Voting Guide!!

Fall is my favorite season, and always has been. Between high school softball and scenic drives, anniversary memories and last-minute hikes, there’s nothing like crunching leaves and soaking in the colors.

This season is special, too, as an election year. I just turned in my ballot and I recommend you do, too. It feels good to vote not only with your heart and your conscience and with marginalized people in mind, but also on a local level, where county commissioners have a direct impact on our daily lives.

I hope you think of November 3 as more of a deadline, and the election as ongoing—the time to vote is right now.

Please: enjoy the colors, the leaves, the crisp air, and a few ciders. And vote.

On the Local Level

Through my work with the Garfield County Democrats, I’ve learned something really, really important: County Commissioners have a lot of power.

It’s commonly stated that voting in local elections is important, and this is the best example that I can think of; the actions of County Commissioners directly impact each of us. Sheriffs, too. Judges. Senators.

I urge you to do some research into your local government and whose seats are up for grabs. If I hadn’t started working with this client, I probably wouldn’t have ever known that the incumbent commissioners have been serving for 19 and 24 years (!!!), that they get the final say of my local Planned Parenthood funding (which I heavily depend on for my medical needs), or that they have a say in how police departments are budgeted (a huge deal right now! #BLM!).

Your local race matters. Show up for yourself and your community!

My Ballot Recommendations

I could dedicate the entirety of my blog to breaking down each candidate and why they are the best people for the job. However, I’ll spare you the bulk of the details.

Know this: I’m voting with my heart, my conscience, and to elevate the lives of marginalized people across our nation who need and deserve better. I’m voting as an ally, on behalf of children in cages, a rising death toll due to a gross mishandling of a global pandemic, lives lost to police brutality, and the constant threat of freedoms and body autonomy getting taken away at every opportunity.

Here are my ballot recommendations.

• Presidental Electors: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris
• United States Senator: John Hickenlooper
• Representative to the 117th United States Congress – District 3: Diane Mitsch Bush
• State Board of Education Member – Congressional District 3: Mayling Simpson
• State Senate – District 8: Karl Hanlon
• State Representative – District 57: Colin Wilhelm
• County Commissioner District 2: Beatriz Soto
• County Commissioner District 3: Leslie Robinson

Here are my ballot initiatives recommendations for Colorado.

Note: I’m only going to include the ones that I feel most strongly about! I think that there are some clear-cut issues at hand, but many ballot issues could go either way and I don’t feel educated enough to make any endorsements.

• Proposition 113 (National Popular Vote): Yes!
• Proposition 115 (22-week Abortion Ban): No! Absolutely Not!
• Proposition 118 (Paid Family Leave Program): Yes!
• Amendment 76 (Citizenship Requirement for Voting): No!

If you’re from Colorado, you can view your sample ballot here and review the state blue booklet here.

Enjoy!

Please exercise your civic duty! It’s such a cool right that we have (and our ancestors have fought for!), and I hope every single one of you enjoy the process.