EDITOR’S NOTE: Ballots are out for the Republican primary. To assist voters in their due diligence, The Gazette’s editorial board presents regional recommendations based on the board’s knowledge of candidates, their public appearances, news-side questionnaires, earned media, campaign literature and political promises.

Congressional District 5

Jeff Crank

Voters in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, composed mostly of Colorado Springs, have an easy choice in the upcoming primary — for which ballots have landed.

Option 1: David Williams, who has made a freak show of the once-respected Colorado state Republican Party after enriching himself by doing business with China. Williams was fired by former President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016 for pretending Trump supported a Williams-friendly candidate. He recently committed a similar campaign foul by raising money off Trump’s conviction — flouting the Trump campaign’s warnings against doing so.

Williams advocates flag burning to antagonize members of the LGBTQIA+-plus community — many of whom are conservative Republicans.

Jeff Crank, leading by a large margin based on internal polling, provides a stark contrast. Contrary to burning sacred symbols, Crank risked his life as a young man to stop the antagonistic burning of a flag at a left-wing protest.

As Williams works to undermine and destroy Colorado’s conservative community, Crank is focused on improving the 5th District’s economy and public safety for everyone. As his opponent divides with doctrinaire extremism, Crank stands to restore the brand and integrity of Colorado’s minority community of conservatives.

Stay up to speed: Sign up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

While Williams has a take-or-leave-it approach to keeping Space Command in Colorado Springs, Crank plans to fight for it no matter who wins the presidential election.

Crank has a long legacy of winning victories for Colorado Springs. As a senior aide to former U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley, who represented the district for 20 years, Crank played a key role in a fight to prevent the closure of Fort Carson during a nationwide base realignment and closure process.

Crank also was instrumental in providing for military housing. He helped write the Military Family Housing Privatization Act. He helped establish a railhead at Fort Carson. Those and other efforts to support our military earned him the Friend of Fort Carson Award.

Dedicated to stopping Colorado’s illegal migration crisis, Crank frequently visits the southern border to communicate with Border Patrol agents, local law enforcers, ranchers and others on the front line of the invasion. Having worked at a high-level aid in Congress, and as a grassroots conservative, Crank knows Washington and the people who can make or break Colorado.

In the off chance that Republicans nominate Williams, the 5th Congressional District can expect feckless displays of showmanship. By nominating Williams, Colorado would gain a rendition of the bombastic Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene with overtones of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Instead of commonsense representation, the 5th District would have daily political drama.

Fifth District voters are fortunate to have a man like Crank who is ready, able and willing to serve. He will devote himself to securing the border, reining in drugs, reducing crime, defending life and slashing government spending. Vote for Crank and send an A-list public servant to Washington.

District attorney, 4th Judicial District

Michael Allen

District Attorney Michael Allen was a successful prosecutor before voters put him in the top job in 2020 to replace a term-limited Dan May. Allen’s first term was more of a challenge than he could have anticipated, as he wound up prosecuting the killer who shot up Club Q in November 2022, killing five and injuring 25 in a tragic national spectacle.

Allen not only secured a conviction, but his work also led to a sentence for the killer of more than 2,000 years behind bars.

Allen’s first term also brought him the prosecution of Leticia Staunch, who killed her stepson Gannon Staunch. After Allen and his team proved her guilt, Staunch was given two life sentences without the possibility of parole. Let’s just say … he’s not soft on crime.

Allen has never fallen for the criminals-are-victims ideology that has made Colorado a leading state for crime. Voters cannot afford to take chances with public safety, especially given Colorado’s crime epidemic. Keep Allen in office to maintain and enhance justice and peace for the innocent — the old-fashioned way, by locking up bad guys.

El Paso County Commission District 2

Carrie Geitner

County Commissioner Carrie Geitner has proven herself a formidable advocate for El Paso County maintaining authority and control the state Legislature and Gov. Jared Polis would like to commandeer. She distinguished herself by speaking at the Legislature against collective bargaining for county employees — an agenda imposed by the state.

On those increasingly routine occasions that legislative extremism jeopardizes Colorado’s long-held values, Geitner reliably stands out as a warrior defending hard-working constituents who want good roads, prosperity and public safety. She has fought against legislative and executive efforts to control local planning, zoning and enforcement.

For local control and a higher quality of life, keep Geitner on the Board of County Commissioners.

El Paso County Commission District 3

Don Wilson

State House District 20 Rep. Don Wilson, the former mayor of Monument, is a proven leader with proven results.

A veteran of the Marine Corps, Wilson has devoted his life to in-the-trenches public service as the leader of a fast-growing community. He has served as a fearless hedge against left-wing fanaticism that has taken control of the Legislature.

Wilson has always been proactive in communicating with constituents to determine what they want and need.

“I’ve been on the front lines as Democrats continue their assault on local governments, creating mandates that bloat government at every level,” Wilson explains on his campaign website. “I will hit the ground running and be ready for the fights against our conservative values on day one.”

Wilson led the charge against Colorado’s unconstitutional effort to circumvent the Electoral College. He helped make Monument a sanctuary city for Second Amendment rights — warding off interference from the state. He kept his community free from state overreach throughout the pandemic.

For a proven pragmatic conservative on the Board of County Commissioners, nominate Wilson — a leader who has proven himself a defender of the public.

Senate District 10

Larry Liston

State Sen. Larry Liston has never swayed from defending traditional, Reagan-like conservative values.

Liston’s elective service dates to 2005, when he began an eight-year stint in the Legislature representing House District 16. He later served the district again from 2017-2020 before voters elected him to represent Senate District 10.

Liston’s commitment to fundamental conservative principles is underscored by the consistent “F” he receives from the pro-abortion NARAL Pro-Choice America. He stood up for preserving the death penalty for Colorado’s most violent killers. He advances all variety of school choice.

Liston defended Coloradans from vaccine mandates that have proven counterproductive. He is indefatigable in his efforts to reduce state spending so members of Colorado’s working class can keep more of what they earn. To keep District 10 great, keep Liston in the Senate.

Senate District 12

Stan VanderWerf

El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf is running for Colorado Senate District 12 after years of elective and an adult lifetime of nonelective service.

VanderWerf assumed his county office in 2017, after serving for 28 years as the chief scientist at the federal government’s NORAD and Northcom combatant commands in Colorado Springs. Using his command of physics, VanderWerf stopped an expensive proposal to electrify the county’s automotive fleet. With numbers and facts, he proved to his colleagues the inability of our local electric grid to support the plan.

With VanderWerf, District 12 constituents will get “less regulation, more freedom, lower prices, better roads, less crime and drugs, strong support of our military families and veterans, good paying jobs for families to afford decent housing and safe quality schools.”

Democrats believe they can pick up District 12, after the term-limiting of State Sen. Bob Gardner. Taking 12 could give Democrats the Senate supermajority they dream of, which means a barrage of more far-left extremism.

“I have been preparing for this challenge while serving nearly seven years on the El Paso County Commission where we kept taxes low, eliminated regulations strengthened law enforcement and improved the roads in El Paso County,” VanderWerf told The Gazette, after he entered the race last summer.

For stability and a semblance of legislative balance, nominate VanderWerf and put him in the Senate.

House District 20

Jarvis Caldwell

Jarvis Caldwell is fed up with soft-on-crime legislative policies that have spiked drug trafficking, overdoses and crime.

“When a bill was introduced in 2023 to make it a felony to sexually expose yourself to a child, more than HALF of House Democrats voted against it!” Caldwell says on his campaign website.

He is fed up with state sanctuary policies that have local governments slashing budgets to afford the costs of unemployed, unhoused immigrants here illegally who are bused in from the Texas-Mexico border.

“Colorado’s sanctuary state status is unacceptable, and in my opinion, unconstitutional,” Caldwell said.

He’s a school choice advocate and a staunch critic of runaway state spending that has grown the budget from $30 billion in 2019 to more than $40 billion five years later.

“We still have issues funding our schools, crime is at crisis levels and our roads are terrible. It’s not a revenue problem. It’s a prioritization problem,” Caldwell said.

To solve the problem, put Caldwell in office.

House District 21

Mary Bradfield

Mary Bradfield knows what she will do with another term to represent House District 21. She promises:

• To work to reduce state and income and property taxes

• To work to eliminate sanctuary cities

• To fund the police

• To protect gun rights

• To defend the unborn from aggressive pro-abortion agendas

• To remove the emphasis on critical race theory and diversity equity and inclusion from public schools and places of employment

As a hedge against the Legislature’s radicalized socialist Democrats in full control of the state, vote for Bradfield.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board