In deciding who should represent the 59th District in the state House, the voters face the same choice as in 2012 – J. Paul Brown or Michael McLachlan. They should make the same decision they did two years ago and pick McLachlan.
The difference, of course, is that in 2012 the Republican, Brown, was the incumbent, while this year the officeholder is the Democrat, McLachlan. Having legislative records to compare, however, should make the choice easier.
J. Paul Brown is a conscientious family man with a long history of civic involvement. A businessman and rancher, he was a La Plata County commissioner for four years, served on the Ignacio school board for 12 years and has long volunteered with groups such as Club 20, Colorado Wool Growers and the Farm Bureau. And he spent two years in the state Legislature before losing to McLachlan in 2012.
In person, Brown is pleasant, affable and easy to talk to. He is consistently gracious, soft-spoken and unfailingly courteous.
In his politics, however, he is out of step with mainstream Colorado. He is also open to charges of advocating contradictory or confusing policies.
Brown opposes taxes, but wants to spend more on roads, adequately fund K-12 schools and build water projects on the Front Range. He wants the state government to have a say in managing federal lands but thinks the feds should pay more to state and local governments. He wants to repeal unfunded federal and state mandates, but no state lawmaker has a say over federal law. And in the most often repeated example, Brown favors cutting government, but also wants it to control the predators that threaten his sheep.
While in the 65-member state House, Brown also took a series of confusing stands on usually noncontroversial measures that then passed, as one wag put it, on a vote of “64-to-Brown.”
McLachlan has chosen to use his time working on specific issues targeting the real needs of his constituents. He sponsored the College Affordability Bill, which capped tuition increases at state colleges and sent $100 million to higher education. Working with state Rep. Tim Dore, R-Elizabeth, he sponsored and helped pass the Crop Donation Bill, which provides tax credits for farmers who give surplus food to organizations such as Hunger Colorado or the Manna Soup Kitchen. And he sponsored a bill that encourages medical doctors to do their residencies in rural areas. He also helped pass a bill that gives Colorado companies preference on state contracts and sponsored one that increases renewable energy standards for rural energy co-ops.
These are concrete, real-world measures that make a difference in peoples’ lives.
Going forward, McLachlan, wants to continue efforts to improve both K-12 and early childhood education, keep working on the statewide water plan and, as a Vietnam veteran himself, do more for vets. That last could include reduced tuition at Colorado colleges and tax breaks for employers who hire vets.
Of course, no discussion of this race would be complete without guns. McLachlan faced an attempted recall after he voted for a bill that limited the capacity of magazines and another to stiffen background check requirements.
Only the reaction was extreme. After all, it was McLachlan who raised the limit for magazines to 15 rounds, thereby exempting all but a few types of firearms. And background checks have strong public support nationwide and across Colorado.
In any case, guns were never McLachlan’s focus. His energy was directed at legislation to benefit his constituents. That is as it should be.
Vote for Michael McLachlan.
