2024 General Election
EL PASO COUNTY
STATE SENATE 12
CANDIDATES
EPC SD12 General Election Candidates
Listed in Ballot Order
THE TOPICS
& QUESTIONS
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Candidate Information
Senate District:
Campaign Website URL:
Email Address:
Occupation/Vocation:
Military Background (if any):
Years Resident of El Paso County/District Represented:
Your Experience, Priorities, and Vision
What experience (personal, professional, other), priorities, and vision do you have for the elected office that you seek that will benefit your constituency?
Ethics and Accountability
1st Amendment
2nd Amendment
What is your position on gun legislation regarding topics such as mandatory gun insurance, an increased minimum age to purchase a gun, so-called “assault weapons” bans, and creating various new “sensitive spaces” (additional “gun-free zones”)?
Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism
Over the past year there has been a sharp rise in the expression of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism both across our nation and in Colorado, especially among youth. What do you view as the cause(s) of these sociopolitical issues, and what if anything should be done to address them?
The Economy and Resources
As an elected official, what initiatives would you champion to improve the local economy, and what are your priorities for addressing policies on water, energy, and other resources?
Education
If elected, what would you do to help improve the educational outcomes for students in our area? What is your position on parental authority in K-12 education, including school choice, parental notifications, etc.?
Protecting the Vulnerable
If elected, how will you seek to protect the lives of the most vulnerable in our community, including the unborn, victims of trafficking and abuse, senior citizens, and those experiencing mental illness?
Crime
What are your thoughts about crime in Colorado and our community? If elected, how will you work to reduce the impact of crime on your constituents?
Immigration
Do you believe that illegal entries into the U.S. have led to problems for our region? If so, what would you do if elected to improve the situation? Also, what is your view of sanctuary cities/counties?
Election Security and Confidence
Do you believe that elections in Colorado should be conducted differently? (For example, should people be required to show proof of citizenship and residency for registering to vote in Colorado, and should Government-issued identification be required to vote?) If elected, what specifically will you do to help improve Coloradans’ confidence in our elections?
STAN VANDERWERF
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survey question and reply
Republican Candidate Information
Senate District: 12
Campaign Website URL: www.StanVanderWerfColoradoSenate.com
Email Address: S.Vanderwerf@comcast.net
Occupation/Vocation: Commissioner, El Paso County
Military Background (if any): Veteran, 28 years
Years Resident of El Paso County/District Represented: 19 years – two military terms for total of 6 years, 13 years from 2010 to today
Your Experience, Priorities, and Vision
What experience (personal, professional, other), priorities, and vision do you have for the elected office that you seek that will benefit your constituency?
Experience – Nearly 40 years experience from my military service and nearly 8 years as an El Paso County Commissioner. I have extensive experience in public budgets, policy development, programs, infrastructure, public safety, economic development, energy production, and political issues. All will serve me well as Senator. Priorities – Public Safety, Economy and Jobs, Illegal Immigration, School Choice, Free People, Free Markets
Vision – American is a great country and needs to be defended. Free people and free markets must be supported. God designed us to be free. Free markets deliver cost effective goods and services and give us jobs so we can take care of our families.
Ethics and Accountability
What are your beliefs on ethics, accountability, and transparency in government as they relate to the position that you are seeking? Also, what is your position on accountability measures voted into law by Colorado’s electorate, such as the Colorado Sunshine Law and the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR)?
Every elected official should be honest, ethical, accountable, transparent, and empathetic. They should love service to others, believe in our country and our way of life, and put God, family, community, and nation before self. Elected officials also need a deep understanding of the State and Federal Constitutions, and they need wisdom, experience, knowledge, patience, communication skills, and determination. I support both the Colorado Sunshine law and the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. In recent years, the State legislature has introduced bills at the end of session thus limiting public testimony and committee and floor debate. I will push for much more time to increase public debate on proposed legislation.
1st Amendment
If elected, what will you do to protect your constituents’ rights to freedom of religion, speech, peaceable assembly, and petitioning the government for a redress of grievances?
The Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are essential documents that protect personal rights including freedom of religion, speech, peaceable assembly and more. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are given to us by “Nature’s God”, a quote from the Declaration. I will relentlessly protect our rights and the documents that secure our rights. Our state legislature has recently passed several laws that have infringed on those rights. While I will belong to the minority Party, when elected to the Senate I will work with all willing legislators who want people and markets to be free. The State has grown immensely in the last few years causing enormous regulatory burdens.
2nd Amendment
What is your position on gun legislation regarding topics such as mandatory gun insurance, an increased minimum age to purchase a gun, so-called “assault weapons” bans, and creating various new “sensitive spaces” (additional “gun-free zones”)?
Colorado’s current legislature has introduced dozens of anti-gun bills in the last few years and most of them have been passed into law. Unfortunately, these misguided laws almost exclusively harm law abiding citizens and make our State less safe. All items mentioned in the question above plus more will only result in more crime because criminals will not follow these laws. I will oppose future laws like these and try to get those already passed reversed. Instead, we should be working on strengthening families, communities, fighting gang violence, and working on mental health issues. It should be easy for law abiding citizens to arm themselves because they contribute to making our communities safer.
Anti-Americanism and Anti-Semitism
Over the past year there has been a sharp rise in the expression of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism both across our nation and in Colorado, especially among youth. What do you view as the cause(s) of these sociopolitical issues, and what if anything should be done to address them?
I am an American and will always support our way of life. Anti-semitism is an ideology of hate and needs to be opposed everywhere. Unfortunately, there are anti-religion, anti-community, and anti- family forces that try to divide us, label us, and create controversy and division for the purposes of gaining and keeping power. I reject all of this. We need to stand together against this. We need to love our neighbor to stamp out hate. Our education system has also been highly politicized. Politics need to be taken out of our schools and civics classes need to be returned. We need to reinvigorate the study of history.
The Economy and Resources
As an elected official, what initiatives would you champion to improve the local economy, and what are your priorities for addressing policies on water, energy, and other resources?
By far, the highest priority is reduction of regulatory burden. I am uniquely qualified to address this challenge by degree (Industrial engineering) and practice (modeling to find more efficient approaches to operations). All forms of energy need to be supported. Cheap energy is key to a strong economy and putting food on the table. Water is also a critical resource for Colorado. As a Senator, I will work to reduce regulatory burden, expand energy production, and provide reasonable measures to conserve water. Keep in mind, the United States is already a better steward of the environment than anyone else. We don’t need extreme measures to continue. Colorado has done a lot already to conserve water.
Education
If elected, what would you do to help improve the educational outcomes for students in our area? What is your position on parental authority in K-12 education, including school choice, parental notifications, etc.?
We need to expand school choice, re-allocate funds from administrators to teachers, remove politically motivated curricula, and properly fund schools. School choice is essential so parents can provide the best option for their children’s needs. Charter schools, trade schools, private schools, and public schools should all be available. I needed this for my own son who required an advanced academic education. He excelled at it, got a college degree, and now has a great job. We have grown administrators extensively but not teachers. For every administrator let go, we can hire two or maybe three teachers. We should remove all politically motivated coursework and focus on the key things kids need to be successful.
Protecting the Vulnerable
If elected, how will you seek to protect the lives of the most vulnerable in our community, including the unborn, victims of trafficking and abuse, senior citizens, and those experiencing mental illness?
The Declaration of Independence states that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inherent “Natures God” given rights. I am a pro-life candidate and will do everything I can to protect the lives of the unborn. Likewise, our Bill of Rights compels government to protect these rights for everyone including the most vulnerable. Human trafficking, elder abuse, and child abuse are serious crimes that need to be enforced. Mental illness is a community challenge that can and should be supported by government. Government should reduce legislative burdens on businesses and families so they can have their own resources to better support the most vulnerable and people suffering from mental illness.
Crime
What are your thoughts about crime in Colorado and our community? If elected, how will you work to reduce the impact of crime on your constituents?
It is critical for people and businesses to have law and order. Colorado has become a high crime State and our legislature keeps writing laws making it harder for law enforcement to do its job. I will work to reverse this trend, increase criminal penalties, improve prosecution rates, AND work to enhance alternative courts which are effective in reducing drug and alcohol addictions, a major source of crime. I will also enhance laws to fight human trafficking, a modern form of slavery. I support police and sheriff offices and will fight policies designed to defund them or otherwise restrict their ability to keep us safe. I support law enforcement.
Immigration
Do you believe that illegal entries into the U.S. have led to problems for our region? If so, what would you do if elected to improve the situation? Also, what is your view of sanctuary cities/counties?
Illegal immigration has been a challenge across the country. My fellow Commissioners and I declared El Paso County to be a non- sanctuary County. This has helped reduce the number of illegal immigrants overtaxing our public services. This is in contrast to Denver which had declared itself to be a sanctuary City. That policy has cost Denver $100M and counting, harming other programs including public safety. The Federal government needs to close the border and deport or incarcerate those who broke our laws to enter our country. I will work to change the Colorado law that prohibits law enforcement, like our Sheriff’s office, from working with ICE to remove illegal immigrants from our communities.
Election Security and Confidence
Do you believe that elections in Colorado should be conducted differently? (For example, should people be required to show proof of citizenship and residency for registering to vote in Colorado, and should Government-issued identification be required to vote?) If elected, what specifically will you do to help improve Coloradans’ confidence in our elections?
Presently, no person may vote in Colorado unless they are both a US citizen AND a resident of the State registered to vote. For people that violate these laws, they should be prosecuted just as our 4th Judicial District does. I do support early voting to include placing ballots into ballot boxes. This works in Colorado because we have sophisticated signature validation which some other states do not have. I also support the continuous scrubbing of the voter rolls presently being done by our El Paso County Clerk and Recorder. In El Paso County, we also place on a website, photographs of all ballots (which are still paper in Colorado) to allow any citizen to count those ballots and verify.
MARC SNYDER
Democratic Candidate Information
Senate District: 12
Campaign Website URL: www.ElectMarcSnyder.com
Email Address: Mark@electmarcsnyder.com
JOHN MICHAEL ANGLE
Libertarian Candidate Information
Senate District: 12
Campaign Website URL: None Found
Email Address: None Found
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Christian voting
Voting is a simple, yet significant way to do something about public policy in our country. As people of faith, we will be held accountable for our actions, as well as our lack of action. (Luke 12:48)
Biblical worldview
By diligently learning, applying, and trusting God’s truths in every area of our lives, we can begin to develop a deep comprehensive faith that will stand against the unrelenting tide of our culture’s non-biblical ideas.
Vote your values
The issues of the day change. Political parties and platforms change. God’s Word never changes. The vote of every Christian should be based on the principles of Scripture and not persuasive personalities.
Electing righteous leaders
Bad governance and our loss of freedom is the direct result of the church’s failure to disciple. When the citizenry do not seek to be obedient to God’s Law, they vote in wicked and corrupt candidates, who then trample underfoot the God-given liberties of the people.