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Gretchen Rydin (i) Democrat
Residence: Littleton
Profession: Social Worker and Therapist
Education: Bachelor of Arts (BA) at Brigham Young University and Masters in Social Work (MSW) at Howard University
Experience: Colorado State Representative, former Littleton City Councilmember, licensed clinical social worker and addiction counselor
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
1. Housing & Economic Security: Expand affordable housing, reduce cost burdens, support good-paying jobs, and strengthen small businesses.
2. Mental Health: Strengthen Colorado’s behavioral health system, expand crisis services, and ensure everyone can access quality care when they need it.
3. Strong, Thriving Communities: Invest in education, infrastructure, public safety, and local communities while protecting individual rights, dignity, and opportunity for all.
What specific actions would you support to improve affordability for Coloradans, whether aimed at housing costs, tax burdens or other impacts?
I would focus on the biggest costs families face: housing, health care, and everyday expenses. I support expanding affordable housing, reducing barriers to building more homes, and making it easier to convert commercial and rental units to for sale homes. I also support targeted tax relief for those who need it most and policies that create good-paying jobs and strengthen small businesses.
Whether your party is in the majority or minority next year, where do you see actionable common ground with the opposing party?
We may disagree on causes or solutions, but we can agree on the fundamentals: families need affordable places to live, people struggling with mental health or addiction deserve effective care, and Coloradans should control their personal data as AI rapidly changes our lives. After a summer of drought and wildfires, we can also find common ground protecting the water resources our communities and agricultural economy depend on.
A new governor will take office next year. What opportunities are there for legislation or other changes that did not gain traction under Gov. Jared Polis?
A new administration could create an opportunity to be more ambitious in protecting workers and regulating emerging technology. I would like to see Colorado strengthen labor protections, including the right to organize and enforce labor standards. At the same time, AI is advancing faster than our laws, so I hope the new administration will agree that we need more transparency, accountability, and privacy within this space.
Norm Olsen Libertarian Party
Residence: Centennial, CO
Profession: Retired – Software Developer
Education: BS Physics 1967 – Union College, NY
Experience: Have been an employee of technical firms at all levels, from grunt to Vice President. Have 25 years of experience operating my own development firm; eventually acquired by a $53B NASDAQ client.
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
1> Good Roads – the essence of a vibrant economy and outdoor recreation
2> Great Education – the essence of the American promise of equal shot for everyone
3> Small, Efficient, Competent government – a new law is not the solution to every problem
3+> No Trains – the “train” will be nothing but a huge money pit for decades.
What specific actions would you support to improve affordability for Coloradans, whether aimed at housing costs, tax burdens or other impacts?
Letap get real. “Affordability” is the left’s new buzzword for inflation, fueled by federal money printing and decades of government interference in housing and interest rates. Itap created a bizarre trap where property owners actually can’t afford to sell their property.
Instead of dreaming up new taxes, local and state government should stick to the basics: secure our water, rein in building codes, protect reliable energy like coal, preserve TABOR to keep taxes low, support our police, and stop subsidizing illegal immigration. The last thing Colorado needs is a progressive income tax driving up our taxes even more while federal policies destroy our purchasing power.
Whether your party is in the majority or minority next year, where do you see actionable common ground with the opposing party?
Nowhere. My opponent’s party passed more than 1,000 new laws over the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions alone, proving their belief that every challenge requires another government mandate. True to Maslow’s hammer, they treat every issue like a nail. But this suffocating micro-management destroys prosperity. Wealth (i.e. prosperity) is not a natural resource and isn’t mined from a statute book; it is created by human ingenuity and hard work. For our economy to thrive, wealth is best managed by the people who create it, not the politicians who try to regulate it.
A new governor will take office next year. What opportunities are there for legislation or other changes that did not gain traction under Gov. Jared Polis?
This question proves my exact point: why do you, the media, and my opponent’s political party think more laws equal better government? During the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions, as a politican aspiring to higher office, Governor Polis signed 1,015 of 1037 bills into law. There were no “lost opportunities”.
Mr. Weiser is cut from the exact same cloth as Mr. Polis. While Colorado vaulted to 8th out of 51 in the nation for violent crime, Mr. Weiser was busy using his office for political theater, launching 65 lawsuits against President Trump. Labeling yet another mountain of red tape and micro-management as an “opportunity” is a total misnomer.
Allison Madrigal Unaffiliated
Residence: Littleton
Profession: Entreprenuer
Education: BS in Business Administration and MBA
Experience: Maytag Sales Rep
Property & Casualty Insurance Broker
Founder of Vitality Solutions, IVF insurance product
Founder of Rescue America, an anti-trafficking organization
What are your top three priorities, if elected?
1. Affordability: We must stop the unsustainable cost of living in Colorado.
2. Transparency in Government Spending: We must eliminate fraud and waste and demand real outcomes the peoples tax dollars.
3. Safety for Children & Parents: Protecting children from confusing messages about gender identity and supporting parents in guiding their child’s development, and defending the trafficked, exploited, and unborn.
What specific actions would you support to improve affordability for Coloradans, whether aimed at housing costs, tax burdens or other impacts?
1. Reduce the fees and regulations of an estimated $130,000 before a builder even starts building a house.
2. Eliminate waste and fraud in government spending.
3. Reviewing if our tax dollars are creating sustainable life change, requiring outcomes, not just outputs in what the government is funding.
Whether your party is in the majority or minority next year, where do you see actionable common ground with the opposing party?
Running as an unaffiliated, I believe in seeking to understand the “why” behind the “what” on both sides of the issue. Getting to the root causes of issues and creating sustainable solutions. We must stop the hate and sword throwing, and come together to implement true solutions for the people in Colorado.
A new governor will take office next year. What opportunities are there for legislation or other changes that did not gain traction under Gov. Jared Polis?
The work of the Governor mostly stems from what he is given from the legislature. The legislative body gave him many bills that were out of touch with mainstream Colorado families. The emphasis for change has to start with the legislative branch not the governor. He vetoed a couple and forced change on a couple. One area where he could have had a greater impact would have been to better control spending and balancing the budget.
Tim Martin did not return the questionnaire.
