Valdamar Archuleta has laid the foundation for a blockbuster bid against U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, who represents Denver in Congress, based in part on what voters say they care about him.
The first part of what the Republican candidate calls his “commitment to Denver” focuses on strategies to reduce the cost of living. Specifically, it will focus on reducing government spending and trying to get more US dollars into the hands of consumers.
“What most people were talking about to me was overwhelmingly the cost of living,” Archuleta said in an interview. “Here in Denver, (it’s) primarily housing costs.”
Mr. Archuleta, 45, faces the difficult task of selling conservative ideals of small government to voters in Colorado’s deep-blue 1st Congressional District. In 2022, DeGette won his 14th term over his Republican challenger by about 63 percentage points. Her last two wins were by about 50 points.
DeGette, 67, said in a recent interview that he plans to retire someday. “But I think when I’m working hard for my constituents, I have an obligation to go out there and do that work for them.”
The Democratic Party currently represents the city in Congress since 1997. She has focused her re-election campaign on closer-to-home goals, including reforming the federal health care law and strengthening environmental protections.
Daniel Lutz of the Approval Vote Party and Critter Milton of the United Party are also scheduled to vote in the November 5 election.
DeGette said he already has a template for updating the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law in 2016 and aimed at promoting innovative treatments for diseases. She also wants to work on ways to improve the Affordable Care Act, still often referred to as Obamacare, and reduce costs for enrollees in public health plans.
“You can’t just pass a big bill and say, ‘Okay, here’s the bill,'” she said, emphasizing the value of her experience as a legislator. “You really have to (ask), ‘How does it work?’ What are the unintended consequences? How can we do it better?”
Archuleta is a massage therapist and is running for office for the first time after many years in Republican politics, including as president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republican Party, a conservative LGBT group.
He acknowledged that housing policy is primarily determined at the state and local level. But he wants to explore ways the federal government can reduce construction costs. He said if elected, he would also look at ways to encourage more construction of starter housing, such as condos.
Other areas of focus include working to secure the U.S. southern border and reforming the U.S. government in ways that reduce federal power and give more power to the states.
Archuleta said he supports a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced federal budget.
DeGette’s other focus areas include climate change, with the country aiming to achieve “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, meaning greenhouse gas emissions are offset by efforts to remove carbon from the atmosphere; This includes continuing to struggle with change.
As co-chair of the House Pro-Choice Caucus, DeGette also worked to protect abortion rights across the country after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“This is a fundamental freedom that American women have had for more than 50 years,” she says. “And we need to restore that. We can’t start trying to violate people’s rights.”
Archuleta said she believes “it’s the decision of the individual and the woman to go through the situation,” but that she plans to leave abortion laws up to the states. In response to a candidate survey question from The Denver Post, she wrote that federal laws on abortion would be unconstitutional in a 2022 ruling, but the Supreme Court ruled that “the power to regulate abortion rests with the people and their elected representatives.” It was decided that the property would be returned to the person.
One of the most striking contrasts between DeGette and Archuleta is their positions on immigration.
Archuleta is a member of the Shoshone tribe on her mother’s side and of Latin descent on her father’s side. He argues that cities don’t have to figure out how to provide resources to tens of thousands of immigrants, as Denver has done over the past two years. It starts with a crackdown on checkpoints at the southern border.
“We need to control the situation at the border,” he said. “And we need to enforce our border laws (and) our immigration laws.”
DeGette accuses Republican leaders like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of politicizing immigration. She said border officials need more resources to allow asylum-seeking migrants to be pre-processed before they cross the border and to obtain U.S. work permits while they await decisions on their cases. claim.
Stay up to date on Colorado politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
First Published: October 18, 2024 at 6:00 AM
