Colorado State Senate District 9Gil Armendariz (D)Gil Armendariz said ever since he and his family moved to Monument, Colorado, in 2014, he has witnessed the impact population growth has had on the environment.ìThe explosive growth that we are seeing here in Colorado Springs is going to impact us very shortly,î he said. ìThe unpredictable climate we are living in now is going to put a lot of stress on the environment. State laws make it difficult to address concerns about that strain, and that difficulty is also going to cause more issues, like how to address concerns about water supply.îArmendariz also discussed how certain constitutional laws, namely TABOR and the Gallagher Amendment, work against each other, instead of with each other. He said he likes that taxes are controlled by the voters, but the way the system is structured right now is failing. The funding does not flow to the departments that need it, and things like education and the roads have been ignored for too long, Armendariz said.ìMany of these things that are impacting people now or will be are interlinked,î he said.ìThe explosive growth, problems with the I-25 Gap project ó they all have a relationship to each other and there is a balance that needs to be struck because right now, it is pretty out of balance.ìA government that does not function does not serve a purpose anymore.îPaul Lundeen (R)Currently serving as the representative for House District 19 in the Colorado General Assembly, Paul Lundeen said he is ready to make the transition to the Colorado State Senate to represent District 9. He would like to affect more change in some vital areas of the State Legislature.ìI have one gigantic organizing theme over everything I do, and that is smaller government, freer people,î Lundeen said. ìThe primary filter that I run everything through is based on three big policy issues: reorganizing the money of the state and spending the taxes that are already being paid; organize that money to appropriately fund K-12 education and build out roads and bridges; and increase public safety.îLundeen said he got into the public policy realm in 2010 when he was elected to the Colorado State Board of Education, following a career as a broadcast journalist and entrepreneur. ìI felt strongly that we needed to do a better job in public education,î he said.For the four years he has been involved in state legislation, Lundeen said he has been ìthe guyî to bring forward bills to improve laws or provide protection for human trafficking; trying to make government smaller in proportion to society; making sure students, parents and teachers are getting the money earmarked for education; working on how to improve public safety, which is being threatened by marijuana, he said; and working on improving roads and bridges to help the local economy.ìI feel that great personal freedom honors the idea that is America,î he said.Colorado House of Representatives District 19Asia Zanders (D)Asia Zanders said she moved back to Colorado in 2017 because early in her military career she had been stationed at Ft. Carson for four years with the United States Army. She said she left the military in 2014 and earned her bachelorís degree in sociology and political science, and then she decided to focus on a potential career in politics.Although she is a mother, wife and full-time student earning another degree in political philosophy, Zanders said she is running for the seat as House Representative for District 19 because she feels there is a need for more consistency, transparency and cohesion in the state government.ìI want to focus on issues rather than just being a Democrat or a Republican,î Zander said. ìA lot of bills are not being passed because there is no cohesion. I have been able to adapt to situations and been able to figure people out. My hope is to bring that same mentality to the state Legislature to make things happen that need to.îOne of the biggest issues Zanders said Colorado faces is marijuana use and regulation. ìWhile I do not like marijuana personally, at the same time I know that it is not going anywhere and the rules and regulations are getting stricter,î she said. ìWe are being harder on illegal growers, and I think that is awesome. We just have to remember who else is affected and listen to all sides of an issue, which is what I do.îTim Geitner (R)As a logistics officer for the city of Colorado Springs, Tim Geitner said he had plenty to consider when he was approached about running for the House of Representatives for District 19. As a member of the U.S. Army Reserves; and, with a young family, a small business to run and two home-schooled children; he said he had to consider how the change would impact his family.ìDistrict 19 covers all of eastern El Paso County and is geographically the largest district,î Geitner said. ìIt is a very unique area; and, at the end of the day, every citizen in the district deserves representation. I do not believe it is going to be an easy job but I am excited about it. The idea of serving others has always been a part of me.îGeitner said after 13 years of military service, during which he was deployed to Afghanistan, he and his wife made the decision to stay in Colorado Springs. But the transition from military life to civilian life was the most difficult task he has faced, Geitner said. It gave him an appreciation for the large population of veterans in the area who are trying to do the same thing.ìMy desire is to focus on peopleís concerns about water, aging water infrastructure and allowing people to live their lives with limited interference from the government,î he said. ìI have already spoken to the caucus leader (minority leader Patrick Neville) about being part of the agriculture and natural resource committee and the education committee because people want to make decisions for the best interest of their kids.î
