DENVER – Three candidates flying under the radar in Colorado’s gubernatorial race this year hope to shake up the two-party system with a revolutionary wave.
One candidate, unaffiliated Mike Dunafon, believes he can win the race come November. Green Party candidate Harry Hempy and Libertarian Matt Hess acknowledge the uphill battle but hope to at least convince a few more voters to buck mainstream politics.
“I still am convinced that I want to do the right thing for the right reasons, and I will adhere to my principles,” said Hess, a Roxborough system administrator. “I want to take that into the highest office possible where I can have the most impact.”
“I would not owe my election to anybody,” said Hempy, a Jamestown retired computer scientist who left the Democratic Party more than a year ago. “I think it sets a stage for the next election cycle to start out with acknowledgment of candidates other than Democrats or Republicans.”
“We’re going to win,” said Dunafon, an entrepreneur and mayor of Glendale. “It’s going to change the face of politics. This is the American Spring.”
Before any of these candidates celebrate, they will need to defeat Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, who is facing an aggressive challenge by Republican Bob Beauprez, a former congressman.
Also running is perennial unaffiliated candidate Paul Fiorino.
On several of the issues, the three alternative candidates agree, including the legalization of marijuana.
Dunafon has made it a centerpiece of his campaign, releasing a video with hip-hop star Wyclef Jean that attacks Hickenlooper for a youth anti-marijuana campaign that utilizes human-size rat cages and tells children not to be a lab rat.
“It is a big issue because the marijuana situation is one of the greatest travesties ever perpetrated on this country. It is the new Jim Crow,” Dunafon said, likening the disproportionate number of minorities sitting behind bars to segregation.
For Hess, the legalization issue is about liberty.
“I don’t believe people should be criminalized for actions that only harm themselves,” he said.
“I just don’t like being a criminal,” Hempy laughed. “I’m happy to pay fair taxes to buy a commercial product that doesn’t make me a criminal anymore.”
Hempy disagreed with his fellow alternative candidates on gun control. He supported a package of bills in 2013 that banned high-capacity ammunition magazines and mandated universal background checks. But he is skeptical that it will have any positive impact.
Dunafon and Hess were more critical of Hickenlooper for signing the bills.
“The cronies told him to do it. ...” Dunafon said. “To destroy our Second Amendment rights.”
All three candidates oppose the death penalty. But they believe Hickenlooper should have been more decisive in deciding what to do with convicted killer Nathan Dunlap. The governor granted Dunlap a temporary reprieve from execution.
Even though Dunafon opposes the death penalty, he said he would have signed Dunlap’s execution because the law is on the books, and a jury decided. Hempy and Hess would have commuted the sentence to life in prison without parole.
On the economy, Dunafon would like to get government out of the way. He pointed out that as mayor, he and the City Council eliminated at least one archaic law from the books each week.
Hess said government is the greatest impediment to economic stability.
“The best thing any representative can do about the economy is stop trying to use government to improve it,” Hess said.
Hempy, however, believes government plays an important role in economic development. One solution he has is to raise the minimum wage.
“We put more money in the hands of low-income people and unemployed people, so that our local businesses will have customers,” Hempy said.
All three candidates support local control over gas and oil rules and regulations, as well as education. Hess would go as far as to ask voters to abolish the state board of education.
“From there, we can move to a local control-only model,” Hess said. “Just as we are diverse geographically, so are our needs.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com
Mike Dunafon
Political affiliation: Unaffiliated
Key issues: Local control as it relates to fracking and education; prison reform; empowering the cannabis and hemp industries
Occupation: Mayor of Glendale; entrepreneur
Family: Wife, Debbie Matthews; four children
Residence: Glendale
Favorite U.S. President: Thomas Jefferson
Harry Hempy
Political affiliation: Green Party
Key issues: Higher wages; clean, renewable energy; multi-party government
Occupation: Retired computer scientist
Family: Wife, Sally; five children
Residence: Jamestown
Favorite U.S. President: George Washington
Matt Hess
Political affiliation: Libertarian
Key issues: Reduction in taxation; reducing regulatory burdens on businesses; putting government on the sidelines
Occupation: System administrator
Family: Wife, Michelle; three children
Residence: Roxborough
Favorite U.S. President: Does not have one
