GRAND JUNCTION – Republican J. Paul Brown and Democrat Barbara McLachlan faced off Saturday ahead of the November election, with much of the debate focused on climate change.

The two candidates spoke at the Club 20 fall conference, held as a sort of kickoff to the election season in Colorado.

McLachlan pointed out that Brown, a rancher, is skeptical that humans cause climate change. This year he encouraged fellow lawmakers to see “Climate Hustle,” a “global warming comedy” that critics say foolishly emboldens climate change skeptics.

“As a rancher, I would think you should be very, very concerned about climate change,” McLachlan said to Brown.

“I believe that there is climate change ... where we probably might disagree is that man is having a whole lot to do with that climate change,” Brown responded, which drew applause from some in the audience.

“I think the science is still out on this.”

The House District 59 race is considered one of the most competitive legislative races in Colorado. Democrats hope to extend their slim House majority of 34-31 by defeating incumbent Brown, while Republicans say the seat is critical if they’re to have any chance at control. At the very least, Republicans are working to curb Democrats’ power.

More than $216,000 has poured into the race so far, with McLachlan reporting $112,050 in contributions, while Brown has reported $104,436.

Average contributions raised by Colorado House candidates in 2014 was $33,324, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, making the HD 59 race more expansive.

McLachlan has been spending more on the race, which leaves Brown with more money in the bank. Special interest groups from the right and the left are also planning advertising.

The seat has in the past swung between Republicans and Democrats. Brown held it from 2010 to 2012, before losing it to Democrat Mike McLachlan, only to win it back from McLachlan in 2014.

Barbara McLachlan, a retired teacher, is the wife of Mike McLachlan.

Brown hit Barbara McLachlan on gun control, reminding her that her husband supported a package of gun-control laws in 2013 that required universal background checks and limited high-capacity ammunition magazines to 15 rounds.

McLachlan said she supports the background checks, but that she splits with her husband on limiting high-capacity ammunition magazines.

“My gut instinct tells me that it’s an unenforceable law, and so I’m not necessarily in favor of it,” McLachlan said.

Republicans have a slight advantage in the six-county district, with 34 percent of registered voters. Democrats make up 30 percent of the district. But unaffiliated voters – the wild card – represent 34 percent.

In 2014, Brown won by only 170 votes.

Defeating Brown is a challenge for McLachlan after he had several successes in the Legislature over the past two sessions, including a measure that studies water storage in Colorado. Water issues are of critical importance to voters in the agricultural district.

Brown asked McLachlan if she was familiar with “first in time, first in right,” which refers to the state’s prior appropriations system, which grants water rights to the first person to take water from an aquifer or river, despite residential proximity.

McLachlan was at first stumped by the question, but she then responded, “I’m very familiar with that,” though she did not have the opportunity to elaborate.

Brown impressed moderates by bucking the majority of his party this year in supporting a restructuring of a hospital provider fee to raise money for schools and roads.

But many moderates and factions on the left were disappointed to see Brown backtrack this year on support for funding for a program that provides intrauterine birth control to low-income teens. While Brown supported the funding in 2015, during a budget vote this year, he elected to strip funding for the program. The funding still cleared the Legislature.

Brown explained that he chose not to support funding during the budget vote because he wanted to secure money for other services first, including education.

“These special programs are programs that take away from K-12 education,” Brown said. “We have to make some priorities.”

pmarcus@durangoherald.com