) is pro-abortion.

Update 10/15:
Molly Barrett (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.

State House District 42

*Update 10/1
Mike Donald (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has been very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is pro-abortion.

State House District 43

Kevin Van Winkle (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Henry Barlow (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 44

Jack Hilbert (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.

Karen Jae Smith (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 45

Patrick Neville (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.

Brandon Wicks (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 46

Alexander Mugatu (R) has supported Personhood in the past but has not responded to this year’s survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Brian Mater (R) has not responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Daneya Esgar (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) claims to be pro-life, but needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions.
Terrance Hestand (D) and Lucretia “Robbie” Robinson (D) are both presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. There was some controversy about the conduct of the 2012 primary election regarding the abortion issue. Since being elected, Humphrey seems to have done his best to earn a reputation for pro-life legislation and positions. Please ask him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not returned her survey yet. She is currently running unopposed.

State House District 50

Isaia Aricayos (R) has not responded to the survey yet.
Rep. Dave Young (D) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) has not yet responded to the survey but has supported Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 52

Donna Walter (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Joann Ginal (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 53

Tim Bessler (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Jennifer James Arndt (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 54

Yeulin Willett (R) has not yet responded to our survey. Please encourage him to respond back with us.
Brad Webb (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 55

Steven Acquafresca (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Dan Thurlow (R) also has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Christopher Kennedy (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask him to contact CRTL.
Vicki Snider (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 57

Rep. Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, nor in 2012, even after multiple contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 58

Rep. Don Coram (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey this year or in the past. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Coram is currently running unopposed.

State House District 59

Fmr. Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Rep. Mike McLachlan (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

James Wilson (R) has expressed a pro-life testimony on his webpage, so is believed to be sincerely pro-life, but has not responded to this year’s survey (he did not respond in 2012). He is running unopposed at present.

State House District 61

Rep. Millie Hamner (D) is pro-abortion.
Debra-Lynn Irvine (R) has not responded to the survey yet – please ask her to contact CRTL.

State House District 62

Marcy Freeburg (R) has not yet responded to the survey – please ask her to contact CRTL.
Rep. Ed Vigil (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 63

Rep. Lori Saine (R) has not yet returned our survey. She refused to answer the survey in 2012, and has expressed reservations about Personhood, though otherwise claims to be pro-life. Please encourage her to return her survey this year.
Bruce Sparrow (R) is running against her in the primary. It’s unclear where he stands, and we do not have a contact e-mail for him yet – if you know him, please ask him to contact CRTL.
Dustin Urban (D) is presumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 64

Rep. Tim Dore (R) has not responded to the survey yet. He has expressed support for Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 65

Fmr. Rep. Jon Becker (R) has not responded to the survey yet. He is currently running unopposed.




**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Candidates from other parties, including 3rd parties, will be contacted before the November election.

Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey may contact office@coloradorighttolife.org.

Friday, February 28, 2014

2014 Pre-Caucus Candidate Information

Update 6/5 - This list of candidate positions has been expanded and updated for the 2014 Primary Election, new positions listed here. Please disregard this listing.





OBSOLETE INFO (see above)



Update 3/22 - Cong. Cory Gardner (R), candidate for the US Senate, has renounced his belief in Personhood and now supports rape and incest exceptions for abortion, meaning that he supports 8,000 abortions of innocent human children per year.  He is no longer a pro-life candidate, having betrayed the children in pursuit of political office.

Update 4/4 - Cong. Mike Coffman (R) has also said he no longer supports Personhood.

Note to readers: 1) This list will be updated quickly with new survey responses as more candidates respond. Many may not have had time to respond, because of how busy they are during this pre-caucus season. If a pro-life candidate has not responded, please encourage them to do so!
2) This list is limited to Colorado legislative, congressional and gubernatorial candidates. Our volunteers have limited time to expand the scope of this survey. CRTL may issue statements on other races, but for the most part this is our focus in 2014.


The 2014 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 7 position questions of candidates, establishing their positions on issues from pro-abortion mandates to fetal homicide legislation to the protection of unborn children under the 5th and 14th Amendments. Each year we have had to be more careful not to expose our favorite candidates to attack by opponents based on their responses. In 2012, we even saw a heretofore well-regarded pro-life legislator attacking a pro-Personhood candidate by twisting and lying about his responses to the CRTL survey. Therefore, this year specific questions and candidates’ answers will not be made public. CRTL will issue its opinion on each candidate’s dedication to Personhood principles, and we ask you to trust that we are rigorous in our evaluation of candidates. CRTL does not endorse candidates, but rather issues a “white list” – people who we believe take their responsibility to unborn children under the law seriously.

No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they support the Personhood amendment and have pledged to oppose all abortion (with the understanding that a doctor may take action to save a woman’s life while also trying to save the baby’s life, even if the baby’s survival is doubtful due to other factors). This is the only position consistent with the inalienable Right to Life of every innocent human being at every age or stage of development. Candidates who support "rape or incest exceptions" are NOT pro-life because there is never an excuse to kill an innocent child.

Positive respondents to the survey are listed as “rigorously affirmed that they are pro-life” – this is not to say they will remain pro-life under pressure, but they have affirmed to CRTL that they agree with our positions on the 7 issues. A number of candidates who are probably pro-life are not listed as such yet because they have not responded to the survey. At this early date, a number of candidates who are running unopposed or whose position is relatively well known have not received the survey yet.


Candidates for Governor



John Hickenlooper (D) is pro-abortion.
Tom Tancredo (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He has supported Personhood in the past.
Mike Kopp (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He has supported Personhood in the past and said in a recent debate that he supported the ballot measure in 2012.
Sen. Greg Brophy (R) (Update 3/26) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Sec. State Scott Gessler (R) has not yet responded to the survey. He is not believed to be supportive of Personhood or serious changes in the status quo with regard to abortion.
Jason Clark (R) has not responded to the survey, but is regarded as pro-abortion based on prior statements.
Steve House (R) has not responded to the survey, and said in a recent debate that he did NOT support Personhood in 2012. He is not believed to be pro-life.
Roni Bell Sylvester (R) has not responded to the survey. If you know her please ask her to return her survey.
Jim Rundberg (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.


Candidates for US Senate

(This race has gotten confused this week as Ken Buck and Amy Stephens may have dropped their bids for US Senate in favor of Congressman Cory Gardner – we list all these candidates, just in case)

Update 3/22 - Cong. Cory Gardner (R), candidate for the US Senate, has renounced his belief in Personhood and now supports rape and incest exceptions for abortion, meaning that he supports 8,000 abortions of innocent human children per year.  He is no longer a pro-life candidate, having betrayed the children in pursuit of political office.
Sen. Owen Hill (R) has responded to our survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Fmr. Rep. Amy Stephens (R) has not responded to our survey (and in fact has NEVER responded to a survey from CRTL, nor we believe from Colorado Springs Citizens for Life either). She claims to be pro-life and claims to support Personhood, but her sincerity is deeply questioned.
Sen. Randy Baumgardner (R) (Updated 4/4) has responded to our survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Mark Aspiri (R) has not yet responded to the survey. One report says that he claimed support for the 2012 Personhood amendment, but that has not been confirmed.


Congressional Candidates



(CRTL is collecting surveys from Congressional candidates, but there is not much in the way of competition this year, and our early efforts are more concentrated on those races where there is a clear choice – we will report more in the future)

(Update 4/4 - Quick notes on some districts)

CD 4
Ken Buck (R) backed off on his commitment to Personhood in his 2010 race for this office. He has since re-affirmed his support for Personhood, most recently in this week’s senatorial debate.
Sen. Scott Renfroe (R) has supported Personhood in the past -- please encourage him to return his CRTL survey to confirm continued support.

CD 5
Both Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) and Gen. Bentley Rayburn (R) have supported Personhood in the past.  Lamborn has a proven record of supporting Personhood at the Congressional level.  Rayburn may have signaled that his focus is more on economic issues, but we are surveying both candidates and hope to hear back.

CD 6
Cong. Mike Coffman (R) has renounced his past support of Personhood and is no longer pro-life.


State Senate Candidates

(Many candidates who are running unopposed in the primary have not been sent surveys yet, so cannot have responded.)

State Senate District 1

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) is the only candidate so far for this office. He has not yet received the survey, so can’t have responded, but has supported Personhood in the past.

State Senate District 2

Sen. Kevin Grantham (R) is the only candidate so far for this office. He has not yet received the survey, so can’t have responded, but has supported Personhood in the past.

State Senate District 3

Sen. George Rivera (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not yet responded to the survey. (Update 3/4 - Comment from CRTL Board Member Dee Waite: "Senator George Rivera is pro-life. He signed the Amendment 67 petition and wouldn't compromise his pro-life commitment when attacked by the press and Angela Giron.")
Leroy Garcia (D) has not been surveyed yet.

State Senate District 5

Don Suppes (R) has not yet responded to the survey.
Kerry Donovan (D) has not been surveyed yet.

State Senate District 6

Sen. Ellen Roberts (R) is regarded as the most pro-abortion Republican in the legislature. It’s unclear if there will be opposition to her in the primary. She is currently unopposed by either party.

State Senate District 7

Rep. Ray Scott (R) has not been surveyed yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Claudette Konola (D), is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 9

Sen. Kent Lambert (R) has not been surveyed yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past. He is unopposed so far.

State Senate District 11

Sen. Bernie Herpin (R) is a newly elected legislator who won one of the two recall elections in 2013. He has not been surveyed yet.
Rep. Mike Merrifield (D), is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 13

Neither candidate for SD 13 has been surveyed yet. We will update when information is available.

State Senate District 15

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but he has supported Personhood in the past. He is unopposed, so far.

State Senate District 16

Former Sen. Tim Neville (R) has not responded to the survey yet, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Richard Wenzel (R), doesn’t appear to have an e-mail or website (if you know him could you let us know how to reach him?).
Incumbent Sen. Jeanne Nicholson (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 19

Laura Woods (R) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that she is pro-life.
Lang Sias (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey (this is his 3rd election cycle) and his position is suspect (many Republicans claim to be pro-life but don’t want to explain they define that term loosely). There is no reason to believe he would support Personhood, in any case.
Sen. Rachel Zenzinger (D) was appointed to this seat after a recall effort forced the resignation of the previous senator. Zenzinger is believed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 20

Larry Queen (R) (Updated 3/3) has responded to the survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Art Carlson (R) has not responded to the survey yet, and has not responded to prior surveys. He claims to be pro-life, but his unwillingness to go on record to define his position makes us question his commitment.
A third Republican, Robert Hogan (R) appears not to have a website or e-mail (if you know him could you let us know how to reach him?).
The incumbent Sen. Cheri Jahn (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 22

Neither Tony Sanchez (R) or Mario Nicolais (R) have responded to the survey yet. Sanchez is regarded as the more conservative (and pro-life) of the two.
Sen. Andy Kerr (D) is pro-abortion.

State Senate District 24

Judy Solano (D) is the only candidate announced in this race. She is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State Senate District 30

Rep. Chris Holbert (R) has responded to the survey, and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life. He is unopposed so far in this race.

State Senate District 32

Sen. Irene Aguilar (D) is pro-abortion. She is unopposed, so far, in this race.

State Senate District 34

Sen. Lucia Guzman (D) is pro-abortion. She is unopposed, so far, in this race.



State House Candidates

State House Districts 1 - 13

The first 13 Statehouse districts are situated in Denver and Boulder counties – most of the announced candidates thus far are Democrats, and the few Republicans who have announced generally will not indicate pro-life beliefs even if they are pro-life so we have not surveyed these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.


State House District 14

Daniel Nordberg (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has been an aide to pro-Personhood Congressman Doug Lamborn, and has also been associated with the pro-life Republican Study Committee, so we assume he is inclined to be pro-life. If you know him please ask him to return his CRTL survey.
Glenn Carlson (D) is likely to be pro-abortion, but we will survey him to see.

State House District 15

Dave Williams (R) has returned his survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Pastor Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has also returned his survey and has rigorously affirmed he is pro-life.
Michael Kuhn (R) has not yet returned his survey. If you know him, please encourage him to return his survey.

State House District 16

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not returned his survey yet. He says he is pro-life on his site, and is believed to support Personhood but this is not confirmed. He has worked closely with CRTL for several years in drafting a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure for consideration by the legislature. He is associated with the pro-Personhood Republican Study Committee, and also attended the CRTL Banquet in 2012. We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey. He is running unopposed.

State House District 17

Both Catherine “Kit” Roupe (R) and Rep. Tony Exum (D) are pro-abortion, which is unusual for such a conservative district. It is unclear if someone who is pro-life intends to stand against Roupe in the primary.

State House District 18

Rep. Pete Lee (D) is pro-abortion. At present, he is running unopposed.

State House District 19

Neither Joshua Brooks (R) or Paul Lundeen (R) have returned their surveys, so they are unknown quantities. Please encourage them to return their surveys.

State House District 20

Kristen Selzer (R) (Updated 3/3) has responded to the survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life.
Terri Carver (R), Mark Braunlich (R), Miles Dewhirst (R) and Daniel Stanforth have been sent surveys, but have not returned them yet. Please encourage all of these candidates to return their surveys, preferably before the caucus.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) has not been surveyed yet, but has supported Personhood in the past. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 22

Justin Everett (R) has not yet been surveyed, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Mary Parker (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 23

Rep. Max Tyler (D) is pro-abortion. At present he is running unopposed.

State House District 24

Joseph Demott (R) has not been surveyed because we cannot find contact information. If you know him, please help us get in touch with him.
Jessie Danielson (D) was formerly a director for the local branch of pro-abortion NARAL.
Kristian Teegardin (D) is also running, and is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 25

Jonathan Keyser (R) has not yet been surveyed. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 26

Chuck McConnell (R) is running again, but he still has not contacted CRTL (nor can we find contact information for him). Please ask him to contact us.
David Moloney (R) has not returned his survey. Please ask him, also, to answer his survey.
Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 27

Rep. Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys since 2008, but we believe she probably supports Personhood. Her silence is disconcerting. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 28

Rep. Brittany Petterson (D) is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 29

Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp (D) is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 30

Rep. Jenise May (D) is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 31

Rep. Joe Salazar (D) is pro-abortion. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 32

Edgar Antillon (R) has not been surveyed yet. He says he is pro-life.
Rep. Dominick Moreno (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 33

David Pigott (R) failed to respond to 3 attempts to contact him in 2012, and has not yet been surveyed this year. It is Pigott’s intentional strategy to avoid any conversation not related to economic issues, and it is CRTL’s best assessment that he is not pro-life.
Rep. Dianne Primavera (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes).

State House District 34

Alexander Winkler (R) has not been surveyed yet because we do not have contact information. If you know him, please have him contact us.
Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 35

Faith Winter (D) has not been surveyed, but is probably pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 36

Rep. Su Ryden (D) is pro-abortion and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 37

Michael Fields (R) and Jay Ledbetter (R) have both responded to our survey, and rigorously affirmed they are pro-life.
Brian Olson (R), Carrie Penaloza (R) and John Tate (R) have not responded to the survey yet (we can’t reach Olson or Penaloza – if you know them please have them contact us).
Marlo Sherrie Alston (D) has not been surveyed, but is likely pro-abortion.

State House District 38

Kathleen Conti (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, however general opinion now seems to be that she lied about her beliefs on our survey and a number of others (she campaigned as a pro-life, fiscal conservative, and she appears to be neither). She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet been surveyed, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Carla Turner (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 40

Rep. John Buckner (D) is pro-abortion. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 41

Rep. Jovan Melton (D) is pro-abortion. He is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 42

Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has been very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). She is pro-abortion. She is running unopposed, so far.

State House District 43

Kevin Van Winkle (R) has responded to our survey and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life (Updated 3/12).

State House District 44

Jack Hilbert (R) has responded to the CRTL survey, and has rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. (Updated 3/5)

State House District 45

Patrick Neville (R) and Jack Arrowsmith (R) have both responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed they are pro-life.

State House District 46

Alexander Mugatu (R) has not returned our survey, but has expressed support for Personhood in the past.
Brian Mater (R) has no contact information we can find. Please encourage both of them to return their surveys.
Two unknown Democrats are also running for this seat.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) claims to be pro-life, but needs to contact CRTL to establish her positions.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) responded to the CRTL survey and rigorously affirmed that he is pro-life. It should be noted that there were some underhanded and offensive tactics used in his primary against another pro-Personhood candidate in 2012, but we are unaware of evidence that Humphrey himself directed the most egregious of these (the grossly misleading letter went out under another letterhead). Since being elected, Humphrey seems to have done his best to earn a reputation for pro-life legislation and positions.
John Gibson (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not been surveyed yet. She is currently running unopposed.

State House District 50

Isaia Aricayos (R) has not been surveyed yet.
Rep. Dave Young (D) is believed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 51

Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) has not yet been surveyed. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 52

Rep. Joann Ginal (D) is pro-abortion. She is currently running unopposed.

State House District 53

Jennifer James Arndt (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion. She is running unopposed currently.

State House District 54

Rep. Jared Wright (R) has not yet responded to our survey, but he has supported Personhood in the past.
Yeulin Willett (R) has not yet responded to our survey. Please encourage them to respond back with us.
Brad Webb (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 55

Steven Acquafresca (R) has not been surveyed yet.
Christopher Kennedy (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 56

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) has not been surveyed yet. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 57

Rep. Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, nor in 2012, even after multiple contacts. It is believed he is not pro-life. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 58

Rep. Don Coram (R) has never responded to the CRTL survey in the past, but has not been surveyed yet this year. CRTL is always skeptical of candidates who don’t return their surveys or self-identify as pro-life on their websites. Coram is currently running unopposed.

State House District 59

Former Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) has not yet been surveyed, but has supported Personhood in the past.
Rep. Mike McLachlan (D) is pro-abortion.

State House District 60

James Wilson (R) has expressed a pro-life testimony on his webpage, so is believed to be sincerely pro-life, but has not been surveyed yet in 2014 (he did not respond in 2012). He is running unopposed at present.

State House District 61

Rep. Millie Hamner (D) is pro-abortion.
Debra-Lynn Irvine (R) has not been surveyed yet.

State House District 62

Rep. Ed Vigil (D) is pro-abortion, and opposed justice for unborn victims of crimes (a fetal homicide measure that would protect the unborn children of pregnant women who die in vehicular homicides or other crimes). He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 63

Rep. Lori Saine (R) has not yet returned our survey. She refused to answer the survey in 2012, and has expressed reservations about Personhood, though otherwise claims to be pro-life. Please encourage her to return her survey this year.
Bruce Sparrow (R) is running against her in the primary. It’s unclear where he stands, and we do not have a contact e-mail for him yet – if you know him, please ask him to contact CRTL.
Dustin Urban (D) is assumed to be pro-abortion.

State House District 64

Rep. Tim Dore (R) has not been surveyed yet. He has expressed support for Personhood in the past. He is currently running unopposed.

State House District 65

Fmr. Rep. Jon Becker (R) has not been surveyed yet. He is currently running unopposed.




**Please note: Republicans predominate this list because they are considered the most likely to be pro-life. Members of other parties, especially the American Constitution Party, may be pro-life. However, we have yet to hear from a single candidate from the Democrat or Libertarian parties who is pro-life. Candidates from other parties, including 3rd parties, will be contacted before the November election. Any candidate wishing to respond to the survey may contact office@coloradorighttolife.org.