In an unstable world, with Russia and China increasingly threatening to disrupt world peace, our country’s premier military city – Colorado Springs – needs stable and mature representation in Congress. This is no time for risks or experiments. That means primary voters in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, home to seven major military operations, should nominate U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn to serve a ninth term.

Among the more conservative members of Congress, Lamborn has never raced to the spotlight to generate headlines with extreme or marginal behavior. He prefers quietly solving problems for constituents. He fights without apology for unborn children threatened by abortion. He defends the Second Amendment when it’s not a popular theme. He prioritizes national defense and advocates border security and spending restraint.

Lamborn serves as a dependable opponent of revolutionary left-wing agendas. He proudly puts “America first.” He opposes the racially divisive teaching of critical race theory, by any name, in K-12 public schools. He crusades against vaccination mandates for civilians and military personnel.

Lamborn recently introduced legislation that would prevent our country’s military academies from punishing students who refuse vaccines on a basis of religious objections. His bill would forbid withholding diplomas and commissions in response to vaccine refusals.

A vote to nominate Lamborn favors maintaining seniority on committees of vital importance to the 5th District.

Lamborn serves as the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness, overseeing approximately $300 billion in military spending. He was appointed this week to serve as the ranking Republican on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, which oversees our country’s nuclear weapons, missile defense systems and military space capabilities. Soon, Lamborn will serve on the Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee on Armed Services.

Here’s why Lamborn’s national-defense-oriented committee assignments matter to him, and his constituents.

“It is no secret that China is undergoing a rapid, unprecedented nuclear buildup including testing new hypersonic missiles,” Lamborn said.

“Russia’s nuclear program has undergone significant modernization of all three legs of its triad, including the development of anti-satellite weapons that significantly threaten the space domain. It is vital that our military has the resources and capabilities necessary to keep our county safe, particularly in light of these new and growing threats.”

The 5th District is cherished for national forests, other public lands and natural beauty. All benefit from Lamborn’s service on the House Natural Resources Committee and its subcommittees on Energy and Mineral Resources and National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.

Members of The Gazette’s editorial board have known Lamborn and followed his political career since he served in the Colorado House of Representatives. He has never wavered in defending the commonsense, conservative values shared by most of his constituents.

Nevertheless, The Gazette’s editorial board spent significant time evaluating and interviewing Lamborn’s most serious primary challenger – State Rep. Dave Williams of Colorado Springs House District 15.

Williams emerged on the political scene by serving as the controversial student body president of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs in 2008. Like Lamborn, Williams supports and defends 5th District values. He is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, favors fiscal restraint, enjoys confronting the revolutionary left and never cowers from his beliefs.

Williams has matured in his political sophistication since taking office in 2017 and has a reputation as a stalwart conservative who can work across the aisle when opportunities arise. He is bright, articulate, persistent, results-oriented and might have a promising political future.

Though aligned with Lamborn on most important issues, Williams cannot walk into Congress in January and come close to replicating Lamborn’s seniority and experience. With the district’s precarious hold on the headquarters of Space Command and multiple threats to world peace, Colorado conservatives need stability in Washington like never before.

Primary voters should keep Doug Lamborn in office to leverage his long track record of reliable, stable, conservative leadership.

Colorado Springs Gazette editorial board