At Durango forum, GOP candidates field rotating questions submitted from across Colorado

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice

Instead of posing the same question to an entire panel and allowing candidates to respond in sequence, organizers of the Feb. 13 Republican candidate forum in Durango tried something different.

For the most part, candidates received different questions in turn.

There wasn’t much room to sit back and think through an answer while someone else talked. Once your name was called, it was your turn. 

VFW Post 4031 hosted the event, with RMV, Southwest Republican Women and the La Plata County Republican Central Committee working together to put it on. Clark Craig emceed the evening, and local GOP members Lisa Zimmerman and Amber Morris helped organize it.

JJ McKinzie joined the Secretary of State panel shortly before the event, expanding the statewide discussion.

Sixty-two questions came in ahead of time from readers and viewers across Colorado. Organizers pulled heavily from those submissions during the forum. The event was livestreamed on RMV platforms, extending the audience beyond the room in Durango.

Statewide offices take the first round

The evening opened with candidates for Secretary of State, Treasurer and Attorney General.

James Wiley, running for Secretary of State, opened with a push to decertify Colorado’s election machines. “Day one, what we gotta do is we decertify all the machines across the state immediately hand count,” he said. “Secretary of State has the power to decertify those machines.” Throughout the night, Wiley returned to legal action and litigation as key tools he would use if elected.

Photo by Lisa Zimmerman.

McKinzie was asked whether he would review evidence from the Mesa County forensic audits conducted during the Tina Peters case. “Yes, I would be willing to do it,” McKinzie said. “One of the things that happened when she was in court is that they never actually looked at the evidence that she had for the fraud.” He added that election data statewide should be examined for patterns and said he would pursue legal action where appropriate.

Kevin Grantham, running for State Treasurer, focused on staffing growth in the department. “Dave Young took over that office there had 32 full-time equivalent employees. It has bloomed to 70 — 118% increase in staffing,” he said. State budget documents show the treasury’s staffing has increased in recent years as new programs and workload expanded.

Attorney General candidate Michael Allen centered his remarks on crime and its economic consequences. 

“When we have the third highest rate of motor vehicle theft in the entire nation, that’s what causes all of our car insurance to be some of the most expensive,” Allen said, arguing that enforcement priorities must shift.

From left: James Wiley, JJ McKinzie, Vanessa Ruggles, Amber Morris, Michael Allen, Lisa Zimmerman, Heidi Ganahl and Kevin Grantham following the statewide office panel in Durango.

The Senate field steps forward

The U.S. Senate panel followed, featuring Sen. Mark Baisley of Colorado Springs, Montrose County Commissioner Sean Pond, Janak Joshi, George Markert and Dathan Jones, who joined the lineup shortly before the event.

Midway through the Senate panel, the structured rotation gave way to a spontaneous question from Heidi Ganahl: which Democrat they liked most — and least.

Baisley answered first by pointing to former state Rep. Shannon Byrd, saying she was willing to work across party lines, citing her willingness to collaborate. “She was just a very good person to work with, and I like her a lot,” he said.

From there, Baisley turned to a hearing from his first year in the Senate, when Secretary of State Jena Griswold appeared before an oversight committee. He said he had been asked to sponsor an impeachment resolution but wanted to question her first.

“I said, so Secretary Griswold, I have seen you on national TV claiming that Donald Trump should never appear on the ballot in Colorado,” he said. “How can you believe that people are going to trust you to count their ballots correctly when you’re trying to keep their favorite candidate off the ballot?”

He described her response as unprofessional and said he ultimately agreed to sponsor the measure. “I said, gimme that document. And I signed it.”

When Markert answered the same question he drew the contrast between local Democrats he knows and state leadership. He said many Democrats he speaks with at the city council level share goals like low taxes and safe neighborhoods but that something shifts when it comes time to vote.

But he reserved his sharpest criticism for the governor. “I cannot stand Governor Polis. That guy is a joke,” Markert said. What frustrates him most is what he described as a lack of seriousness in state leadership and policies he believes have weakened Colorado’s economy and public safety. Applause began before he finished.

Other questions drew out different priorities from the remaining candidates. “Public land belongs to you, not the government,” Pond said, arguing that local access and conservation do not have to be at odds. On immigration, Pond tied border security to support for federal enforcement. He said the country should “continue to support President Trump and secure borders,” adding that ICE is “literally enforcing the laws passed by Congress.” He pointed to recent raids he said accounted for thousands of missing children and argued that backing law enforcement at the border ultimately makes neighborhoods safer.

Joshi used his closing time to outline why he believes he is prepared for national office. “When you are dealing with national and international issues, you have to know a lot more,” he said, noting that he has traveled to 122 countries and all seven continents. He referenced degrees in healthcare administration and business, and spoke about building a dialysis center in Trinidad that he said saved the county significant transportation costs. “So I know about rural Colorado too,” he said, tying his medical practice and time in Lamar and La Junta to the state’s agricultural communities. He reiterated his support for the caucus and assembly system and urged voters to place his name on the ballot through that process.

Jones framed his campaign around service. “There’s a lot of people who wanna tell everybody what to do,” he said, “but there’s not a lot of people that are willing to get their hands dirty.” He argued that financial accountability matters more than raising taxes and said the party needs to stand “shoulder to shoulder” if it expects to win statewide.

He also turned to homelessness and business flight. Referring to California, he said there are lessons Colorado could learn but that leaders here are not listening. He called for compassion paired with accountability and said the state should work to attract companies leaving the West Coast rather than watch them relocate to Texas or Tennessee.

In another, he focused on border enforcement. “Let them go out and round up folks who are not here legally and get them out,” Jones said.

From left: Ruggles, Ganahl, Dathan Jones, Janak Joshi, George Markert, Mark Baisley, Zimmerman, Sean Pond and Morris

The governor’s race closes the evening

The final panel turned to the governor’s race. Rep. Scott Bottoms of Colorado Springs, Teller County Sheriff Jason Mikesell, Joe Oltmann and Maria Orms took the stage. Bob Brinkerhoff, who had been scheduled to appear, did not attend.

Mikesell began by talking about regulation and enforcement in the same breath. “The regulations are costing you everything,” he said, pointing to water, energy and business policy. He moved quickly to public safety, describing work with district attorneys to prosecute cartel cases and arguing that probation, parole and sentencing decisions drive crime trends more than headlines do. At one point he referenced federal cooperation directly. “I’m the only sheriff in the state of Colorado to sign an agreement with ICE for the 287(g) agreement,” he said.

Orms approached the race from a different angle. “As we have moved to the digital age, we have lost all of our constitutionally protected freedoms,” she said, connecting online data collection, shadow banning and speech restrictions to what she views as broader erosion of civil liberties. She spoke about a proposed digital bill of rights and returned more than once to housing. She said young professionals earning strong salaries still struggle to purchase starter homes and suggested redirecting state incentives toward smaller, attainable properties.

When election integrity surfaced, Oltmann interrupted with a question of his own. “Is this a random question?” he asked when picked to respond, drawing laughter from the room. He then asked for more time and used it to return to a position he has made central to his campaign. “Paper ballots in person,” he said. “Get rid of machines. Get rid of mail-in ballots.” He argued that structural changes to election systems must come before any candidate can reliably win statewide.

Bottoms was asked how he would handle a legislature controlled by the opposite party, and he did not suggest compromise. “I’m gonna veto the mess outta everything,” he said. During his concluding remarks, Bottoms said Republicans shouldn’t act like they’re destined to lose in Colorado and pushed people to get involved at the precinct level instead of waiting for television ads to do the work.

From left: Ruggles, Morris, Ganahl, Jason Mikesell, Maria Orms, Zimmerman, Joe Oltmann, Scott Bottoms

After the final remarks

Rachel Cook, vice president of the Fort Lewis College Turning Point chapter, addressed the audience toward the end of the evening and invited support for student efforts on campus.

Chairs emptied then, but the room didn’t. Candidates lingered, taking questions and listening to voters in smaller, informal conversations.

Photos by Jen Schumann

Giving each candidate a different prompt changed the rhythm of the night. Instead of hearing the same talking points repeated down the line, voters heard distinct answers and the contrasts showed up on their own.

The full forum can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/live/XGbKtSJbP5c?si=8crCqDAeOx0PPOJy 

Readers who watched the forum can share which candidate statement stood out to them here: https://forms.gle/gSNazHi5H4Qv2MbW8