DENVER – Democrat
The goal is to take the seat from incumbent Republican J. Paul Brown.
Barbara McLachlan’s husband, Mike McLachlan, defeated Brown in 2012, after the Ignacio rancher had held it for two years. But Brown came back in 2014 and won in a rematch.
Barbara McLachlan acknowledges it’s difficult to ignore the family optics of the race. But she has worked to differentiate herself from her husband.
“The first thing people have to realize is that we’re a pretty typical couple, and he doesn’t always listen to me, and I don’t always listen to him,” she said.
Gun control is perhaps the most glaring example. Mike McLachlan supported a package of Democratic-sponsored bills in 2013 that enacted universal background checks and limited ammunition magazines to 15 rounds.
Political observers widely agree that the latter part of the package, the ammunition ban, may have cost Mike McLachlan the 2014 election. Barbara McLachlan doesn’t doubt it, adding, “The whole family got heartburn from that.”
This year, she has come out in opposition to the magazine ban, explaining that it is difficult to enforce. But the background-check law she believes is keeping criminals from getting their hands on firearms.
A less political, but at times polarizing, issue is education funding, with rural schools constantly competing with the more populated Front Range.
McLachlan knows a lot about the frustration, having taught English and journalism at Durango High School for 20 years. She is retired, but still serves as a college consultant, helping connect students with institutions.
McLachlan remembers as budget cuts rolled in about a decade ago.
“We just lost a lot of opportunities for kids that we should have had,” she said. “I’ve seen how it’s hurt kids, and it’s hurt teachers.”
McLachlan plans on telling those stories in the Legislature if she wins in November.
“Education is the foundation of what we need to be doing in Colorado, and if we don’t support our teachers, and we don’t support our schools, that foundation could crumble.”
Her ideas include finding savings in the School Finance Act and restructuring a hospital provider fee to free money for spending, something her Republican opponent also backs.
While McLachlan and Brown have found themselves agreeing on a few issues during the race, including preserving Western Slope water, an environmental issue in which they greatly differ is climate change.
Brown is skeptical that humans are responsible for the changing climate, while McLachlan stands with most of the world’s scientists, who say humans are greatly adding to it.
“If we keep saying it’s not man-made, that we don’t need to do anything about it, we’re delaying the process,” McLachlan said. “Pretty soon ... it’ll be too late.”
She supports federal carbon-pollution standards, and a proposed executive order by Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, which would order cuts in carbon pollution, despite a court-ordered stay that has derailed the Clean Power Plan.
To accomplish her goals, McLachlan says, “I would like to be known right away as somebody who can work across the aisle because that’s the only way we’re going to get things done.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com
Barbara McLachlan
Age:
62.
Residence:
Durango.
Education:
Bachelor of science, technical journalism, Colorado State University; bachelor of arts, English/teaching certificate, Fort Lewis College; master of arts, teaching and learning, Regis University; certificate in college counseling, UCLA.
Political Background:
None.
Occupation:
Retired teacher; co-owner of Durango College Consulting.
Family:
Husband, Mike McLachlan; two children.
Top Issues:
Education funding; curbing climate change.
Voter information
The Nov. 8 election is the first presidential election in which all voters will receive a ballot through the mail if registered to vote by Oct. 31. Here’s some details:
Ballots will be mailed beginning Monday.
Ballots can be returned by mail or dropped off at secure, 24-hour drop boxes at: La Plata County Clerk & Recorder’s Office, 98 Everett St., Durango; Bayfield Town Hall, 1199 Bayfield Parkway, Bayfield; La Plata County Administration Building, 1101 E. Second Ave., Durango, or Farmers Fresh Market, 535 Goddard Ave., Ignacio.
Voter registration is open through Election Day.
Voter Service and Polling Centers in La Plata County will be open Monday through Saturday, beginning Oct. 24.
For a sample ballot and times and addresses for polling centers, go to
bit.ly/2dGU3VD
.
Election coverage
The Durango Herald will bring you daily election coverage through Oct. 23, with stories on every contested race and every local and state ballot issue. You can find all election coverage at durangoherald.com/election.
