State House Candidates - April 2012 Update

NOTE: This entire blog has been superseded by a more current June Pre-Primary Candidate Positions blog.

The color of the text has been subdued to indicate it is obsolete.

The 2012 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 9 position questions of candidates, ranging from funding for Planned Parenthood to abortion to euthanasia.  The survey and the comments here are based on one, simple definition: No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they 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.


Additionally, we expect that they will support Colorado's Personhood Amendment. The 9^th question has to do with opposing regulations which undermine the concept of an inalienable Right to Life.  We understand that some sincere pro-life candidates do not agree that the compromise and contradictions inherent in “pro-life regulations” are unacceptable.

This blog covers only state legislative races, not Congressional contenders.  Due to the late redrafting of district borders and the possibility that candidates may still petition onto the ballot, many of these races are still not settled.  There have been two-dozen new Republican candidates declared in the past month or so, and several American Constitution Party and other candidates have also declared in recent weeks.  Many of them have not had time to respond to surveys.  If you know any candidate not mentioned here, please ask them to return their survey or contact CRTL for a copy.

(UPDATE 5/1) These records refer to those who responded to our survey answering correctly to 9 of 9 questions as "100% pro-life", because they understand (on paper, at least) the full meaning of Personhood and the Right to Life (which are essentially the same).  If there is a Right to Life for innocent people, there can be no exceptions, nor can such a Right be frittered away through compromise legislation.


By contrast, those who respond to 8 of 9 questions correctly are labeled as "pro-life" if their reservation was on question 9, regarding compromised anti-abortion regulations which are intended to "save some babies" but which imply there is no such thing in law as a Right to Life.  The "pro-life" label indicates they are sincerely pro-life, and have indicated they oppose all abortions.  However, they fundamentally misunderstand the concept of a Right to Life, or else they would not be willing to support legislation that suggests it is the government's role to determine which innocent lives can be taken away, and which cannot.

State House District 1


There is a primary between James Wildt (R) and John Kidd (R).  Please ask them to return their candidate surveys.


State House District 2


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know TJ Tyrrell (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 3


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Brian Watson (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 4


Two candidates who may be pro-life have recently entered the race.  If you know Stuart Siffring or David Dobson please encourage them to contact CRTL.

State House District 5


Two candidates who may be pro-life have recently entered the race.  If you know Ronnie Nelson (R) or Matthew Zielinski (R), please encourage them to contact CRTL.


State House District 6


No pro-life candidates we're aware of.


State House District 7


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Travis French (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 8


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Alan Johnson (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 9


If you know Robert Lane (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 10

No candidates that appear to be pro-life.


State House District 11

We have not heard from Ellyn Hilliard (R) – if you know her please ask her to contact CRTL.


State House District 12

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Russ Lyman (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 13

A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Adam Ochs (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.

State House District 14


Daniel Nordberg (R) has no opposition.  He 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.

State House District 15


American Constitution Party candidate Michael Edstrom is presumably pro-life, but please encourage him to contact us.  Rep. Mark Waller (R) claims to be pro-life, but has not supported Personhood, and is generally considered a fence-sitter on pro-life issues.


State House District 16


Rep. Janak Joshi (R) says he is pro-life on his site, but his support of Personhood is unknown.  He was very cooperative with CRTL in pushing a non-objectionable, non-compromised, Fetal Homicide measure through the legislature this year – the first time one passed either chamber of the Colorado legislature (it failed in the Senate a couple of weeks ago).  We would like to have him on record with regard to his commitments, so please encourage him to return his survey.

State House District 17


Mark Barker (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, but we have not heard from him this year.  Barry Forest Pace (ACP) is also presumably pro-life.  Please encourage both to return their 2012 survey – we need to confirm both candidates’ commitments. 

State House District 18


Jennifer George (R) may or may not be pro-life.  The American Constitution Party has a candidate, Amy Fedde, who is presumably pro-life.  Please encourage both to return their surveys. 


State House District 19


This is one of the most fascinating races in the legislature this year.  Rep. Amy Stephens (R – House Majority Leader) is being challenged by Rep. Marsha Looper (R) who were redistricted into the same district together.  Looper is framing this as a conservative vs. moderate fight, and so far as CRTL can tell she’s entirely correct.  Stephens used to work for Focus on the Family, but she also used to work in the abortion industry.  With rare exceptions, she has remained silent and disinterested in pro-life issues in the past, and even sponsored a bill to silence pro-life protestors.  Rep. Marsha Looper (R) is 100% pro-life, returned the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly, and helped lead a fight to de-fund Planned Parenthood in the State budget.  Rep. Amy Stephens has never returned a CRTL survey, and there is no reason to believe she is pro-life.  She also enabled Obamacare, and its taxpayer-paid abortion provisions, by sponsoring HB-200.  Tim Biolchini (ACP) is also presumably pro-life.  Please encourage Stephens and Biolchini to return their CRTL surveys.

State House District 20

Rep. Bob Gardner (R) has never responded to a CRTL survey, and also supported the conscience-violating “emergency contraceptive” legislation which forces pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide the abortion-causing “morning after pill.”  He is not pro-life.  Donna Burdick (ACP) is presumably pro-life.  Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.


State House District 21


A rare “can’t lose” situation.  Al Sweet (R) is 100% pro-life, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions.  Lois Landgraf (R) is 100% pro-life, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions. 


State House District 22


Justin Everett (R) is 100% pro-life, responding correctly to 9 of 9 questions.  Loren Bauman (R) is apparently not pro-life.


State House District 23


Rick Enstrom (R) may be pro-life, but the degree of his commitment has not been established.  Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 24


E.V. Leyendecker (R) may or may not be pro-life.  Please ask him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 25


Cheri Gerou (R) is not regarded as pro-life.  She has never responded to a CRTL survey and is considered an unreliable vote on even the least of pro-life votes.


State House District 26


Chuck McConnell (R) may or may not be pro-life.  Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 27


Libby Szabo (R) has not returned surveys, but we believe she probably supports Personhood.  Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.


State House District 28

Amy Attwood (R) is probably pro-life, but we need to establish this.  Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.


State House District 29


Robert Ramirez (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past.  Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey to make sure he’s still with us.


State House District 30


If this is the same person who ran for Congress (CD7) in 2010, Mike Sheely (R) has responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in the past.  Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 31


Beth Humenik (R) may or may not be pro-life.  Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.


State House District 32


Paul Reimer (R) may or may not be pro-life.  Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 33


David Pigott (R) may or may not be pro-life. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 34

Jodina Widhalm (R) may or may not be pro-life.  Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.


State House District 35


Brian Vande Krol (R) is pro-abortion.


State House District 36


Neither Robert Martinez (R) nor Jim Parker (R) have responded to the CRTL survey (and in fact we can’t find either candidate’s contact info).  Please encourage them to contact CRTL.


State House District 37


Rep. Spencer Swalm (R) claims to be pro-life, but has never responded to a CRTL survey, is very resistant to CRTL, and supported the conscience-violating "emergency contraception" mandate in the legislature.  His commitment is very much in doubt.


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).  We do not consider her pro-life. She is regarded as an unreliable vote on pro-life issues.

State House District 39


This is a somewhat weird Republican primary.  Polly Lawrence did not respond to CRTL’s survey when she ran in 2010, and was at that time regarded as not pro-life (CRTL cannot read candidates’ minds – if they evade answering tough questions, it is easy to assume they don’t agree with you).  However, Polly Lawrence (R) has in 2012 responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly, and is apparently 100% pro-life.
(UPDATE 5/1) Lu Ann Busse (R) is pro-life, answering correctly to 8 of the 9 questions on the CRTL survey. 

This race effectively illustrates the danger of not responding to the CRTL survey – if you are pro-life, don’t keep it a secret from us!  


State House District 40


Cynthia Acree (R) is believed to be pro-life, but she has not responded to the CRTL survey. Please encourage her to do so.


State House District 41


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Adrienne Webb-Markopolous (R) please encourage her to contact CRTL.  There is also Independent Maria Fay, who we know nothing about.

State House District 42


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Michael Donald (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.  Democrat Rep. Rhonda Fields (D) has become very shrill in opposing pro-life efforts.


State House District 43


Speaker Frank McNulty (R) has said in the past he supports Personhood, but he has taken action as leader of the House Republicans which cast doubt upon his commitment to taking pro-life action.


State House District 44


Rep. Chris Holbert (R) is 100% pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly.  He has also become a stand-out leader of the pro-life legislators in the House.


State House District 45


Rep. Carole Murray (R) is believed to be pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey.  Please encourage her to return her survey.


State House District 46


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Jerry Denney (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL. 

State House District 47


Ray Watts (R) is 100% pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly.  However, it is unclear whether he will make it on the primary ballot after a loss at the district assembly.  Clarice Navarro-Ratzlaff has not responded to the CRTL survey.  Please encourage her to contact us.

State House District 48

Jeffrey Hare (R) is 100% pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 of 9 questions answered correctly.   
(UPDATE 5/1): Stephen Humphrey (R) is pro-life, and responded to the CRTL survey with 8 of 9 questions answered correctly, and having a reservation on question 9, regarding compromise regulations which may "save some lives" but which also undermine the concept of a Right to Life in law.  If he is the nominee, we will continue to work with him on this issue.


State House District 49

Perry Buck (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey.  Please encourage her to do so.


State House District 50


Arthur “Skip” Carlson (R) may be pro-life, but has not returned his CRTL survey.  Please encourage him to do so.


State House District 51


Rep. Brian DelGrosso (R) is believed to support Personhood, but we have not heard from him.  Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State House District 52


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Bob Morain (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL. 


State House District 53


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Jonathan Fye (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL. 


State House District 54

Two candidates who may be pro-life have recently entered the race.  If you know John Price (R) or Jared Wright (R) please encourage them to contact CRTL. 


State House District 55


Rep. Ray Scott (R) responded favorably to CRTL’s survey in 2010, but we have not yet heard from him this year.  There is also Virgil Fenn (Libertarian) who may or may not be pro-life (most Libertarians are not).  Please encourage both to respond to the CRTL survey. 

State House District 56


Rep. Kevin Priola (R) says he is pro-life, but has not responded to the CRTL survey.  Please encourage him to do so.


State House District 57

Bob Rankin (R) did not reply to the CRTL survey in 2010, and has not in 2012.  It is believed he is not pro-life (his defeated opponent in the primary was not either).  Please encourage him to respond to the CRTL survey.


State House District 58


Don Coram (R) may or may not be pro-life.  He has never responded to the CRTL survey.  Please encourage him to contact us.


State House District 59


J. Paul Brown (R) spoke out in favor of Personhood in 2010, and he has indicated he will respond to the CRTL survey this year.


State House District 60


Steve Collins (R) is pro-life, responding correctly to 8 of the 9 questions, and answering favorably to the 9^th (opposing anti-abortion regulations) with a minor reservation.  It sounds like he will work with CRTL to avoid compromised legislation.  James Wilson (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey.  Please encourage him to contact us.


State House District 61


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know David Justice (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL.  Robert Petrowsky (ACP) is presumably pro-life but we need to hear from him. 


State House District 62


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race.  If you know Tim Walters (R) please encourage him to contact CRTL. 


State House District 63


Lori Saine (R) claims to be pro-life, but responded to CRTL merely that she believes “life begins at conception,” which is entirely inadequate (John McCain claimed the same, but believed in taxpayer-funded murder of unborn embryos for research purposes).  If you know Lori, please encourage her to establish her bona fides in detail to set herself apart from other Republicans who try to be vague, with evasive responses that commit to nothing.  It is unclear whether Gene Stille (R) or Bruce Sparrow (R) are still in the race.  There is also a write-in candidate, Michael Mazzocco.  If these people are still running, please encourage them to contact CRTL.


State House District 64


Tim Dore (R) is pro-life, having responded to the CRTL survey with 8 out of 9 correct answers, providing a contradictory answer to #9.  We will continue to work with him on his support for compromised anti-abortion regulations (which some pro-life legal scholars believe legitimizes abortion and doesn’t treat the unborn child as a Person). 

State House District 65

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) has responded favorably to previous CRTL surveys.  Please ask him to contact us so we can establish for sure that he’s still with us.

**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.  Most Democrats who entered early in the race were sent a copy of the survey in February.  Though more recent entrants have not, they are welcome to contact CRTL to answer the survey.

State Senate Candidates - April 2012 Update

NOTE: The information in this blog has been superseded by a more current June Pre-Primary Candidate Positions blog.

The color of the text has been subdued to indicate it is obsolete.

The 2012 Colorado Right to Life survey asked 9 position questions of candidates, ranging from funding for Planned Parenthood to abortion to euthanasia. The survey and the comments here are based on one, simple definition: No candidate is considered "pro-life" unless they 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.


Additionally, we expect that they will support Colorado's Personhood Amendment. The 9th question has to do with opposing regulations which undermine the concept of an inalienable Right to Life. We understand that some sincere pro-life candidates do not agree that the compromise and contradictions inherent in “pro-life regulations” are unacceptable.


This blog covers only state legislative races, not Congressional contenders. Due to the late redrafting of district borders and the possibility that candidates may still petition onto the ballot, many of these races are still not settled. There have been two-dozen new Republican candidates declared in the past month or so, and several American Constitution Party and other candidates have also declared in recent weeks. Many of them have not had time to respond to surveys. If you know any candidate not mentioned here, please ask them to return their survey or contact CRTL for a copy.


(UPDATE 5/1) These records refer to those who responded to our survey answering correctly to 9 of 9 questions as "100% pro-life", because they understand (on paper, at least) the full meaning of Personhood and the Right to Life (which are essentially the same).  If there is a Right to Life for innocent people, there can be no exceptions, nor can such a Right be frittered away through compromise legislation.




By contrast, those who respond to 8 of 9 questions correctly are labeled as "pro-life" if their reservation was on question 9, regarding compromised anti-abortion regulations which are intended to "save some babies" but which imply there is no such thing in law as a Right to Life.  The "pro-life" label indicates they are sincerely pro-life, and have indicated they oppose all abortions.  However, they fundamentally misunderstand the concept of a Right to Life, or else they would not be willing to support legislation that suggests it is the government's role to determine which innocent lives can be taken away, and which cannot.




State Senate District 4


Mark Scheffel (R) has not responded to the CRTL survey, but is believed to support Personhood. Please ask him to return his survey.


State Senate District 8


No candidates have returned the CRTL survey, but Rep. Randy Baumgardner (R) is facing Sen. Jean White (R) in a primary. Baumgardner responded pro-Personhood in 2010, and White is known to be pro-choice.


State Senate District 10


(**updated 4/24) Owen Hill (R) is pro-life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 8 of 9 questions answered correctly (he is willing to dialogue about the 9th question, regarding non-support of anti-abortion regulations). He is in a primary with Rep. Larry Liston (R) who has never returned a CRTL survey, and is thought to be indifferent to pro-life issues.  Liston also voted for a conscience-violating measure requiring pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide “emergency contraception” (i.e. the abortifacient “morning after” pill).


State Senate District 12


Sen. Bill Cadman (R) is 100% Pro-Life, supports Personhood, and responded to the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered correctly.


State Senate District 14


Syndi Anderson (R) is probably pro-life but we cannot confirm this, or whether she opposes all abortion. Please encourage her to return her CRTL survey.


State Senate District 17


A new candidate who may be pro-life has entered the race. If you know Charlie Plagainos, please ask him to contact CRTL.


State Senate District 18


A new candidate who may be pro-life has entered the race. If you know Barry Thoma, please ask him to contact CRTL.


State Senate District 19


Lang Sias (R) has called himself pro-life, but has never answered a CRTL survey, and his credentials and commitments are suspect. Please ask him to return his survey.


State Senate District 21


Two new candidates may be pro-life. If you know Francine Bigelow or Matthew Plichta, please ask them to contact CRTL.


State Senate District 22


Ken Summers (R), despite being a former pastor, is NOT pro-life. He has voted for a conscience-violating measure requiring pro-life doctors and pharmacists to provide “emergency contraception” (i.e. the abortifacient “morning after” pill), and has responded angrily when asked about pro-life measures.


State Senate District 23


(**updated 4/26) Vicki Marble (R) is 100% Pro-Life, supports Personhood, and answered the CRTL survey with 9 out of 9 questions answered correctly.  She is in a primary contest against Rep. Glenn Vaad (R). Vaad signed the Personhood petition in 2010, but may have done so without conviction, as he has shown little other sign that he is pro-life and has never returned a CRTL survey. Vaad also voted for the conscience-violating “emergency contraception” measure.


State Senate District 25


John Sampson (R) claims to be pro-life, but his level of commitment and support for Personhood is unclear. He has not returned the CRTL survey, and seems to have doubts about the Personhood strategy. Please encourage him to support Personhood and to return the CRTL survey.


State Senate District 26


David Kerber (R) shows no sign of being pro-life. Please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State Senate District 27


Rep. Dave Balmer (R) has expressed strong pro-life commitments and is pro-Personhood, but has not returned his CRTL survey. Please encourage him to do so.


State Senate District 28


Art Carlson (R) and John Lyons (R) are in a primary against each other. Both claim to be pro-life, but neither has responded to the CRTL survey, and the depth of their commitment is in question. Either or both may be 100% pro-life, but from conversations this has remained unclear.


State Senate District 29


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Bill Ross (R) please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State Senate District 31


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Brandon Kelley (R) please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.


State Senate District 35


A candidate who may be pro-life has recently entered the race. If you know Larry Crowder (R) please encourage him to return his CRTL survey.






*** Please note: The fact that the candidates listed above are mostly Republicans is not meant to convey the idea that Republicans are necessarily all pro-life or that the only pro-life candidates are Republicans.  In many cases (some noted) this is not at all true.  However, we are unaware of any Democrats who are legitimately pro-life.  Many Democrats were sent the survey, but only a couple responded with unfavorable comments.  The candidates of the American Constitution Party are presumably all pro-life, as it's part of the party platform and screening process, but most are newly declared and have not had time to return surveys. They will be noted in future updates.

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 Legislative Candidate Positions & Survey Responses - May 2010

All information below this paragraph is obsolete, having been superseded by updated information accurate as of mid-October 2010, which can be accessed by clicking here.


Here we continue our information about candidates (find State & Federal candidates' information here: http://coloradorighttolife.blogspot.com/2010/05/colorado-state-federal-candidate.html). This information supersedes all previous information (we had published updates in March and April), and includes everything we have to date.

If a candidate you know isn't on this list, please ask them to return their survey, which can be found here: http://www.coloradorighttolife.org/candidate-survey .

The introduction, where we explain Colorado Right to Life's stance and why we are so "hard on candidates" (it's called holding them accountable) is in the other post, linked above. Here's a brief synopsis:


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.

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!

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


Colorado State Senate Candidates

State Senate District 1

Sen. Greg Brophy (R) has a strong record of supporting Personhood (though like many current pro-life officeholders, he also supports regulating abortion -- we will continue efforts to change his mind). He has not returned his CRTL survey, but we hope someone will remind him.


State Senate District 2

Republican candidate Kevin Grantham has responded to our survey, answering 7 of 7 questions correctly! He also advertises his pro-life values on his website (many lukewarm candidates won't do this), citing a pro-Personhood "life at fertilization" standard.

Grantham faces primary opponents, but we have not heard from them.



State Senate District 3

Republican candidate Alexander Lucero-Mugatu has responded to our survey, responding correctly to 6 of 7 questions. His response to question #2, on rape & incest exceptions, makes us think he does not necessarily support prohibiting abortion for rape or incest (which undermines the Personhood of the unborn child), but we will work with him on these apparent exceptions. For now, it remains a red flag, and we hope that a supporter will be able to speak with him about this.

Mugatu faces a Republican primary, but we have not heard from his opponents.



State Senate District 5

Republican candidate Wayne Wolf has responded to our survey with 7 of 7 questions answered correctly! He did indicate a possible exception for certain regulations, but it sounds like he is very close to our position, and we can work with him on defining specifics.

Wolf faces a Republican primary, but we have not heard from his opponent.



State Senate District 6

Rep. Ellen Roberts (R) is a pro-abortion Republican who was the lowest scoring Republican in the 2007-08 CRTL Legislative Scorecard, having supported pro-abortion positions on a number of occasions, and even cosponsoring legislation requiring even pro-life medical personnel to promote "emergency contraception" like RU 486 or Plan B -- strong chemical abortifacients meant to kill a developing unborn child. Several Democrats were considered more pro-life than her.

However, Republican Dean Boehler entered the race as a conservative, pro-life challenger. He answered 7 of 7 of CRTL's questions correctly in our candidate survey, and we consider him 100% pro-life.

Democrat Bruce Whitehead is unknown to us, but is assumed to be pro-abortion.



State Senate District 7

Rep. Steve King (R) voted in favor of "emergency contraception" (i.e. abortifacient pills intended to kill an already-concieved human child) in 2007. It's his only black mark we're aware of (we have not yet calculated the 2009-10 legislative scorecard), but this is obviously of serious concern. He has not responded to our survey, and we are unaware of whether he claims to be pro-life or not.

We have not heard from Democrat Claudette Konola, but she is assumed to be pro-abortion.



State Senate District 9

This district features a primary contest between two Republicans of decidedly opposite persuasions.

Rep. Kent Lambert (R) is running for Sen. Schultheis’ senate seat. Lambert is one of the strongest pro-life votes in the legislature, and is pro-Personhood. Sadly he, along with all other current pro-life legislative officeholders, is still supporting regulations, but we hope he will change his mind if he wins this seat. We are hopeful.

His Republican primary opponent, Thomas McDowell’s, only reason to run seems to be that he has a chip on his shoulder about pro-life legislators like Lambert and Schultheis, and he’s made opposition to Christians and socially conservative positions a centerpiece of his campaign. McDowell is petitioning onto the ballot.

We are not familiar with Democrat Nick Werle, and in Colorado Springs we can't necessarily predict his stands.


State Senate District 11

We have tried to reach the candidates in this district -- Republican Owen Hill and Rep. John Morse -- but haven't heard from them. Morse has a pro-abortion record in the legislature. If you know Owen Hill, please have him contact us.



State Senate District 13

Sen. Scott Renfroe (R) is running for re-election. We believe Renfroe is the only current legislator who has run an actual pro-Personhood bill. Renfroe is very supportive of Personhood, and even took time from his busy day to oversee the petitions being turned in to the Sec. State’s office in 2008. Pro-life issues are central to his political philosophy.

We do not know anything about Democrat Ken Storck, but presume he is pro-abortion.



State Senate District 15

Two Republicans and two Democrats are running for this seat.

Rep. Kevin Lundberg (R) is known as a strong leader of Colorado’s pro-life contingent in the legislature. Again, he’s not yet renounced regulations, but in 2008 he was honest about his continuing support for regulations, but also strongly supported Personhood. We remain hopeful that he will change his mind about regulations. He answered correctly on 6 of 7 questions (i.e. except for regulations) in 2008, and we’re waiting to hear from him on his 2010 survey.

A Republican primary challenger is Torsten Eckstein, who has not responded and we know nothing about.

The Democrat Richard Ball is unknown to us, but we assume is pro-abortion.




State Senate District 16

Two Republicans and two Democrats are running for this seat also.

One of the Republican candidates is former CRTL board member Tim Leonard, who has also run for Governor previously on the Constitution Party ticket. In the past, Leonard has supported Personhood. We hope that he will continue to do so. We still await his candidate survey responses, however.

His primary opponent is Mark Hurlbert, Boulder DA.

Democrat Jeanne Nicholson is unknown to us, but is presumed to be pro-abortion.


State Senate District 20

Rep. Cheri Jahn (D) and her primary opponent Jonathan Ruchman have not responded to surveys. Jahn has a pro-abortion voting record.

We have not heard from their Republican challenger, John Odom.


State Senate District 22

Sen. Mike Kopp (R) supports Personhood and is 100% pro-life. He's part of the Republican Party leadership, and we're excited to see where he will take the legislature in coming years. We have not received his survey, but we have no doubts he is strongly pro-Personhood.


State Senate District 24

We have not heard from Republican Luis Alvarez. His Democrat opponent, Sen. Lois Tochtrop has a pro-abortion voting record.



State Senate District 30

Sen. Ted Harvey (R) supports Personhood, but also supports regulations. We hope to work with him in the coming year on that issue.



State Senate District 32

Sen. Chris Romer (D) has a pro-abortion voting record. We have not heard from his Republican challenger, Tyler Kolden.



State Senate District 34

We have not heard from the two Democrat candidates, Lucia Guzman or Rep. Joel Judd (D), though Judd has a pro-abortion voting record.

We also have not heard from Republican Derec Shuler, though his website indicates the government should stay out of our lives "especially our personal lives", which is usually code for pro-choice (i.e. pro-abortion).




Almost all of these candidates have been sent e-mails at least once, many of them twice. We've also checked most of their websites. There may be other senate candidates whose websites indicate a pro-life or pro-Personhood position. If you have information on a candidate, please let us know by e-mailing office@coloradorighttolife.org.


Colorado State House Candidates

We will only highlight a district if we have something useful to say. Some districts are currently uncontested, for instance, but if they've returned a survey we will list them. It can normally be assumed Democrats are pro-abortion unless stated otherwise. It cannot be assumed Republicans are pro-life -- many Republicans are not, and even many who claim to be support abortion in many cases. Our assumption is that if a candidate who has received our survey (every Republican should have gotten an e-mail unless they announced late, and many Democrats have too) has not returned it, they are not pro-life (i.e. they're hiding something). State House candidates are not famous for returning surveys, partly because they have small/no staff, and partly because they're usually advised not to return surveys (more experienced candidates know that sometimes exceptions should be made). But we also assume that if they were pro-life, one of their supporters or campaign volunteers would have mentioned they weren't on our list, and asked them to return the survey. Those who are still "no response" after 3 months of trying are "conspicuously absent."

State House District 3

We have not heard from either Daniel Kagan (D) or Christine Mastin (R), though both have been sent our survey. This is a City of Denver district, but is more conservative than most of the city, and Republicans have held this seat before. Mastin is a Tea Party associate, and is "fans" of some pro-life people on Facebook. Can we take that as an indicator she's pro-life? No, but it leaves the possibility open. Please let us know if you know more.


State House District 5

We had previously noted that JJ Swiontek, one of our 2008 "7 of 7" pro-Personhood respondents, had switched parties and was running in the Democrat primary. Unsure of how his stand might have changed during his conversion, but he is apparently no longer running -- perhaps he was eliminated during an assembly.

The remaining Democrats, Mark Thrun and Crisanta Duran, are unknown to us, as is the Republican Ronnie Nelson.



State House District 14

Dr. Janak Joshi is the Republican candidate for this seat. His website indicates that he is pro-life because he is a doctor – if only more doctors felt that way!

We have no information as to whether he supports the Personhood Initiative. If you have information, we would welcome your help. Also, please encourage him to return his CRTL candidate survey so we can establish his positions for sure.



State House District 15

Rep. Mark Waller (R) is running for re-election. In the 2008 race his pro-life credentials were not very well established (his opponent in the primary was pro-Personhood), but he claims to be pro-life. He seems ambivalent about the Personhood Initiative, and we have no reason to believe he is now supportive, or ever will support it.

Please encourage Rep. Waller to return his CRTL survey, and to support the Personhood Initiative (Amendment 62).


State House District 16

Democrat Janet Tanner is assumed to be pro-abortion, though in Colorado Springs districts that cannot necessarily be assumed.

Incumbent Rep. Larry Liston (R) has a record of voting pro-life, though he was one of our "rogue" Republicans who for some reason supported the 2007 bill on "emergency contraception" (which can kill a child on her 1st, 2nd or 3rd day of development). We are concerned about that vote, which we'd love an explanation for.



State House District 17

Republican Mark Barker has signed the Personhood petition, supports Personhood, and regards it as one of the most important principles to be upheld by an officeholder. He defeated a pro-abortion opponent, Kit Roupe, at the recent assembly.

We do not yet have Barker’s candidate survey (he has not had much time to respond), but we expect to get a favorable reply back soon. Please encourage him to return the survey when he can.

Democrat Rep. Dennis Apuan is known to be pro-abortion.

State House District 18

Republican candidate Karen Cullen seemed unfamiliar with pro-life concepts, and didn’t exactly jump to call herself pro-life when quizzed at a candidate forum several weeks ago. She flatly refused to support the Personhood Initiative (a Constitutional amendment) because she believes in “a clean Constitution."

It is possible that she was entirely misunderstood, and she may believe she is pro-life. If so, it is important that she establish this by returning her candidate survey. Also, we hope that she will be open to dialogue, and will realize the relative moral importance of maintaining a “clean Constitution” versus saving the lives of tens of thousands of unborn children who are being murdered. Perhaps some people who know her can talk her into changing her mind!


State House District 28

Rep. Jim Kerr (R) is running for re-election. He has always called himself pro-life, and seems to have been sincere in meaning well. While CRTL has been concerned that he was not strongly pro-life in the past, and he did also support the 2007 “emergency contraception” legislation, we are encouraged to note that he signed the 2010 Personhood Initiative petition (one of at least 4 legislators to join the 2010 effort who did not publicly support the 2008 effort!) which seems to indicate he has shifted to be more solidly pro-life. Please pray for Jim and his stance on these issues, and encourage him to return his CRTL candidate survey.

Democrat Steve Harvey is assumed to be pro-abortion.



State House District 32

Kaarl Hoopes (R) has signed the Personhood Initiative petition, and appears to be very strongly pro-life. He defeated a pro-abortion opponent at the assembly, Andrew Goad.

Please encourage Kaarl to return his candidate survey when he can.


State House District 35

Republican candidate Edgar Antillon indicated he would be responding to our survey, but he never did. We're not quite sure how to read that. He says he is pro-life, but we cannot confirm whether he's a "casual pro-lifer" or a serious pro-lifer without his responses. Please encourage Antillon to return his survey!


State House District 43

While incumbent Rep. Frank McNulty has not returned his candidate survey, he has told a supporter he does support Personhood. Please encourage him to return his survey!

Democrat Gary Semro is assumed to be pro-abortion.


State House District 44

Republican Chris Holbert quickly returned his survey with “7 of 7” pro-Personhood answers marked. We consider him one of the most strongly pro-life candidates in this race, and despite his tough primary race he took time to attend a legislative/candidates breakfast with CRTL. We appreciate his strong stance and his deep commitment.

Two Republicans are opposing him in the primary -- David Casiano and Polly Lawrence -- neither of which has responded to our survey. Lawrence talks about alot of issues on her website, for instance, but not abortion. We have no reason to believe either is pro-life, and we're sure if they are someone will tell us. We've made a second attempt to contact them.


State House District 46

The only Republican running in this district is Steven Rodriguez, who quickly answered CRTL’s survey with a “7 of 7” pro-Personhood response.

Democrat Sal Pace is assumed to be pro-abortion.



State House District 49

Rep. BJ Nikkel (R) is running for election to a seat she was appointed to mid-term – 1 year ago. She is one of the “new faces” on the steps of the Capitol at pro-life events, and she is supporting Personhood. We haven’t received her survey yet, but we’re hopeful that she will develop into a strong pro-life leader.

Democrat Karen Stockley is assumed to be pro-abortion.


State House District 54

There are no fewer than 4 Republicans running in this race -- David (Larry?) Cox, Robert Hislop, Duncan McArthur & Ray Scott. They've all been e-mailed if they had available contact information. Surely at least one of these guys is pro-life, but we don't know. Does anyone know them???


State House District 57

Republican candidate Randy Baumgardner responded to our survey, answering 6 of 7 questions correctly (he may have missed question #2 on rape/incest exceptions, or he might have avoided answering -- we're following up to find out for sure).



State House District 65

Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg (R) is running for re-election, so far unopposed. He is another of the strongly pro-life legislators who is pro-Personhood. We haven't gotten a survey from him this year, but he did respond "7 of 7" as 100% pro-life. He's also attended CRTL events, and we have no doubt of his sincerity.



Remember – because CRTL believes “pro-life” regulatory measures promote the impression that abortion is approved by the state, and may have unintended consequences which could support abortion and undermine the concept of a Right to Life, CRTL does not believe “pro-regulation” legislators fully understand the Personhood concept, though we still believe they are sincere and well-meaning in their pro-life convictions.


There may be other house candidates whose websites indicate a pro-life or pro-Personhood position. We have not had much time to research this, as we’ve been focused on the ballot initiative signature gathering process. If you have information on a candidate, please let us know by e-mailing office@coloradorighttolife.org.


If you have any questions about this information -- or if you have information to add -- please contact Donna at Colorado Right to Life (303-753-9394) or at office@coloradoRTL.org. Please don't be angry with her, if that's why you're calling, because she didn't collect or post this information. We are very interested in correcting any errors of fact or judgment on these pages, so please help us make this as correct as it can be (we will require verification of some type if your information contradicts the information we have).

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