Colorado’s newest congressional district has a chance to be represented in Congress by one of our state’s more experienced and respected political pros – Barb Kirkmeyer. We urge voters in the district to make the veteran Republican their district’s first member of Congress. Having someone with Kirkmeyer’s background standing up for them in Washington will pay off – particularly if, as anticipated, her fellow Republicans regain control of the House.

The 8th Congressional was just created following the 2020 Census, and the race for the seat promises to be one of the state’s, and nation’s, most competitive. CD-8 is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. And the winner could be pivotal in determining which party controls Congress when new members take their oath in January.

Kirkmeyer is a dairy farmer and small business owner from Brighton who currently serves in the state Senate. She served earlier in her political career as a Weld County commissioner – for two decades – and also served in the cabinet of Republican former Gov. Bill Owens. In other words, she knows her way around government and public policy.

A fourth-generation Coloradan from Brighton and a CU grad, she understands the challenges facing small business as a longtime small-business owner herself.

Kirkmeyer faces Democrat Yadira Caraveo, a second-term member of the Colorado state House from Thornton who is a pediatrician. Caraveo gets extra points in our book for defying her fellow Democrats in the legislature the past couple of sessions in seeking greater regulations to rein in Big Marijuana. Over intense opposition from the industry, she was able to pass legislation better regulating marijuana concentrates, which pose a big threat to our youth.

Unfortunately, on too many other issues, Caraveo promises to offer in Congress more of what she has voted for in the state House – the agenda of the Democratic Socialist fringe. It dominates the debate on big issues within her party these days. That fringe stands to alienate unaffiliated voters as well as many rank-and-file Democrats in CD-8.

Kirkmeyer, by contrast, is a Main Street conservative whose political stands on a lot of bread-and-butter issues likely to appeal not only to her diverse district’s Republicans but also to plenty of unaffiliated voters and even some of the district’s Democrats. Particularly when it comes to watching the public purse, she comes across as, well, a fiscally frugal farmer.

In response to a recent Gazette questionnaire, for example, she promised to “take on the big spenders of both parties,” and noted, “inflation is caused by too much money chasing too few goods and services. So let’s stop the reckless deficit spending.”

Kirkmeyer also points to a practical willingness to work with members of either party to get the job done.

“I have a long track record of working across the aisle,” she said. “In 2022, I joined with Democratic members of the (state) Senate to promote school funding and reform measures.” She added, “I will always listen to any constituent, even when we disagree.”

Sounds like just the kind of elected representative to represent CD-8’s wide-ranging politics.

The newly minted 8th Congressional District’s constituents need someone with the political savvy and hefty resume of Kirkmeyer to look out for their interests in Congress.

Vote for Barb Kirkmeyer for Congress in CD-8.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board