Before he led Colorado’s largest county GOP, Josh Hosler was a Marine. It was not very long ago, in fact, so his experiences from his time in Afghanistan are still fresh in his mind – and front and center in shaping his world view.

And Hosler, ever the Marine, doesn’t mince words about what he maintains was failed leadership during his tour of duty: “Obama’s policies got many heroes killed.”

It’s a blunt assessment that certainly doesn’t sit well with those across the political divide from Hosler – though it’s of course a given for many of his fellow Republicans. Now, on his latest tour of duty as chair of the El Paso County Republican Party, Hosler is similarly matter-of-fact in summing up his own party’s failure Nov. 6: “Colorado is a blue state for now. No one can dispute that…”

Like other Colorado Republicans, he’s assessing what went wrong, and why, in the wake of a devastating blue wave that swept the GOP from power in the state.

In today’s Q&A, Hosler shares what he’s pieced together so far, and he details what he believes are next steps for his party to move forward and take back lost turf. He also tells us more about his military service – including some moving events he witnessed amid Afghanistan’s attempts at democracy – and how it all motivated him to get involved in politics back home.

Colorado Politics: Some criticize the state Republican Party for the GOP’s losses in Colorado on Nov. 6.  Is the state party to blame? Anything it could have done better?

Joshua Hosler: We need to assess and regroup. There is enough blame to go around, but Daniel Fenlason, the state party’s data director, was great in giving us the data he was allowed to share, and Daniel Cole, the state party’s communications director, was a great help to county parties in navigating difficulties this election cycle. I wish he’d been in charge of the messaging for some of our statewide candidates.

The Colorado Republican Party needs to heal old and new wounds and connect with groups that lean Republican policy-wise but historically vote Democrat. With the bigotry coming from the Democrat politicians and liberal media, I believe the American citizen will be turned off.

CP: What’s the path forward for Colorado Republicans in the wake of this past election?

Hosler: Colorado is a blue state for now. No one can dispute that fact, considering that we just elected a Democratic governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general, state House, and state Senate. The mission of running against Polis in 2022 started on Nov. 7, 2018. The Republican candidate will need a minimum of $50 million in personally raised and soft money. Because Polis is capable of buying the Colorado governor’s mansion again, the Republican campaign will have to match Polis’ spending one way or another.

The focus will need to be on jobs, infrastructure, water reserves, and education. With Polis’ desire to kill the oil and gas economy and regulate “green energy” onto Colorado’s monthly bills, I cannot imagine what Weld County will go through these next four years.

As for infrastructure, we need to widen I-25 not only from Castle Rock to Monument, but all the way to Pueblo. Denver has choked the southern part of Colorado for long enough. And in regard to education, our teachers are underpaid while the administration makes over six figures. We must have an education system that is focused on the students, pay and retain great teachers, and change the mind-set that Colorado’s education system exists for the teachers’ union / association and not for our kids.

CP: What advantages, or challenges, do Colorado Republicans face in cultivating the state’s largest voting bloc – unaffiliated? Does the GOP have an image or “branding” problem with unaffiliated and swing voters?

Hosler: We have to reach them first. Polis spent millions upon millions of his personal fortune targeting the unaffiliated. We need to build relationships in Hispanic communities, which are family-orientated and entrepreneurial. Democrats have a history of killing business and breaking up families. We beat the Democrats on facts and policy; we need to now focus on reaching people at the “heart” level.

CP: As your followers on social media know, you served in the Marine Corps; you post a lot of pictures from your time in uniform, and you sign off a lot of your communications with “Semper Fi.” How did your time in the Corps influence your political views and your desire to get involved in politics?

Hosler: That question makes me laugh because people bring up my social media posts a lot. Liberal reporters and bloggers reach out to me on a regular basis and ask what I meant by a post. I always answer, “I meant what I wrote and it’s pretty straightforward.”

Next to my amazing parents, being an enlisted Marine grunt has influenced me more than anything else. A month before the 2008 elections, someone in my chain of command said, “If you want your hands tied behind your back when you’re deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, vote for Obama.” And that is exactly what happened. Obama’s policies got many heroes killed.

In 2010, my platoon provided security for the Afghan Election Committee. We traveled with them while 28 Afghans rode in a dump truck for two weeks getting shot at and blown up for the right of voting that so many American citizens take for granted. To see the Afghan women be able to vote in safety for the first time truly moved me.

We also provided security for U.S. congressmen on both sides of the aisle. We saw what they saw and noticed that it didn’t always match what they reported when they went back to the States. I realized then that the only way I could make sure my elected officials were honest was to get involved myself. Now here I am.

CP: While plenty of elected officeholders and candidates for office have served in the armed forces in a military-oriented community like Colorado Springs, a military record is far less common for politicians of either party elsewhere in our state or nation overall. The fact of an all-volunteer military makes that inevitable. What does military service do for a candidate’s fitness for office, in your estimation, and is it problematic that so many Republicans as well as Democrats seeking and holding office have never served in the military?

Hosler: I think it is an unbelievable asset to be a veteran, in life, professionally and in politics. Service gives you a different appreciation for our great nation, the freedoms we have, and why we need to do everything we can to preserve them.

CP: You were the vice chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party last year when your county party chair was involved in a car accident that left a pedestrian dead. He resigned a few months later. How did the party deal with that? You seemed somewhat reluctant to run for the chair’s post – at the time you were vice chair. What was it like to become chairman under those circumstances?

Hosler: Anyone who isn’t reluctant and doesn’t seriously consider the responsibility, especially here in El Paso, which is the fourth-largest Republican county in the nation, should not become chairman. Since my election on Sept. 18, 2017, the El Paso County GOP’s leadership team has been incredibly supportive. They knew how important this 2018 election was, and they unified to make sure we succeeded as a team. It was very difficult, because I knew how little was raised in those last nine months and the lack of organizational structure.

With a county party that is expected to raise at least $200,000 per year to counteract Boulder’s and Denver’s Democratic vote in a statewide election, the El Paso County Republican Party chairmanship is an unpaid fulltime job. I surrounded myself with the best people, put in place the organizational structure, and fund-raised, fund-raised, fund-raised. We raised way over $200,000 this year and gained 3,000 Republican votes in El Paso County since the last midterm election in 2014.

CP: In your first foray into politics, you ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the state House prior to getting elected as vice chair and then chair of the county party. What lessons have you learned from your political involvement over the past several years? Would you ever run for another office again?

Hosler: I did run unsuccessfully for state House, and if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be in a position now to help the party heal and move forward as chairman. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned to expect anything in elections; that the first step in unifying people is to show respect to everyone, and that you have to be patient as you earn that respect back.

The majority of people in our great country are not the ones you see that the media push. It’s people who want a good job, a healthy family, education for their children, and more money in their pocket. We Republicans are the only party that can deliver those things. It is now our job to communicate that fact to all of Colorado. Semper Fi.