Robert “Bob” Marshall, candidate for House District 43, said he’s running for office to bring back good governance after the local and national political turmoil he’s witnessed in recent years.

Marshall – an attorney and Marine Corps veteran of 28 years – was a Republican for more than three decades before leaving the party in 2017. Marshall said his turning point was when the Republican Party did not distance itself from then-presidential nominee Donald Trump after he criticized the family of Capt. Humayun Khan, who died while serving in Iraq.

After spending four years unaffiliated, Marshall joined the Democratic Party in December 2021, being named “Democrat of the Year” by the Douglas County Democrats only seven months later. Marshall became active in local politics, even suing the Douglas County School Board in February, accusing the board of violating the state’s open meetings law before the controversial termination of its then-superintendent.

Marshall ran unopposed in the Democratic primary election, but is set to face Republican Rep. Kurt Huffman this November – who was selected to represent House District 43 by a vacancy committee after Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, moved to the state Senate in June.

House District 43 is one of the most politically competitive districts in the state. The Douglas County district leans only 7.4% Republican, making it the 15th most evenly split district, according to a report from the redistricting commission. The district’s active registered voters are 45% unaffiliated, followed by 32% Republican and 22% Democrat.

As of Sept. 19, Marshall has raised just under $37,000 on top of a $12,500 loan, according to filings from the Secretary of State’s Office. While Marshall has raised more than his opponent, Huffman took out a $100,000 loan in addition to over $27,000 in fundraising. Huffman’s spending also greatly exceeds Marshall’s, $109,000 to $27,000.

With just over one month to go before the general election on Nov. 8, Marshall sat down with Colorado Politics to discuss his campaign and political aspirations.

Colorado Politics: What inspired you to run for office?

Bob Marshall: I became increasingly concerned about the trajectory of our country. This reached a peak in 2020 and I took a deep look into myself and decided that if I was willing to pledge my life for this great country, I should not hesitate to also pledge my honor, fortune and time. So, I became active in politics during the 2020 election. This led to involvement with local government in Douglas County, which is wholly dominated by the GOP. Clashes with the sheriff’s office, county commissioners, Board of Health and, most publicly, the Board of Education, left me stunned by the lack of professionalism and lack of commitment to good governance for the general public good. So, I decided to do something about it.

CP: What do you want to achieve by becoming a legislator?

Marshall: I have three top priorities: public safety, public education and the environment.

Public safety includes law enforcement, fire mitigation and mental health. Effective law enforcement is the first duty of the state. But one of the best ways to provide more resources for crime fighting is to take the mental health burden off our penal system. Colorado has destroyed its mental health institutions. Law enforcement is now the default mental health provider for those over 18 years of age. … We need to re-establish our mental health institutions. This is a long-term legislative project.

We also need to look at bail reform more seriously. Our system has become essentially a debtors’ prison for too many, which is something the Founding Fathers would despise. We need to ensure we have an efficient judicial system so people are not waiting inordinate amounts of time to conclude cases. … I do think we need to look at revising the recent changes mandating personal recognizance bonds for auto theft. Auto theft is a skilled crime. And serious. So, after mandating PR bonds for auto theft, it is not a mystery why the Denver metro region has moved into the top rings for auto theft. I’d also want to revise previous changes to make auto crimes for lower value vehicles more serious.

Regarding public education, I am a product of public schools. Everything I have in life is likely attributable to the excellent public school education to which I had access. … I was disgusted to find out how poorly we pay our teachers and how we treat them even worse. I supported Initiative 63 and it will be put legislatively onto the ballot when I am elected to the state House. I also want to ensure that all full-time equivalent teachers in the state are provided a $2,000 per year tax-free stipend for professional needs. Teachers should not have to pay out of pocket for supplies, training, etc. related to their professional duties. … Also, I am a huge believer in returning vocational and technical onto campuses as a coequal post-secondary educational goal of our public school system.

For the environment, I am a Colorado native who remembers the infamous “brown cloud” of the 1970s where one could experience “chewy air.” We should not wait for environmental issues to become crises before acting. We don’t have to argue over climate change and whether it is man-made or not. We all know what is coming out of the tailpipes is not good for us. So, why don’t we work to reduce it as quickly, efficiently and cheaply as possible over the near, medium and long term?

CP: How confident are you feeling going into the November election? Your district leans Republican, but it also has a plurality of unaffiliated voters and is among the most politically competitive districts in the state.

Marshall: Feeling very good. … People of goodwill without rigid ideological blinders respond well to my personal journey of having been a Republican for 30+ years, unaffiliated for four and now a Democrat. My old Veterans of Foreign Wars colleagues, who are generally very conservative, hit the nail on the head when they said I was a political animal that they thought was extinct: A Truman Democrat. And I accept that moniker proudly and people respond to it well. … I think the majority of voters of goodwill in my district want that type of leadership. Not ideological. And not chameleon-like that bends to the winds or the influential.

CP: Why should constituents vote for you over your opponent?

Marshall: I intend to represent the entire community. Not just a faction or special interests like my opponent. One can easily see this black and white discrepancy between my opponent and me by following the money. … He has outspent me 4.5 times, with virtually all of that money coming from his own pocket as a loan or from special interests and people from outside the district. … Without regard to ideology or politics, one has to ask who my opponent will represent as Highlands Ranch’s state district representative. The money says it will be himself and outside special interests. Compare that to who the money says I will represent: individual voters of Colorado State House District 43.

Additionally, my opponent at the beginning of his campaign listed as his top priorities, in bold red, that he was pro-life and 100% pro-2nd Amendment … however, my opponent who had billed himself as “the conservative voice of Highlands Ranch” has now scrubbed and sanitized his campaign sites of that tag line and any mention of previous top priorities. Instead, he now proclaims himself a champion of public safety and public education. Those have been my top priorities since I started this campaign. And despite pressure to deviate from them, I never have.

CP: If you win in November, how will you approach your first legislative session? Are there any bills you’re planning to bring forward?

Marshall: I intend to listen, think and act. The teacher stipend bill discussed above, putting Initiative 63 on the ballot legislatively and looking at the start of the long-term projects of bills to correct our mental health issues in Colorado are specific big-ticket items.

I also want to move forward with hearings to consider a “law enforcement professionalization act” to reduce politics and increase professionalism in county sheriff and district attorney offices; a bill to reduce partisan politics on school boards such as I understand Wisconsin has had for decades; and ensuring that counties of a certain size population are required to have more than three commissioners elected at-large to stop, or at least reduce, the “good ol’ boy” system where two individuals can have virtually unchecked authority over hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of lives and livelihoods. I also have a small specific interest in correcting what appears an oversight in Colorado law that fails to recognize the Veterans Administration’s individual unemployability designation as being a 100% VA disability rating for Colorado veterans’ benefits.

FAST FACTS

Age? 53

Family? Married 28 years, one daughter. Wife works at an Alzheimer’s facility and daughter is serving in the Navy as a nuclear submarine officer.

Hobbies? Rare book collecting. Biggest jewels of the collection are first edition/first printings of Colorado’s Constitution, Mary Wollstonecraft’s “Vindication of the Rights of Women” and Anne Frank’s Dutch diary.

Favorite song? Varies based on age, time and mood, but Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” “That’s Life” and The Beatles’ “In My Life” are long-term recurring top 10 favorites over decades.

Favorite restaurant in your district? At heart, I am a Denny’s guy. But the wife loves the Old Blinking Light, so I do too.

Something about you most people don’t know? “I’m an excellent driver,” – Raymond Babbitt, “Rain Man”