Early Saturday morning, District 59 State Rep. J. Paul Brown (R-Ignacio) assured a crowd of about 35 supporters of one thing if he retains his seat in the upcoming November election: He holds the Western Slope near and dear.
A long day of campaigning lay before Brown on Saturday. The itinerary included a stop in each of the six counties within his district, beginning bright and early in Durango and ending at the Brown Bear Cafe in Silverton on Saturday evening.
“We’re going to run again, and we’re going to run hard,” Brown said at the Sorrel Sky Gallery on Main Avenue. “I know water and I know agriculture. I’ve been a county commissioner and school board member. We need the Western Slope voice.”
In a previous interview with The Durango Herald, Brown said he anticipates more dirty tricks this year after mud flew in 2014 when he took back the district seat from Mike McLachlan, who unseated Brown in the 2012 election. This year, McLachlan’s wife, Barbara McLachlan, will be Brown’s challenger.
Brown said Democrats, who barely hold the House majority today, have stood in the way of the passage of his bills, but that he will continue to push for road infrastructure, improved health care and water storage.
“We have to come up with alternative solutions with water,” Brown said. “There were 2 million acre feet on the southern plat that went out of the state. We need to store that water.”
Brown also vowed to take a hard stance against ColoradoCare, which he called “Obamacare on steroids.”
“The Affordable Care Act was supposed to take care of us, but that hasn’t happened,” he said. “We have to do something about that, and I don’t know exactly what, but it affects the Western Slope more than any other area in Colorado.”
La Plata County Commissioner Brad Blake came out to support Brown and commended the legislator for his “conservative values.”.
Carolyn Plested, a friend of 10 years, said, “He’s the most honest man with high moral values. He has integrity, and he approaches issues with a historic understanding and background.”
jpace@durangoherald.com
