BY FREDA MIKLIN
GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER
On September 25, Arapahoe County Commissioner Carrie Warren-Gully hosted a get-together for Democratic incumbents, hopefuls and supporters that drew nearly the full slate of candidates that will appear on area voters’ ballots in November, from the top to the bottom of the ticket. Present and accounted for were November 8 candidates for re-election U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, HD38 State Rep. David Ortiz, Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown and Arapahoe County Coroner Dr. Kelly Lear. Also on hand to speak to supporters were Arapahoe County commissioner district two hopeful Jessica Campbell-Swanson and Amy Padden, announced 2024 candidate for 18th Judicial District Attorney, when the 18th JD will be solely Arapahoe County.
Photo by Freda Miklin
National issues that drew candidates’ attention included the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade, described as potentially removing the right of half of all Americans to make their own health care decisions, and the challenges to our democracy through making it difficult to vote and to have every vote count.
Rep. Ortiz talked about his background as being a third-generation military service member on his dad’s side and a first-generation American on his mom’s side that led him to college, teaching in Africa, and in the military as a combat aviator, where he suffered a life-threatening helicopter crash in Afghanistan that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He was called to public service by a friend who told him, “you’re still here for a reason.” Ortiz is running for a second term to represent HD38 against GOP newcomer Jaylen Mosqueira.
Campbell-Swanson would like to see Arapahoe County be a “healthy, thriving community, now and in the future, that supports everybody and is safe.” Watching her father serve in elective office as a city council member and mayor, she was always interest in government, and described studying wastewater management in Kansas at the age of 16. Campbell-Swanson went on to get her college degree at a religious school, where she studied history, philosophy and political science, then came to Colorado, where she earned both a master’s degree in comparative politics and a law degree from the University of Denver. Campbell-Swanson is running against Mark Gotto to represent Arapahoe County district two on the Board of County Commissioners in an open seat being vacated by current Commissioner Nancy Sharpe, who is term-limited.
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