State Sen. Don Coram is a different breed of politician. And we wish there were more like him.
Not wedded to party doctrine, Coram keeps his interests in Denver aligned with those of the people in District 6, and he seeks allies from both parties to help accomplish his goals.
“I stay pretty independent,” Coram said in a recent interview with the Herald’s editorial board, “and I am proud of that.”
He also stays busy. Coram was a prime sponsor of 69 bills during the 2018 legislative session, and points to the establishment of funding for broadband service in rural Colorado, the SAFER grant program and passage of the Civil Rape Shield Law as examples of his willingness to work for what’s best for his constituents instead of what might be best for his party.
Bayfield Democrat Guinn Unger is running for Coram’s seat on a pledge to be a tireless advocate for clean air, water and public lands. Now retired, Unger won a seat on the La Plata Electric Association board of directors in 2017.
On his campaign website, Unger says he decided to run “because he feels that (Coram) does not represent the values of most people in Southwest Colorado.”
We disagree, but feel strongly that with his training and experience as an electrical engineer, Unger is currently in the perfect position to help guide LPEA toward a more renewable future.
Coram’s closing statement has stayed with us: “In the Legislature, we have extreme left, and we have extreme right. And neither of them ever gets a damn thing done.”
Don gets things done and deserves to go back to Denver to do more. We vote to re-elect Sen. Don Coram.
Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez is seeking his fifth term in Colorado District 3’s congressional seat. While he is far from the partisan marionette his staunchest critics portray him as, he is equally far from being the imaginative, moderate Republican so many in the district wish he would be.
Unfortunately, say many of his critics, he has not evolved as a legislator since arriving in Washington in 2010. On climate change, an issue much on the minds of people in drought-struck and singed Southwest Colorado, he stated recently, “I have always said that the climate is changing. Are we the only cause? I don’t think so.”
It’s an unsatisfying response. Tipton cannot be accused of being a climate-change denier. But at the same time, he seems uninterested in creating or sponsoring any action to counter the phenomenon. Tipton leaves us wanting – and certainly expecting – more.
In contrast, Diane Mitsch Bush, the Democratic challenger from Steamboat Springs, offers just that. Exploring her campaign website is a revelation: in concise terms that reveal how thoughtfully moderate she is, Bush shares her stand on 14 major issues and outlines her plans to address them.
Tipton’s campaign is portraying Bush as a liberal monster, ready to be unleashed on the district. Typical Tipton, it seems, incapable of seeing our complex communities and our issues in any terms other than black-and-white.
There’s nothing like the brilliance of a Colorado autumn to remind us of how narrow that point of view is. And how dated. We expect more from our leaders, and one candidate in this race offers it. We vote for Diane Mitsch Bush.
