q&a
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Q&A with Courageous Colorado’s Landon Mascareñaz | Nonprofit aims to bring bravery back to politics
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After co-authoring The Open System, a 2023 book about redesigning public education to encourage civic engagement and strengthen participation in self-governing, Dr. Landon Mascareñaz set his sights on invigorating democracy at the local and state level via a nonprofit he founded this summer called Courageous Colorado. Named after the quality community leaders said was most…
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Q&A with Colorado lawmaker Barb Kirkmeyer | Republican says she’ll be a governor who ‘knows how to govern’
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State Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer says her decades of experience in government — as a county commissioner, director of a state department and state legislator — have prepared her to be a “really great governor,” and the Brighton Republican argues that’s what it’ll take to pull Colorado out of the tailspin she says it’s in. The…
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Q&A with Joe Neguse | ‘We’re going to keep showing up’: Colorado Democrat logs year’s 15th town hall
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U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, the assistant House minority leader and a Lafayette Democrat, held his 15th in-person town hall of the year on Aug. 19 in Steamboat Springs, racking up more of the events in eight months than the rest of the state’s House delegation combined. The joint event with Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet…
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Q&A with Rep.-elect Tim Hernández | Activist-turned-legislator on channeling his fire
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Sixteen months ago, Tim Hernández lost his job teaching at North High School. Today, he represents the school’s northwest Denver district in the Colorado House of Representatives. A committee of Denver Democrats selected Hernández to represent House District 4 on Aug. 26, as the district’s former representative, Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, resigned to join the Denver City Council.…
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Q&A with Sen. Mark Baisley | Senator on building coalitions while voting contrarian
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When the Colorado legislature passes a new law, chances are Sen. Mark Baisley voted against it. The Woodland Park Republican was the state Senate’s designated contrarian during the 2023 legislative session, voting against more than half of the bills that became law and being the only “no” vote on a dozen different bills. But that didn’t…
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Q&A with Rep. Ruby Dickson | Colorado’s youngest legislator on leading future-facing policy
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At just 27 years old, Rep. Ruby Dickson is the youngest state legislator in the Colorado Capitol. A Colorado native, Dickson grew up in the Denver metro area attending public schools and performing the national anthem at Rockies games. She earned a master’s degree in economics from Oxford University just over a year before returning…
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Q&A with Rep. Ron Weinberg | First-year lawmaker on building bridges
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The 2023 legislative session was one of the most contentious the state has seen. But you wouldn’t know that from watching Rep. Ron Weinberg. In a year defined by dissension, the first-year Republican lawmaker from Loveland stood out as a beacon of camaraderie and bipartisanship. From grilling dinner for the lawmakers during late-night debates to being…
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Colorado is ‘well positioned’ for a US debt default, says state Treasurer Dave Young
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With eight days to go until the United States is unable to pay its bills, the White House and Congress are still nowhere near an agreement on raising the national debt ceiling. The U.S. reached its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling – the limit on how much the government can borrow – in January. Treasury Secretary…
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Q&A with Sen. Julie Gonzales | Democratic whip on legislating for marginalized communities
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Sen. Julie Gonzales is one of the Colorado Democratic Party’s top political heavyweights going into her second term in the state Senate. After spending more than a decade advocating for progressive policies from the streets of her Denver community, Gonzales was elected to the Senate in 2018 – earning a whopping 83.1% of the vote.…
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Q&A with Rose Pugliese | House GOP’s assistant minority leader on starting conversations
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Rep. Rose Pugliese is the most powerful freshman lawmaker in a near powerless party. Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, is assistant minority leader for the GOP caucus in the state House of Representatives – making her the only first-year legislator to hold party leadership in both the state House and Senate. She was elected to represent House…
