2 weeks Ago
Colorado Voter Guide: 2024 General Election In House District 44 for the Colorado General Assembly, Republican Anthony Hartsook looks to continue his work by being elected to a second term, while Democratic opponent Alyssa Nilemo aims to win the newly redrawn district this November. No matter who wins, both candidates face a shifting political landscape in Douglas County and continued rapid growth. At first glance, you might think they have little in common.
Still, Hartsook and Nilemo are fighting to represent the new district encompassing Parker, Stonegate, Sierra Ridge, Meridian Village, and Stepping Stone in Douglas County. “The beauty of our area is we have both city and dirt country roads,” Hartsook said. “You're located close enough to the city where if you want to drive into Denver.
..you could, and you are pretty close if you want to go skiing or if you want to go out to the plains.
” Nilemo expressed similar affection for her Parker home, pointing out that it is experiencing a “major growth spurt.” “Parker is changing,” she said. “I think it's trying to keep the best parts of a small town and meet the fact that it's a bustling place where many people want to live.
” Whoever wins the HD44 seat on Nov. 5 will need to consider how best to voice the concerns of a growing population. They must also navigate the distribution of limited resources, like water and continued housing demand, while balancing tradition and embracing change.
The HD44 seat is one of four House seats in Douglas County, with 400,000 residents and a general Republican lean. Currently, 47% of the county’s registered voters are Unaffiliated, 33% are Republican, and 18.5% are Democrat.
According to the U.S. News and World Report, it is the richest county in Colorado and the eighth wealthiest in the country.
While most elected representatives from Douglas County are Republicans, Democrat Bob Marshall of District 43 in Highlands Ranch won in 2022, signaling a potential shift. However, politics are not the only thing that is shifting in Douglas County. According to USAFacts, its population has increased by 31% since 2010.
Courtney Sadler, a 17-year Parker resident, noted that she has “seen the construction of one neighborhood elementary school, four charter schools, one neighborhood middle school, and one neighborhood high school...
all this construction and it’s like the work cannot happen fast enough for the demand.” With this growth comes substantial changes in political boundaries. In 2010, each state house district in Colorado represented about 77,614 voters in the Colorado General Assembly, but today, that number has grown to 88,800.
All four house districts in Douglas County were redrawn in 2021, but the most significant change occurred in HD44, represented in the House by Hartsook, the incumbent known for wearing his signature cowboy hat. Recently, he sported the hat along with his son, Harrison Plevnia Hartsook, who wore one. He said that Hartsook’s look is mostly for fun, while it has a deeper meaning, he said.
“The cowboy lifestyle, you know, you work,” he said. “You're honest, you're true to God. You don't take anything that's not yours.
I like to think my family represents that. I like to think [my dad] and I represent that.” Hartsook credits the 26 years he served in the U.
S. Army with shaping his values of loyalty, service, duty, courage, and respect. Throughout his service, he was stationed in Italy, Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan, eventually retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel.
After retiring, Hartsook acted as Director for Business Development of a veteran-owned small business, Aspen Communications, and served as Legislative Affairs Assistant for then-U.S. Rep.
Mike Coffman. Coffman is now the mayor of Aurora. Hartsook chose to run for office after watching “businesses being shut down arbitrarily by the government” during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
As an advocate for small government, he felt this wasn’t in the people’s best interest and threw his hat in the race in 2022, where he defeated Democratic-challenged Bob Henry. Confident the HD44 will continue to favor Republicans if elected, Hartsook said he will continue to support bipartisan cooperation, civil discussion, and balance in state government. “We used to have, in the world of political discussions, you could have a discussion and a disagreement over ideas,” Hartsook said.
“Now, all too often, people attack the person. I find that very, very disheartening. Let's stick to debating ideas.
Let's stick to debating policy issues versus attacking individuals.” To keep his seat, Hartsook will have to get past Democratic opponent Alyssa Nilemo, who attributes her passion for politics to that of a Republican governor. During WWII, Nilemo’s grandfather, Herb Inouye, and his family migrated to Colorado.
Colorado’s governor at the time, Ralph Carr, opposed the internment of Japanese Americans. He promised they would be safe if they made it to Colorado. Inouye became a dedicated community leader and instilled in Nilemo the values of service and community.
These values inspired her work in hospice care and disability services and later as an Executive Aide for the City Manager’s Office in Westminster. Nilemo currently works in higher education and advocates for reforming the political process to make it easier for working-class people to serve in office. Nilemo decided to run because she disagrees with how Douglas County has handled public education and its treatment of the LGBTQ community.
If elected, Nilemo will be the only Asian American member of the Colorado House of Representatives. This is crucial to Nilemo’s campaign manager, Paula Smith, who identifies as Korean American. “As a woman and as a person of color, I really liked the idea that we would have somebody in the state house representing and providing a voice for people of color but also women,” she said.
“And that's something that we are lacking down here, specifically in Douglas County.” Nilemo’s campaign slogan is “people before politics,” and this mission is personal to her. “I'm in a really fortunate spot.
..but I also know that at certain points in my life, I was unhoused, or I didn't know where my next meal was coming from,” she said.
“And I counted on a food pantry or the kindness of someone else. And so I think knowing that I could not be where I am now if other people had not shown kindness makes me feel even stronger.” Housing is a prominent issue in Douglas County due to property tax increases, the cost of housing, and supply demands.
Hartsook said he supports rolling back governmental regulations to make homes more manageable and cheaper to build, believing that “housing is tied directly to water; if you can’t get the water, you can’t build the homes.” Because of this, Hartsook said he encourages building more reservoirs to hold and retain water. Nilemo said she wants “to see a healthy housing pipeline” where starter homes are affordable, and options are available when people are ready to downsize.
Nilemo plans to work “hand-in-hand with unions and small businesses” to ensure workers are paid fairly and goods and services are affordable. Hartsook said, “small businesses are the engine of America.” If elected to a second term, Hartsook said he plans on supporting them by reducing crime, lowering taxes, and limiting bureaucracy from hampering “growth and prosperity.
” Both candidates have experience in education. Hartsook has taught at Army schools, tutored high school algebra in Italy while stationed overseas, and worked with elementary and middle schoolers on math, science, reading, and art in El Paso, Texas. Nilemo has worked in early childhood education and currently serves as the deputy chief of activation at the Auraria campus, where she works to secure funding for higher education, the performing arts, and community events.
Hartsook is on the House Education Committee, where he recently sponsored a bill to improve resources for science educators. He said, “Parents know best the educational needs of their kids,” and supports parents’ rights to choose where their children go to school and what they learn. Nilemo wants the state government to increase funding for public education, supporting competitive teacher pay, comprehensive curriculum, and quality of school buildings.
Like Hartsook, she believes parents should be able to choose whether to send their children to public or private schools, but she notes “they should be real choices.” Hartsook favors “Truth in Sentencing laws,” which require offenders to serve most of their sentence before being eligible for release. Further, Hartsook said he believes the growing number of immigrants in Colorado is contributing to increased crime.
The state Rep. said he will “law enforcement working with ICE to deport illegal criminal migrants.” Nilemo said law enforcement agencies are being asked to handle too many issues.
She hopes to support them by “investing in robust mental healthcare, community programs, and social services.” Hartsook said that “one size does not fit everyone” regarding healthcare and opposes mandated coverage. Nilemo wants healthcare decisions to be made by patients and their doctors, not the government or “someone on the phone authorizing your use of insurance.
” Further, Nilemo said reproductive health care must be safe, accessible, and affordable. “As a Republican, I'm going to be voting on the Republican ticket,” Hartsook said, adding, “I like Trump's policies. I wish they would tape his mouth shut.
” Nilemo said, “Hopefully it is no surprise to anyone that I will vote for Kamala and Walz. I do believe this time in history, this vote, is whether or not we want to preserve democracy.” Iris Pixler is a student at Colorado College.
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