Kathleen Curry is running for Colorado House District 58. The Democrat from Gunnison County held a meet n’ greet in Crawford a few weeks ago. Curry spoke to KVNF's Lisa Young about what she's hearing across the district, her experiences in the legislature and her opponent, former Montezuma County Commissioner Larry Don Suckla.
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KATHLEEN CURRY: This has been a really fun event. I've met folks from across the spectrum, business owners, retirees, teachers, animal welfare advocates, ranchers. I learned a lot about housing since I've been here, but the, the issues that have come up are, have been across the spectrum, a little bit of business, operating costs for small businesses.
Lack of housing, water supply shortages, water quality concerns the status of the ag industry, you know, how are we doing? Are we going to be able to stay in business over time? A lot of different topics that are relevant for the Colorado State House.
LISA YOUNG: Tell our listeners a little bit about your background so people who aren't familiar with you know your background and why you're qualified to to be in this position.
CURRY: There's a couple of important elements I think but I have 25 years of experience working in the water management business, both on the water quality and the water quantity side.
And right now I work at the Colorado State Capitol. I'm a lobbyist and I represent West Slope Water Districts. Most of them are in either Montrose, Delta, or Mesa County. I work at the Capitol during the session.
I've served in the state house before I served for three terms from 2005 to 2010. I got to chair the ag committee, which was a huge honor and made it to speaker pro-tem before I left.
So I loved serving in the legislature and then my family, I come from a family that's five generations of ranchers and out on the Eastern side of Gunnison County. So we have a cow calf operation and we sell a lot of hay, so it's we're in ag production on the cattle side in the ag sector. So all those things are a really nice fit for this district.
YOUNG: So the race between Larry Don Suckla and Mark Roeber was a real nail biter. And it was still three votes. So you'll be facing Larry Don Suckla, who was the former County Commissioner for Montezuma County. Your thoughts about how you feel like you match up against him?
CURRY: I think that we'll be able to show I'll be able to show a lot of differences between Larry Don and myself, both in style and substantively. I don't know my opponent personally, so I can't really comment how he's going to handle things.
But from what I've read and what I've heard, we have a real different approach. Mine is more problem solving oriented, less political, more policy. I'm really trying to find ways to get things done for the people in this district, and I don't know if that is what my opponent is trying to do.
I'm not sure what his objective is, but I do know how it works down at the state house and have years of experience there and it's a give and take process and it's all about compromise.
So I don't I think I'll be able to show voters that I can accomplish things. Whereas I think my opponent is going to be busy talking about it.
YOUNG: I want to turn just a second to the national going on with President Joe Biden stepping down, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Are you hearing much back from folks or are they more concerned about the local issues?
CURRY: Oh, that's a great question. I, I hear both really. Some folks are, I think, trying to process what happened with President Biden's withdrawal and then kind of the enthusiasm behind the vice president, Harris.
So I, a lot of people are just saying, wow, what does she, where does she stand on the issues? And they're kind of doing their homework, going back and looking, trying to figure out where, where she at on the conflict with, between Israel and the Palestinian state. And you know, how are we, how, who is she? So there's a lot of that that I'm hearing.
And that, but then most folks are saying that that this has energized the registered Democrats in the district and that there's a lot of excitement about this new scenario that we have and that that should help other people on the ballot. So, cause I'm, I'm hearing from folks that I had asked to donate to my campaign who are now writing me saying and calling me and texting me saying, where do I send the check?
You know, but before they were kind of, I don't know, sort of just watching, but now they want to engage.
YOUNG: Do you feel like maybe you'll get a chance to ride a little bit of a blue wave in a red sea?
CURRY: Not in this district. No, I think I'm going to have to it'll be probably flat water and I'll have to earn my own, earn my way and earn my support from the voters.
And that'll be a function of if they realize they have an alternative. My opponent is a known quantity and so am I, I know a lot of people in the district. They know my style is is oriented towards protecting the West Slope in an effective way. So I I'm going to have to earn every vote though.
It's just a huge honor to even contemplate representing this district. I take. The word seriously, the word representative means you represent that your focus is the district. And it would be an honor. This place is worth fighting for.
