Colorado State House District 48 candidate Q&A

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Carlos Barron Rep

Residence: Fort Lupton
Profession: Coucilman/Business Owner/General Manager
Education:
Experience: 23 years’ experience in oil and gas industry; 2 years on City of Fort Lupton Planning Commission; 3 years as a City of Fort Lupton Councilman; 9 years as a youth sports coach.
Campaign website

What are your top three priorities, if elected?
(1) My House District feeds the world and powers the world, so advocating energy independence and standing up for our energy workers and farmers and ranchers is job one, (2) parental rights in education, (3) supporting our small businesses and first responders.

Recent polling has shown trust in government hovering at historically low levels and stark partisan divides in views of election integrity. What will you do to bridge those gaps?
I would find common ground on all issues with my political counterparts and have constructive and cordial discussions to help understand our differences. I will strive to build relationships so we may make better informed decisions for the advancement of everyone in our state.

What specific actions would you support to improve affordability for Coloradans, whether aimed at housing costs, tax burdens or other impacts?
(1) Punitive regulations drive up costs and kill jobs. Regulations now increase the cost of building or rebuilding a home by an average of $80,000. Reining in regulatory costs, therefore, is job one. (2) Reduce taxes. (3) Rising insurance costs are crushing Colorado families. We need to attract more insurers to the state and reduce costs by minimizing expensive mandates on insurance policies and through common-sense criminal justice. One of the reasons auto insurance policies have skyrocketed? Car theft. We need to crack down on car thieves and put them behind bars.

What should the legislature do when it comes to addressing greenhouse gas emissions and regulating oil and gas development?
Colorado’s oil and gas industry is among the cleanest in the world. We should encourage development here, instead of driving development to Russia, Iran, and other hostile nations. Punitive regulations on our energy workers must end. I will work to stop the over-regulation of the industry and help the oil and gas producers operate safely and clean on their own. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, I will work to promote wildfire mitigation (wildfires are a huge emitter of carbon dioxide) and promote more healthy forests.

Whether your party is in the majority or minority next year, where do you see actionable common ground with the opposing party?
We must come together, respectfully, and agree on the problems facing our state – understand what people are going through. Seeing the suffering from high costs and over-regulation is where we can come together and legislate for a better future for the citizens. Only then will we come to agreement about the adverse impacts of previous legislation. I also believe there are many Democrats who agree with me (a Republican) on the importance of promoting charter schools, education excellence, and choice and opportunity.

How candidate order was determined: A lot drawing was held at the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Aug. 7, 2024, to determine the general election ballot order for major and minor party candidates for U.S. House, State Board of Education, CU Regent, State Senate, State House, and District Attorney races. Colorado law (1-5-404, C.R.S.) requires that candidates are ordered on the ballot in three tiers: major party candidates followed by minor party candidates followed by unaffiliated candidates. Within each tier, the candidates are ordered by a lot drawing with the exception of the President and Vice President race, which is ordered by the last name of the presidential candidate. Questionnaires were not sent to write-in candidates.

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Originally Published: October 11, 2024 at 12:01 a.m.