Candidate Q&A: Colorado Senate District 6

Boxes of stickers stating “I voted” are seen at the Adams County Government Center in Brighton, Nov. 7, 2023. (Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)

All 65 seats in the Colorado House of Representatives are up for election this year. Democrats currently hold a 56-19 supermajority and will likely retain the majority next year.

Republican Sen. Cleave Simpson won Senate District 35 with 60.1% of the vote in 2020. He was then drawn into Senate District 6 during the redistricting process, which leans just 0.9 percentage points to the right, according to an election result analysis. He is facing Democrat Vivian Smotherman in November.

The district is U-shaped in southwestern Colorado. It includes land west of Montrose and south to Cortez and Durango, then extends east to include Alamosa, Monte Vista and Saguache.

Registered voters in Colorado should soon receive their ballots in the mail for the Nov. 5 general election, which includes races for president, Congress, the state Legislature, the University of Colorado Board of Regents and other local positions, as well as a handful of statewide ballot measures.

Voters can contact their county clerk if they have not received their ballot or check the online BallotTrax system. They can also visit the secretary of state’s website to make a plan to vote in person ahead of or on Election Day. Ballots need to be received by the county clerk by 7 p.m. on that day, so voters should make a plan to mail their ballot at least eight days ahead of time or drop it off in person.

Voters can find their state legislative districts at the General Assembly’s website.

Simpson did not return survey responses.

If elected, what would be your top three priorities during the 2025 legislative session?

SMOTHERMAN: I believe collectively we need to find ways to address the statewide housing crisis, we need more units, and we need to ensure they are affordable for both low and middle income workers. My second priority is addressing the problems of rural health care. For Coloradans living outside of a metropolitan area, they are continuing to lose services and service providers while costs keep going up. We need to find ways to incentivize providers and professionals to come to rural Colorado and stay. This of course requires affordable housing, higher salaries, higher Medicaid payments, and more transparency with what our hospitals and insurance companies are charging us for. Finally, we need to address Colorado’s continuing failure to adequately fund K-12 education. Our children cannot compete for Colorado jobs against those moving in from other states that provide better educational opportunities through well funded schools. This brings me to the big priority, we need a study to determine the best way to eliminate TABOR and fix Colorado’s failed tax system. It’s regressive, and convoluted forcing municipalities to impart higher fees and never ending mill levies to meet expenses. It’s ridiculous and we can do better.

What unique perspective and life experiences would you bring to the General Assembly? 

SMOTHERMAN: I’ve been in maintenance, troubleshooting and repair my entire life. Most of it from a supervisory level. I have learned throughout my long and successful career how to find solutions that work, and implement them effectively. I don’t get bogged down in hate, or party politics or trading favors. My experience with agriculture and oil and gas are a perfect fit for the needs of my district, and my education in history and anthropology has taught me to search for intersectionality across cultures, and spot unintended consequences, others may miss.

Coloradans told us through the Voter Voices survey that rising cost of living is a top issue for them this election year. How do you feel the Legislature can most effectively address the cost-of-living for Coloradans across all backgrounds?

SMOTHERMAN: We need to tackle the housing situation. High home prices are eating into people’s budgets, renters, being exploited by AI and forced to pay the max the market allows, are also finding it ever more difficult to make ends meet. Thankfully inflation is finally under control and coming down, we just need to focus on raising salaries and taxing corporations and billionaires at rates comparable to what everyone else is paying.

Democrats are expected to hold onto a wide majority next year. What does good governance look like in that political environment? 

SMOTHERMAN: Good governance looks exactly as it always has. Listen to your constituents, prioritize the needs of the people across the entire state, and address those problems that are affecting the people of Colorado the most, housing, health care, child care, substance abuse, and the cost of living. When we focus on the issues and avoid the hate and false narratives that distract us from effectively legislating, we can and will build a brighter future.

Residents across the state are concerned with air quality, from wildfire effects in the northwest to pollution along the Front Range. How can the Legislature work to ensure clean air for all Coloradans?

SMOTHERMAN: Colorado is a leader in fighting climate change and will continue to be. That being said, it still remains critical for us to work with the federal government to expand our fire management and mitigation programs in order to reduce the risk and severity of our forest fires. Colorado is also a leader in the transition to clean energy and just needs to remain strong and committed to that program while accepting that it won’t happen overnight, and we will continue to need fossil fuels as we transition. The keys are to accept that climate change is real and the solution will need to be a global effort, but everything we can do ourselves will add to the cumulative efforts. Our technology brought us these problems, I have every confidence that our technology can solve them as well, we simply need to respect and support our scientific community, our universities, and our private industries that are all working so hard on finding the answers we desperately need.