FLIPPABLE: Barrett Rothe for CO-HD43
Our politics are becoming more divisive and the attacks launched at candidates by their opponents and political parties are getting worse with each passing election. So why would anyone want to jump into a campaign in that environment? Simply put: for my family.
I want my daughter to grow up in the Colorado I know and love, and a Colorado that is seeking to become all it can still be: a place where every child gets a 21st century education, where our government works, our businesses can grow, our lands are protected, and our quality-of-life continues to thrive.
To do that we need better, fairer elections that send officials to the capitol with their constituent's interests, not special interests, in mind.
We need an infrastructure that can grow and support an economy that competes on a global scale.
As a community we need to come together and support an education system that serves all students, produces high school graduates ready to enter the modern workforce or the college classroom, and we need public universities that don't leave their alumni crippled by student debt.
And we must have a health care system that is affordable, sustainable, and aims to prevent illness by promoting wellness... true health care, not sick care... no matter what Washington hands down to us in the future.
With all of that in mind, I am running for the state legislature to do what I can to make it happen. It wouldn't be right for me to claim I want all of these things for my family and my community and then stand idly by when I see it slipping away. They are my reason to step forward... not tomorrow, not next year, but today.
I've been blessed with many great opportunities and the support of a wonderful family. After graduating from high school in the same community I live in now, I was excited to attend the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. That was a formative experience, as it is for many college students, and it's where I met my lovely wife Annelise. After graduating I was offered the chance to teach public speaking for a year before I enrolled in the University of Colorado Denver's renowned Master of Public Administration degree program.
While I completed my M.P.A. my wife and I opened a coffee shop, sold it, and then we both started careers in human resources. Once we had our daughter, Lilly, we knew it was time to move closer to family and friends and so we settled in Highlands Ranch, where my wife attended high school and where we knew we'd find a community of other Colorado families.
Now I work for a large, nonprofit, health maintenance organization. Is that a little too vague? Well they're not a political organization and health care is an industry sensitive to politics so I didn't want to broadcast it... my campaign and my employer are not connected. But I have seen first hand the ways health care could work for Colorado, if only we moved forward together to solve problems.
My wife and I, perennial entrepreneurs, also own a small floral service in Highlands Ranch.
As a small-business owner, a husband and father, someone who's stuck in traffic wondering when we'll solve actual problems, and an unabashed policy nerd I hope I can prove to you by November that I can represent you at the Capitol and you won't regret having me on your side.
https://rothecolorado.com