June 2016 Pro-Life Candidates (Pre-Primary with regular updates)

Updated as of 6/26/2016. This post will continue to be updated all the way up to the June 28 primary date -- keep checking back. This list only includes Colorado legislative, congressional and US Senate candidates.

1) The 2016 Colorado Right to Life survey queries candidates on 7 pro-life issues, establishing their positions through specific language with no weasel-room.

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.

Candidates for US Senate

Darryl Glenn (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

Robert Blaha (R) says he's "100% pro-life" - he has said he opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest (he says he would make an exception for the life of the mother, but CRTL holds that unless the doctor intentionally tries to kill the baby, medical intervention to save the life of the mother is not an abortion). He has not responded to the CRTL survey - please ask him to, in order to establish clearly where he stands.

Jon Keyser (R) also claims to be pro-life but has not responded to the CRTL survey. Keyser told radio host Craig Silverman that he supports abortion in cases of rape or incest. CRTL considers him pro-abortion (because he favors the killing of an innocent unborn child in some cases).

Jack Graham (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey but is known to be pro-abortion. Graham has said he is "personally pro-life" but "didn't think it was the government's role to decide if a woman can or cannot get an abortion" (Fort Collins Coloradoan, Feb 16, 2016). I.e. if he's not willing to intervene on behalf of the children, he is essentially pro-abortion. He has linked from his website to a Pueblo Chieftain article calling him a "pro-choice Republican" (Apr 8, 2016) which is a guaranteed sign that he accepts that characterization.

Ryan Frazier (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. has been willing to let people believe he is "pro-life" while in reality Frazier has stated it's "not government's role" to protect unborn children. He may have changed his opinion, but we have no reason to believe that, and we're not sure how far we could trust his opinion. It would help if he were willing to go on the record by answering the CRTL survey.

Jerry Eller (R) is a write-in candidate (you must write in "Jerry Eller") who is pledged to be 100% pro-life.

Candidates for US Congress (House)

1st Congressional District

Casper Stockham (R) has pro-life statements on his website. He has not yet responded to the survey.

Both Democrat opponents are pro-abortion.

2nd Congressional District

Nicholas Morse (R) has not yet responded to the survey.

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.

Alex Beinstein (R) may be pro-life but our attempts to contact him have not been successful. If you know him, please have him contact us.

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. He has not responded to the CRTL survey, but he is a cosponsor of the federal Life at Conception Act.

5th Congressional District (Updated 6/10)

Cong. Doug Lamborn (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. He has consistently maintained a pro-Personhood record in public statements and in his career in Congress, even co-sponsoring federal Personhood legislation (the Life at Conception Act).

Calandra Vargas (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. Her website says she will "protect life at all stages".

6th Congressional District

Cong. Mike Coffman (R) is no longer considered pro-life. Like Sen. Cory Gardner, he has steadily “marched left” since entering Congress and has rejected the Personhood standard.

7th Congressional District

George Athanasopoulos (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. His website uses the "avoid all mention of social issues" approach commonly used in this swing district, and there doesn't appear to be any information online suggesting his position on abortion one way or another. Please ask him to respond to the CRTL survey.

Candidates for State Senate

State Senate District 4 (Updated 6/26)

Jess Loban (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to responses to the CRTL survey. He also has a clear position statement on his website expressing a no-compromise position on abortion. 

*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Jess Loban using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here.

Benjamin Lyng (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has a pro-life statement on his website. Without further clarification it's impossible to tell if he qualifies for CRTL's "pro-life" designation. Please ask him to respond to our survey.

James Smallwood (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey. He has a statement on his website against abortion, but it's vague enough that it could mean merely "finding alternatives to abortion" and not legislating against abortion. This would not qualify as pro-life, but we hope he'll respond to the survey soon to clarify his position.

State Senate District 8

Sen. Randy Baumgardner (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has previously affirmed via survey he is 100% pro-life. We'll wait until he responds to this year's survey to re-confirm that.

State Senate District 10

Sen. Owen Hill (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has previously affirmed via survey he is 100% pro-life. We'll wait until he responds to this year's survey to re-confirm that.

State Senate District 12 (Updated 6/26)

Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to his responses to the CRTL survey. He has also been a stand-out legislator on pro-life issues since his 2014 election, and has proved his understanding of pro-life issues in depth. Klingenschmitt has voted twice for the Life At Conception bill (the one which his primary opponent voted against).

*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Gordon Klingenschmitt using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here. 

Fmr. Rep. Bob Gardner (R) is claiming he is pro-life, but CRTL strongly disagrees. We consider him pro-abortion. He was one of 2 Republican legislators who voted with the Democrats in 2014 to kill a Life At Conception bill that was very close to Personhood legislation. He also supported emergency contraception (abortifacients) in a previous vote. He has never been considered a strong pro-lifer, no matter what he claims, even if he may have cast some votes for pro-life legislation.

State Senate District 14

CRTL has not heard from any candidates for this office. Rep. John Kefalas formerly lobbied for the Catholic Charities, but he has a pro-abortion voting record. The Republican is Hans Hochheimer. Please ask him to respond to CRTL's survey.

State Senate District 17

There are no pro-life candidates for this office (yet).

State Senate District 18

CRTL has not heard from any candidates for this office. Peter Spraitz is the Republican candidate. Please ask him to return his survey.

State Senate District 19 (Updated 6/23)

Sen. Laura Woods (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 21

William Ingram (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey. In fact, he is a pro-life pastor with solid opinions on the issue. NOTE: Ingram is a WRITE IN candidate and to vote for him you must fill in the circle next to the "write in" line, and write in "William Ingram" on the line provided for write in candidates.

State Senate District 23

Sen. Vicki Marble (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but has previously affirmed via survey she is 100% pro-life. We'll wait until she responds to this year's survey to re-confirm that.

State Senate District 25

Rep. Kevin Priola (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey. He has a pro-life statement without detail on his website.

State Senate District 26

Nancy Doty (R) is believed to be pro-life, and has made pro-life statements in the past. Please ask her to respond to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 27

Sen. Jack Tate (R) is believed to be pro-life. Please ask him to return his CRTL survey.

State Senate District 28 (Updated 6/19)

James Woodley (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 29

CRTL has not heard from Sebastian Chunn (R). If you know him please ask him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 31

Jeffery Washington (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

Rob Lane (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey.

State Senate District 33

No candidate has thus far responded to the CRTL survey. Raymon Doane is the Republican candidate, but we have no information on him so must assume he is not pro-life. If you have information about him, please let us know or ask him to respond to the survey.

State Senate District 35 (Updated 6/19)

Larry Crowder (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

Candidates for State House

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 all of these races yet. If you’re aware of a pro-life candidate in the mix, please let us know.

State House District 14

Rep. Dan Nordberg (R) is believed to be pro-life, even though he has never responded to a CRTL survey.

State House District 15

Dave Williams (R) has not yet responded to the 2016 CRTL survey, but in 2014 he did affirm he is pro-life via that year's survey. We have no reason to believe he has changed, but we'll wait for a new survey to confirm.

State House District 16 (Updated 6/26)

Rep. Janak Joshi (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey, but he is pro-life and has worked closely with CRTL on fetal homicide legislation for several years. This working relationship is important to us, and demonstrates his commitment to doing the right thing.

*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Janak Joshi using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here. 

Fmr. Rep. Larry Liston (R) has responded to the CRTL survey and has pledged in his answers to our survey that he will be pro-life. However, in the past he has had a mixed record on life issues, having been one of only a handful of Republicans to answer Planned Parenthood surveys in recent years, and there having told them he wouldn't oppose their funding. We also have mixed information on whether he supports Personhood. This year he has pledged to support Personhood and all other pro-life positions. We hope that he is sincere, and is fully on board, but CRTL must also consider past records when available.

State House District 17

Rep. Kit Roupe (R) has generally been considered pro-abortion. If there has been any movement or reconsideration of her positions, please inform us and encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 18

Sonya Rose (R) is believed to be pro-life.

State House District 19

Rep. Paul Lundeen (R) is likely pro-life, but we have no surveys, statements or votes on which to base this opinion. Please ask him to return the CRTL survey so we can confirm and register him as pro-life.

State House District 20

Rep. Terri Carver (R) has a pro-life statement on her website, but with insufficient detail to determine her degree of commitment. Please advise us if you have information on her, and please ask her to return her CRTL survey.

State House District 21

Rep. Lois Landgraf (R) is pro-life, and responded as 100% pro-life in a previous survey. Please ask her to return this year's survey so we can reaffirm this rating.

There is a primary challenger to the incumbent in this district. CRTL has no information on Steve Elisha (R), or where he stands. If you have information, please advise CRTL, and please advise him to return the survey.

State House District 22

Rep. Justin Everett (R) is pro-life and has responded as 100% pro-life in past surveys. He has not responded yet this year, but please encourage him to do so.

State House District 23

CRTL has no information on Chris Hadsall (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 24

CRTL has no information on Joy Bowman (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 25

Rep. Tim Leonard (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. He is also a former board member of Colorado Right to Life.

State House District 26

CRTL has no information on Michael Cacioppo (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 27

Rep. Lang Sias (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and CRTL has been skeptical of his commitment in the past. Since coming into office mid-term, he has worked on pro-life legislation and has maintained a positive relationship with CRTL. Please encourage him to respond to the survey to affirm his positions, and so we can verify the degree of his commitment.

State House District 28

CRTL has little information on Nancy Pallozzi (R). Her website seems to advertise her as more moderate than most Republicans, but does not specifically address abortion issues. Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 29

CRTL has little information on Susan Kochevar (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 30

Rep. JoAnn Windholz (R) has not yet responded to the survey, but CRTL considers her 100% pro-life. In the wake of the shooting at Planned Parenthood she made a public statement that in no way condoned violence against the facility or workers, but which blamed Planned Parenthood for creating an atmosphere of violence through their baby-killing industry, which is of course a correct assessment. When strongly criticized, even by members of her own party, Windholz did not back down. CRTL applauds her dedication to and understanding of pro-life issues.

State House District 31

CRTL has little information on Jessica Sandgren (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 32

CRTL has little information on Alexander Jacobson (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

There is a primary between Democrat candidates, and to the best of our knowledge there are no pro-life candidates. But if you have information to the contrary please advise.

State House District 33

CRTL has little information on Karen Nelson (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 34

CRTL has little information on Dustin Johnson (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 35

CRTL has little information on Emily Voss (R). Please encourage her to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 36

CRTL has little information on Richard Bowman (R). Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 37

Rep. Cole Wist is a pro-life legislator who entered this seat mid-term. Please encourage him to return the CRTL survey.

State House District 38

Susan Beckman (R) is believed to be pro-life, but CRTL does not have information about the degree of her commitment. Please encourage her to respond to the CRTL survey.

Michael Williams (R) is believed to be pro-life, but CRTL does not have information about the degree of his commitment. Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 39

Rep. Polly Lawrence (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey but has previously indicated a pro-life position in response to a survey. Please encourage her to respond to this year's CRTL survey.

State House District 40

Spencer Wellman (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so, and advise us of what you know about the candidate.

State House District 41

Linda Jean Garrison (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

State House District 42

Mike Donald (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey. He also demonstrates a strong grasp of pro-life issues.

State House District 43

Rep. Kevin Van Winkle (R) is pro-life. He has not responded to this year's CRTL survey, but indicated a 100% pro-life position in 2014. Please encourage him to return this year's survey so we can re-affirm his 100% status.

The incumbent has a challenger - Cindy (Cindra) Barnard (R). CRTL has no information on where she stands on life issues, and she has refused to respond to the CRTL survey, which is not a good indicator.

State House District 44

Rep. Kim Ransom (R) is pro-life, and though she has not responded to this year's CRTL survey, she responded and indicated a 100% pro-life position in 2014. She is a former CRTL board member. Please encourage her to return this year's survey so we can re-affirm her 100% status.

State House District 45

Rep. Patrick Neville (R) is a pro-life legislator who has affirmed a 100% pro-life position in the past. He has also worked with CRTL on legislation to protect unborn children. Please encourage him to respond to the survey so we can re-affirm his status.

State House District 46

There are not yet any pro-life candidates in this district.

State House District 47

Rep. Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff (R) is likely pro-life, but CRTL has never received a survey response from her to confirm this. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey to demonstrate her commitment.

State House District 48

Rep. Stephen Humphrey (R) is a stand-out pro-life legislator who has repeatedly run the Life At Conception Act, which is essentially a Personhood act to protect unborn children at every stage of development. He has not yet responded to this year's CRTL survey, but in the past he has affirmed a 100% pro-life position. Please encourage him to respond to this year's survey so we can re-affirm that status.

State House District 49

Rep. Perry Buck (R) is a pro-life legislator. She has never responded to a CRTL survey, but we believe her commitment is sincere. Please encourage her to return her survey.

State House District 50

John Alan Honeycutt (R) responded to the CRTL survey but was unclear in some of his responses. We believe he is sincerely pro-life, but CRTL may need to work with him on the unclear points.

State House District 51

Tom Lucero (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

Hugh McKean (R) has pro-life statements on his website, but he will need to respond to the survey to detail his commitment on specific pro-life aspects. Please encourage him to do so.

State House District 52

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 53

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 54

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 55

Rep. Dan Thurlow (R) is believed to be pro-abortion. He was unclear even on doctor-assisted suicide legislation considered in the 2016 legislative session, and seemed poised to vote for it.

State House District 56

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 57

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 58

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 59

Rep. J. Paul Brown (R) is a pro-life legislator. He has not yet responded to this year's survey, but he affirmed a 100% pro-life status in 2012. Please encourage him to return this year's survey so we can re-affirm that status.

State House District 60

Rep. Jim Wilson (R) has not yet responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to be strongly pro-life. Please encourage him to respond to the survey to confirm this.

State House District 61

(information on this race is coming soon...)

State House District 62

Marcy Freeburg (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

CRTL has no information on Robert Mattive (R). Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.

State House District 63 (Updated 6/26)

Rep. Lori Saine (R) is likely pro-life, but has never responded to a survey or even affirmed a commitment to Personhood so CRTL can not evaluate her full commitment to pro-life positions. She has carried anti-abortion regulations, but that by itself is not sufficient for CRTL to conclude she opposes abortions in every case and at every stage of development including chemical abortions (abortifacient poisoning). Please encourage her to respond to the CRTL survey so we can evaluate her positions on these important issues. 


*** It's worth noting that there may be criminal charges pending in a case where political mailers were sent to discredit Lori Saine using false statements. It's believed this may be an attempt to replace solid conservatives with moderate Republicans. Information here.
 
Colleen Whitlow (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life according to answers to the CRTL survey.

State House District 64

Kimmi Lewis (R) has pledged to be 100% pro-life in responses to our survey.

Rep. Tim Dore (R) is a pro-life legislator who has affirmed a 100% pro-life position via a previous survey. Please encourage him to respond to this year's survey so we can re-affirm that position.

State House District 65

Rep. Jon Becker (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and CRTL has very little information to go on with regard to his stands. Please encourage him to respond to the survey so we can understand his position.


Please note that the above information will be updated regularly as new information becomes available between now and the June 28 primary election.

Full List of Pro-Life Candidates (Colorado 2010 - August Update)

This blog has been superseded by new information (which is why the links are gray). Fully updated information as of mid-October 2010 is available by clicking here.

You may still look up our detailed comments on candidates in the following places:

Governor & Senate Candidates (plus key State Senate races)

Pro-life vs. pro-abortion candidates in 3 Congressional Primaries (candidates are lying!)

Legislative Candidates' detailed comments (today's post contains updates and supersedes the old information)

We have received NEW candidate surveys in the past few days, which are listed here. Pro-life candidates' names are listed in bold.

This is a simplified list of all candidates who Colorado Right to Life considers "pro-life". To be on this list, a candidate must meet the following qualifications:
1) They must support Personhood - Amendment 62 - and be on record supporting an actual Right to Life which should be guaranteed under the law.
2) They must officially support NO ABORTIONS for any reason (other than to save the "life of the mother" which is a matter we've discussed before -- we support doing whatever is necessary to save the life of the mother, which NEVER requires trying to kill an unborn child in the womb -- candidates who support "life of the mother exceptions" are misunderstanding this, but we just need to talk through it with them).

This list includes only valid pro-life candidates for Governor, US Senate/Congress, State House and State Senate, and occasionally candidates who are NOT pro-life whose position we want to make clear (their names will not be bolded). We're sorry if the non-inclusion of a favorite candidate offends you. Candidates who are NOT on this list are either missing because they have made statements which violate either of our two criteria or because they have not responded to the CRTL Candidate Survey -- call them, e-mail them, ask them to answer, and they will be included.

Colorado Governor

Dan Maes (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Scott McInnis (R) supports Personhood (his claims of having a pro-life record in Congress are NOT true), and says he is pro-life with no exceptions (we'll hold him to that).
Tom Tancredo (Constitution) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

U.S. Senate

Ken Buck (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Jane Norton (R) says she supports Personhood, but her website supports abortions for rape or incest which violate the concept of Personhood -- she is NOT 100% pro-life.

Congressional District 1

Steve Barton (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(Mark Fallon, his Republican opponent, is not overtly pro-life: Denver Post: "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")

Congressional District 2

No candidates are 100% pro-life -- Bob Brancato opposes most abortions, Stephen Bailey supports all abortions.

Congressional District 3

Bob McConnell (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Scott Tipton (R) won't go on record, and claims to be pro-life but is NOT considered truly pro-life.
John Hargis (write-in) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 4

Cory Gardner (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 5

Doug Lamborn (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 6

Mike Coffman (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

Congressional District 7

No candidates are confirmed 100% pro-life. Lang Sias hasn't responded to repeated attempts to get a response to our surveys, though he says he's pro-life. Ryan Frazier falsely claims to be pro-life while he's told newspapers he doesn't think the government should interfere.

State Senate District 1

Greg Brophy (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.

State Senate District 2

Kevin Grantham (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(his Republican opponent is pro-abortion)

State Senate District 3

Vera Ortegon (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
Alexander Mugatu (R) supports Personhood, but also supports some abortion exceptions so he cannot be considered fully pro-life.

State Senate District 5

No pro-life candidates (pro-life Wayne Wolf doesn't appear to be on the ballot any longer)

State Senate District 6

Dean Boehler (R) supports Personhood, pro-life with no exceptions.
(his Republican opponent supports abortion)

State Senate District 7

Steve King (R) 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) is unclear in his support of Personhood, and though he has been 100% pro-life in the past he hasn't responded to our survey.

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 had time 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. His party is considered 100% pro-life. If you know him please have him contact us.

State Senate District 32

Tyler Kolden (R) is a new candidate we've not been able to reach. No reason to believe either way so far.

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) 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.

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

Candidates have not returned surveys. No reason to believe they're strongly pro-life.

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) is responding to the survey now -- we'll update this when we see his responses.

State House District 32

Kaarl Hoopes (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

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) supports Personhood, which we assume means he has no exceptions. We'd like to confirm this. If you know him please have him contact us. We haven't received his survey.

State House District 35

Edgar Antillon (R) says he's pro-life but we never recieved his survey. We cannot confirm.

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) supports Personhood, and is pro-life without exception.

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

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they're pro-life.

State House District 43

Frank McNulty (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.

State House District 44

Chris Holbert (R) supports Personhood, and is pro-life with no exceptions.
David Casiano (R) recently responded that he supports Personhood, and is pro-life without exceptions.
Polly Lawrence (R) responded to our survey, indicating she is "personally pro-life" (which means she's professionally pro-abortion) -- she refused to support Personhood.

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) 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.
(Ray's Republican opponent 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

Candidates have not responded to surveys. No reason to believe they are pro-life.

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.

Colorado State & Federal Candidate Positions & Survey Responses - May 2010

This blog post is obsolete, having been superseded by information updated to mid-October 2010, which can be accessed by clicking here.


***UPDATE: Please Note (July 21): In just a few days, we will be updating some of this information on candidates, including Ken Buck (positive information), Dan Maes (positive information), Scott McInnis (negative information), Ryan Frazier (negative information) and Scott Tipton (negative information). Please hold onto your ballots for just a few days to see this new information in case it might affect your vote. In short, not every candidate who claims to be pro-life has been telling the whole story.***

This is a comprehensive list of all the information Colorado Right to Life has about the candidates running for office in the Colorado Caucus, Assembly & Primary season. We had published two previous releases of information on the candidates, in March and in April. The useful, updated information from both is included here, and we ask that you please consider this to supersede any older material.


If you're coming to the Colorado State Republican Assembly Saturday, or to any of the Congressional or legislative assemblies on Friday, please stop by our Personhood booth! We will also have representatives at the Sarah Palin event this weekend.


A brief, necessary introduction:


Colorado Right to Life pulls no punches -- if we have doubts about a candidate's sincerity, we'll tell you. The old definition of "pro-life" won't work. Personhood is the new definition -- a Right to Life from the beginning of biological development until natural death. No exceptions for rape or incest (if you have a Right to Life, it is inviolable). We also ask candidates not to "regulate" abortion, because a regulation implies a "right" to do whatever is being regulated (i.e. abortion). Candidates and legislators have been slow to adapt to these new definitions and stands, but they are definitely changing. Here are the questions they were asked in our survey: http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/candidate-survey (at the bottom is also an explanation of our anti-regulation position, as well as a policy statement on "life of the mother" exceptions).


Personhood has been an issue in Colorado for only 2 years now -- it was first on the ballot in 2008, and is again on the ballot in 2010 (as Amendment 62 -- plus, it will soon be on the ballot in other states also, such as Mississippi in 2011). Don't accept a candidate who self-identifies as pro-life but who won't support Personhood, or won't respond to the Colorado Right to Life Candidate Survey. Someone who says they are pro-life but they have exceptions, or aren't willing to enact their pro-life principles in law are "pro-abortion with exceptions." Personhood IS the Right to Life -- someone who does not support Personhood does not support recognizing a God-given Right to Life in law!


In 2008, most major candidates were unwilling to take a stand on Personhood. It's possible that Bob Schaffer, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, lost because he did not endorse Personhood, and many voters did not consider him sufficiently pro-life. By contrast, in 2010, every credible Republican candidate for top statewide offices has said they support Personhood, and most of the credible Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and Congress have also expressed support for Personhood. Source: http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/prolife_measures_support_reviv


While we are excited that all these candidates support Personhood publicly, we question the sincerity of some, who may only be endorsing Personhood for reasons of political expediency (to avoid Schaffer's fate, perhaps?). Candidate Ali Hasan, for instance, encourages support for Personhood, and uses that as a reason people should vote for him and his principles. However, Hasan does not actually support the concept of Personhood -- he supports killing some children by abortion, for a variety of reasons, and may even support abortion until the 6th month of pregnancy!

Former Congressman Scott McInnis was formerly a ranking member of Republicans for Choice (a pro-abortion Republican group), and is known to have opposed pro-life measures and supported pro-abortion measures (even public funding) in the past. He says he has "changed his mind," but he was slow to endorse Personhood, and has made no firm pledges to do more than cut off public funding and end Partial Birth Abortion. We are naturally suspicious, but if he is really a convert we hope to see real commitments from him. Until then, Colorado Right to Life naturally prefers voters to support candidates who are known to have made solid pro-life statements or commitments (like responding to our survey).


We do not assume any candidate is pro-life unless they've responded to our candidate survey, or we have some other reason to trust their positions are sincere. CRTL does not officially endorse candidates for any office, but we will let you know which ones are NOT pro-life, and try to offer guidance on the rest. Please, NEVER assume a candidate is pro-life because of their party affiliation! CRTL does not support candidates from any particular political party -- if a candidate from the Constitution Party or even the Democrat Party is pro-life, we will let you know. We do not ever recommend voting for the "lesser of two evils" because we stand on very important principles which we will not compromise for purposes of political expediency.


Personhood -- support for the God-given Right to Life from the beginning of a human's biological development until natural death -- is CRTL's only real standard for judging a candidate's qualifications, though we do challenge candidates on several questions which relate closely to Personhood but which may be considered separate issues.




A final note: Because of our principled stand, many of our past financial supporters consider us extreme. If you appreciate our uncompromising principles in favor of a real, God-given Right to Life for all Persons, no exceptions, please consider supporting us financially. Most organizations do not hold to their principles because it's not profitable. That's not a reasonable excuse, and we will not follow, but there are consequences for standing up for what's right. Donations can be accepted here: http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/donate






Here is what we know about the candidates running for office in Colorado. We cannot assume that a candidate is not pro-life just because they haven't responded to our survey, but we really don't know for sure. We are suspicious of any candidate who does not respond to our survey, and we hope you will be too. Encourage them to respond to the survey and refuse to support them if they don't. Our Survey has 7 questions, and response to 6 or 7 questions correctly (depending which ones) tell us that we're working with someone who has tremendous potential to be a leader, and who is close to being consistent on the God-given Right to Life. Though we have hesitations about candidates who respond to the "regulation" question incorrectly (because these candidates are willing to support "bad law" that will entrench the concept of abortion "rights" in this country despite the intent being to limit abortion), we will continue to work with them to explain the full Personhood concept and why "exceptions" and "regulations" were the cited reason for Roe v. Wade in the first place.

We have made serious efforts to reach most candidates for major offices, and if they have not responded that probably means they've ignored at least two attempts to contact them. Legislative candidates have all been e-mailed at least once, unless we had reason to believe they were pro-abortion.


U.S. Senate


Michael Bennet (D) is clearly pro-abortion, supports federal funding, Obama's health care, etc.


Andrew Romanoff (D) is also pro-abortion, supports Obama's health care, etc.


Republican Ken Buck is a credible candidate we consider very strongly pro-life and pro-Personhood, based on conversations with him. He is on record supporting Personhood, though we have not received his candidate questionnaire.


Republican Jane Norton has supported "abortion exceptions" in the past (i.e. for rape & incest, which is from our perspective "pro-abortion with exceptions"), and for some time refused to support Personhood. She was scheduled to meet with someone about Personhood, but the meeting hasn't happened yet despite every effort. However, she has apparently endorsed Personhood recently, along with the other Republican candidates for U.S. Senate. Questions to her campaign to confirm this went unanswered, and she has not responded to our survey, sent by certified letter, and she's had enough time to respond.

Again, we must question Jane Norton's sincerity on this issue, because she has seemed more reluctant than willing. She did participate in Gov. Owens' cutoff of Planned Parenthood from state funding, and we applaud her actions on that (as a cabinet member). She also is rumored to soon be endorsed by Sarah Palin, though that's certainly no indicator of pro-life status (Palin also endorsed John McCain against a pro-life opponent, despite McCain's long checkered history of occasional support for abortion and continued support for embryonic destruction, which Palin joined in endorsing).


Republican Cleve Tidwell has responded to our survey, and answered correctly on 7 of 7 questions -- he is strongly pro-Personhood. His responses to some other surveys were not as solid, but we believe he is sincere. He took the initiative to respond quickly to our survey, and we appreciate that he was our first respondent.


Tom Wiens (R) has traditionally been a pro-life legislator, and had promised to respond to our survey, but we haven't received it yet after a couple months of trying. He is petitioning onto the ballot, so will not be a candidate at the Assembly.


We do not have information on Maclyn Stringer, or John Finger, the two Libertarian Party candidates. Libertarians normally support abortion, but not always.





Governor


John Hickenlooper (D) is known to be pro-abortion.


Scott McInnis (R - Former Congressman) is the establishment candidate who the GOP thinks is "the man to beat Hickenlooper." He is running as a pro-life candidate, but is short on meaningful specifics. He was formerly a ranking member of the pro-abortion group Republicans for Choice, and is known to have supported some pro-abortion legislation (including taxpayer funding for abortions) and to have opposed some pro-life measures. He claims to have "changed his mind" about abortion, and has even expressed support for Personhood, but he has not responded to CRTL's survey (sent by certified letter 2 weeks ago, and also several times by e-mail), and we have real doubts about his sincerity. Don't believe his claims that he has a "pro-life voting record" -- HE DOES NOT.

National Right to Life (NRTL -- no current affiliation with Colorado Right to Life) scored him at 94% or 100% in each of his last 5 terms in office, however NRTL and some other notable pro-life groups are known to "rig" their scorecards to support Republicans even if they are substantially pro-abortion. NRTL rarely considers support for Embryonic Stem Cell Research a disqualifier, or support for chemical abortifacients. McInnis also missed a number of the votes NRTL scored (thus avoiding being graded down). Pro-life campaign workers have vouched for him (but they would -- they're employed by him, and campaigns carry a certain degree of "hero worship" with all staffers).


If McInnis has really changed his mind about abortion, he needs to start making solid commitments, like more vocal support of Personhood with promises to back it up.


We were impressed when Dan Maes (R) became only the second major candidate to respond to our candidate survey. We had a question about his original survey, and in time and after some dialogue he responded with support for 7 of 7 of CRTL's central points, as explained in our candidate survey. We consider him 100% pro-life, and are happy that he is doing so well in the Governor's race -- no one gave him a chance early on, but he's turned out to be a strong and credible candidate.




There is a new Republican candidate for Governor in just the past couple of weeks. Joe Gschwendtner. On day one, he announced support for a Right to Life from conception to natural death, and responded to our survey with 6 or 7 of 7 questions answered correctly (he left some wiggle room in a response on regulation, which we'll work to clarify).



Republican candidate Yoon Mager's website suggests she is "pro-abortion with exceptions" (our words, not hers). She supports some regulations or limits on abortion, but is otherwise supportive of abortion.


Constitution Party candidate Benjamin Goss is known to be a strong supporter of Personhood, and has signed the Personhood petition and responded correctly to 7 of 7 questions on the CRTL survey.






Secretary of State


Republican candidate Nancy Doty has either dropped out or never announced for this office. The only remaining Republican we're aware of is Scott Gessler, who has not responded to our survey.


Democrat incumbent Bernie Buescher is known to be pro-abortion.





Treasurer



This is an office where candidates normally don't take positions on life issues, but this year a strange competition has started between two of the candidates over who is more pro-life. It's also an important office, because traditionally the Treasurer's Office is a stepping stone into the Governor's Office (Lamm, Romer, Owens).


Democrat incumbent Cary Kennedy is assumed to be pro-abortion.


Republican candidate Walker Stapleton has not responded to our survey, and we have no reason to believe he is pro-life.


Republican Ali Hasan has sent a mailer to homes encouraging support for Amendment 62, the Personhood measure. However, he also implies he is strongly pro-life, which is very misleading. In actuality, he opposes taxpayer funding and opposes euthanasia, which is good. And he signed the Personhood petition. But we have reason to believe he has done so as a means to trick voters into thinking he is strongly pro-life. His position 2 years ago, and as far as we know still today, approved of abortion through all of the first two trimesters. He did not support a Right to Life at that time, and his own recent e-mail to CRTL confirms that he would only score 3 questions correct out of 7 if he responded to our survey. Ali Hasan may support having Amendment 62 on the ballot so people can choose, but he is NOT pro-life, even by traditional Republican measures, and CRTL certainly does not want any voter to vote for him because they believe he is.



Republican JJ Ament is the son of a former legislator who was pro-choice, but there's no reason to believe his son is pro-abortion. He has not responded to our survey, however, and so far all we have is his claim that he is pro-life. CRTL has received no firm commitment. For that matter, we're not even sure if he has endorsed Personhood, as his opponent Hasan has. He did not sign the petition, despite being asked.

*** Update on JJ Ament: We're told that in a conference call yesterday (May 19) JJ was asked about Personhood and he said former Senate candidate Bob Schaffer had talked him out of supporting it, even though he is "still" pro-life. Odd that he would accept the advice of someone who lost in large part due to his refusal to support Personhood (in other words, Republicans take this seriously -- Personhood IS the new definition of pro-life, anything less isn't good enough). ***



Attorney General


Republican incumbent John Suthers says he is pro-life, but he publicly opposes the Personhood Initiative, preferring incremental regulatory limits.


Suthers' office also did not cooperate with a request from pro-life groups to investigate Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains for failure to report teenage and pre-teen patients as possible rape cases (it is state law that underage pregnancies should be reported if there is a possibility that sexual abuse was involved).


We have no reason to believe Democrat candidate Stan Garnett is not pro-abortion.





1st Congressional District


Diana DeGette (D) is one of the most pro-abortion women in Congress.


Apparently, Steve Barton (R) has switched from running for the U.S. Senate to running for the 1st Congressional District. Barton has signed the Personhood petition, and is fully supportive of Personhood.


2nd Congressional District

Democrat incumbent Jared Polis is known to strongly support abortion.

Democrat Mike Niland is assumed to be pro-abortion (running for the Democrat nomination in Boulder -- easy assumption).

Republican candidate Bob Brancato responded to our survey, and supports Personhood (signed the petition) though it's not clear he understands Personhood very well. His responses are essentially 5 out of 7 correct. He still supports exceptions for rape and incest (i.e. pro-abortion with exceptions) and supports regulations. But these responses are promising for a candidate we've not had time to dialogue with. We'll keep working with him.


Republican candidate Stephen Bailey is a pro-abortion Republican. He had a conversation recently with a CRTL activist, who reported this. Bailey said he did not support a God-given Right to Life. He did not sign the Personhood petition. He opposes public funding of abortion, opposes Partial Birth Abortion, but says he would not vote to make abortion illegal "because people will still have abortions." (that's a reason?). He believes there's no consensus on abortion and it's a divisive issue, so he won't take a stand against it.

3rd Congressional District

Democrat incumbent John Salazar supports abortion.

Scott Tipton (R) has not responded to our survey (he did not respond at all in 2008 either). We have no reason to believe he is sincerely pro-life. Please encourage him to respond to the survey and prove our doubts wrong!

*** (Tipton Information just in - we are told an activist from 3rd Congressional has spoken to Scott Tipton who says he had not seen our survey - he says he is staunchly pro-life and opposes taxpayer funding - he has been re-sent the survey by e-mail and if we get his responses in coming days we will post it here as well as making a separate post - Tipton's office was sent the survey at least twice previously by e-mail, but I'm sure he gets lots of e-mail) (July 21 update -- we never heard from Tipton, he was just pandering)***

Bob McConnell (R) has responded to CRTL's survey, and he answered 6 out of 7 questions correctly. His only reservation was on the matter of supporting "regulatory" laws (which CRTL believes actually undermine the concept of Personhood, even though many pro-lifers believe regulations "save some babies"). This is a long-term discussion, and CRTL has been trying to educate the pro-life movement for a number of years, but many politicians still believe reulations are pro-life. On this particular matter, we believe strongly in a candidate's good intentions, and we will attempt to work with the candidate to change their opinion eventually.

4th Congressional District

Democrat incumbent Betsy Markey defeated pro-Personhood Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave in 2008 using a pro-abortion, anti-social-conservative platform.

Republican candidate Diggs Brown has dropped out, and we don't know much about Dean Madere except that he claims to be pro-life.

Cory Gardner (R) has been an outstanding pro-life legislator, and has attended a number of CRTL functions, including two Legislative luncheons/breakfasts (something most legislators don't attend). We value his dedication to these issues! Cory has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 questions answered correctly, without any reservations or exceptions. He supported Personhood in 2008 also.

Tom Lucero (R) also responded with 7 of 7 questions correct!

Mike Nelson is a Unity Party candidate, and he responded to our survey that in no uncertain terms he supports "abortion rights" 100%. He is clearly hostile to the concept of Personhood.

5th Congressional District

To the best of our knowledge, pro-Personhood Congressman Doug Lamborn is running without primary opposition this year. While he has not yet responded to our survey, he has supported Personhood (Human Life Amendment) legislation at the national level, and we are confident his support will continue.

6th Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Mike Coffman has a history of association with Colorado Right to Life, has responded favorably to the CRTL survey in the past with 7 of 7 responses correct. No response this year, but we don't have any reason to believe he's changed his position on Personhood.

7th Congressional District

Incumbent Democrat Ed Perlmutter is pro-abortion.

Republican Lang Sias has said he is pro-life, but we cannot confirm this as we have not heard from him, even after a registered letter was sent to his campaign office.

Republican Ryan Frazier claims to be pro-life BUT HE IS NOT. He supports certain limits on abortion, but is willing to go no further. He has not responded to CRTL's survey (sent several times by e-mail, and 2 weeks ago by certified letter), and we expect he would score badly if he did. Frazier speaks as if he is one of us, but he wants you to ignore statements like he made to Westword, "I am not a fan of abortion, but I struggle with whether it is the appropriate role of the government to place itself there." That's like struggling with the role of government to ban slavery. The Aurora Sentinel said, "Frazier's shown a more liberal bent in his approach on social issues, however, voicing support for same-sex couples and expressing a measured stance on government regulation of abortion." He also has ignored a registered letter to his campaign asking for his survey responses. The statements on his website and in person are cleverly worded to sound like he's on our side, but many of these same things were said by John Kerry and other pro-abortion Republicans and Democrats.

Republican candidate Mike Sheely has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 responses correct, and has also attended a Colorado Right to Life breakfast where we discussed strategy and philosophy. We value his attention to these issues.

Republican Michael Deming has said he's not sure where he stands on abortion, but would oppose federal funding. Obviously not a committed pro-life candidate.

This concludes our review of candidates for State and Federal offices. We will soon post our results for candidates for legislative (State House and Senate) offices.

Each of the Republican candidates have been contacted at least once, most of them twice by e-mail. The credible Republican candidates for Governor, Senate and 7th Congressional were sent certified letters two weeks ago to remind them we would be posting these results. Anyone in those categories who has not responded is probably ignoring us for strategic reasons, which makes us suspicious of their motives.

We have also contacted most Democrat candidates by e-mail at least once, as well as candidates for the Libertarian Party and Constitution Party, Unity Party, etc, though not all of these candidates are yet known so some may not have been contacted. The information has also been up on our website so people can respond if they look for it.

Candidates who have not responded are still welcome and encouraged to respond -- we will post them as they respond.

If you're looking for responses from Legislative candidates (State House or State Senate) that information can be found here: http://coloradorighttolife.blogspot.com/2010/05/colorado-legislative-candidate.html

Mike Coffman (candidate for congress) Clarification

Last week, while appearing on the Caplis & Silverman radio show (630 KHOW, Denver), Congressional candidate Mike Coffman was heard to say that he did not oppose abortion in cases of rape or incest. This sent CRTL and many other pro-lifers into a tizzy, because it went against what Mike had pledged in his Candidate Survey, as well as what we all thought we knew about Mike's beliefs.

When contacted about this, Mike immediately expressed surprise that he'd said any such thing. He thinks he may have gotten confused and said the opposite of what he meant. While with many candidates, we might suspect evasion, this didn't seem to be the case with Mike. He has written to attempt to clarify with Dan Caplis, so no one will misunderstand. Here is his note (copied to CRTL):

Dan,

First of all, thanks so much for your help with my campaign and for inviting me on your show. During the debate, Craig Silverman was questioning me on the issue of abortion. My response was focused on arguing that Roe v Wade was bad law. During that exchange, Craig asked me about the issue of rape and incest. Apparently, my answer came across as supporting abortions under a rape and incest exception. I absolutely do not believe in that.

Dan, I would deeply appreciate it if, during your show, you could state that I wanted to make sure that my position was clear, unequivocally, that I oppose abortion in all cases of rape and incest. I believe that all life is equally sacred irregardless of how it came into being.

Thanks again,

Mike Coffman

It takes a big man to admit such a mistake. And Mike Coffman's strong relationship with the pro-life community over many years is obviously important enough to him that he wanted to make this correction/clarification despite the fact that he surely has Colorado's 6th District race locked up and will almost certainly be one of Colorado's newly elected Congressmen in 2009.

This is great news for unborn children!

Sen. Ted Harvey and Sec. State Mike Coffman (URGENT 6th District Clarification)

In a previous blog post, we reported that we believed both Sen. Ted Harvey and Sec. State Mike Coffman hold uncompromised positions on Personhood and Life issues, according to the CRTL candidate questionnaire. Sadly, we must correct this information.

We now know that Sec. State Mike Coffman is the only candidate for the GOP 6th District Congressional primary who holds uncompromised views on abortion, and the only candidate who has promised not to continue supporting compromised legislation.

In two conversations today with CRTL officers or high-profile activists, Sen. Ted Harvey explained and clarified that he would still support compromised child-killing regulations of the type which he wrote and passed before (a compromised Parental Notification bill, which in essence said if you notify the parents, then it's okay to kill the baby). We believed he had promised not to support legislation like this in the future, but apparently he was being misleading in his "promise." Rep. Kevin Lundberg at least had the honesty to admit on his survey that he still believed in supporting such regulations, and earned a 6 out of 7 on our questionnaire. We hope both of these legislators will be open to hearing us out in a second discussion (both legislators attended CRTL's 2007 Legislative Luncheon and heard us explain why child killing regulations are wrong), and will eventually come around.

In these 2 conversations today, Sen. Harvey explained that he believed his Parental Notification measure was the right thing to do, and he would support legislation like that again. He also supported Sen. Dave Schultheis' Abortion Ultrasound bill (i.e. show the mom an ultrasound and if she still wants the abortion then you can kill the baby), and would apparently do so again.

We believed that by indicating on his questionnaire response he would not support "...and then you can kill the baby" legislation, he was being sincere. We now know differently.

It appears that Harvey was being intentionally deceptive when he indicated support for "point 7" on our questionnaire ("Will you refuse to support any legislation that would allow abortion, even if it is a 'pro-life bill' (i.e. legislation that says "Abortion shall be prohibited unless...")" Ted's answer (he did not specify yes/no) was "I would never support any legislation which says 'Abortion shall be prohibited unless...'"

Harvey's answer on this point was apparently specific to that wording (which, of course, would never specifically appear in any legislation), and not to the spirit of what we meant. He was trying to "get by" on a technicality, and claim support for CRTL's position, when it apparently was not true and his commitment was false. This, naturally, is a very disturbing development.

Which brings up another couple of points which it now seems necessary to discuss. Ted Harvey has claimed on his website and in literature that he was CRTL's "Legislator of the Year," and otherwise implying strong support from CRTL. The "Legislator of the Year" designation is true, but at the same time deceptive. That award was for a previous year, when he skewered pro-abortion Democrats on the House floor in a nationally publicized speech regarding Ms. Giana Jessen -- the young lady who survived a saline abortion, but who now suffers from abortion-related Muscular Dystrophy. We still applaud Ted for his action on that day, but it is inappropriate and unethical that he would imply our support and endorsement, when he knows he does not agree with our uncompromised stance on legislation.

Harvey has also claimed to be "the only proven conservative leader" which is a stretch of the truth -- Mike Coffman has a long record as a strong pro-lifer and a strong conservative. Ted also claimed at one time (he may have stopped saying it) he's the only candidate who has carried pro-life legislation. That's also not true -- Mike Coffman did so when he was a legislator, many years ago.

The combination of Ted Harvey's deceptiveness, and his promise to continue supporting the "child-killing regulations" of the past, mean that CRTL now has serious reservations about him. It's clear, at least, that he cannot truthfully claim he is currently an uncompromised pro-lifer, and therefore should not claim CRTL support.

We and Ted have had a long conversation on these subjects, and we believed he had come around to our point of view. This isn't true, though we hold out hope that he will continue listening to CRTL and our positions, and that he will eventually come to agree with us, and change his voting behavior.

Sen. Kevin Lundberg, Sen. Dave Schultheis, and Sen. Ted Harvey all remain some of the most likely legislators to eventually convert to the uncompromised, non-regulating point of view CRTL now holds. Sadly, none of them are at that point yet.

Thankfully, Sec. State Mike Coffman has met with CRTL board members for long and pointed discussions on these issues, and has seemed to understand, and has furthermore promised not to support compromised legislation. Mike Coffman also has a decades-long history (20 years or more) of not just support, but active involvement in the pro-life community, over and above what would be expected of any typical Republican official.

Mike Coffman has been a good and consistent friend to CRTL for many years, up to and including the last couple of years when even CRTL's strongest legislative supporters (including Harvey) found excuses not to attend CRTL events.