For Congress, I support the re-election of Mark Udall. He has been Summit County's congressman for the past several years and has done a great job.

Although not in our district, I support Angie Paccione up in Fort Collins. She is a good friend and a tireless worker for the people. She was Caucus Chair my first year in the legislature and did a great job. She has a PhD and has all the smarts to do an above average job in Washington.

For governor, I support Bill Ritter. Not because he is so wonderful, but because he is the lesser of two evils. His opponent is dangerous and would not be a good governor under any circumstances.

For those of you wanting a pro-choice candidate, there is Libertarian Dawn Winkler. I do not know her, and a vote for her would take votes away from Bill Ritter. It is sad that neither of the major party candidates had the courage to take on such an important issue.

For state senator, Joan Fitz-Gerald is the only choice. She is a strong leader and does an excellent job representing us. She and I bang heads occasionally, but I have the highest respect for her. She is wonderful.

For state representative, Dan Gibbs will do a wonderful job. He is very smart and has a lot of experience both in Washington D.C. and locally working with the towns and the counties as Field Director for Congressman Mark Udall. His opponent is scary. He was a very conservative state representative and state senator. He was assistant majority leader under Senate President John Andrews, who is about as conservative as anyone could be. We will not be well represented by this guy. Vote for Dan and sleep well.

Ken Gordon is hands down the very best candidate for secretary of state. Cary Kennedy has a great track record and is very qualified for treasurer. Fern O'Brien would make a great attorney general. Remember that John Suthers thinks we should suck it up and live with high gas prices because we live in a resort. Evie Hudak has done a great job as our State Board of Education member.

Throughout the state there are some contested races that deserve a look. Michael Merrifield in Colorado Springs is a hard working, thoughtful and caring man and deserves reelection. He is the only voice of reason in the El Paso delegation, which is about one click to the right of Attila the Hun. Debbie Benefield, Gwen Green, Judy Solano and Nancy Todd are all rock stars at the legislature. They are brilliant representatives and work 24/7 to represent the people of the State of Colorado. Hold each of them up to the light and compare them with the rest of the herd down there and you will see that they are way above average and deserve to go back.

For county commissioner in District 1, I support Bob French, even though he does not have a good artistic sense on welcome signs. Doug Malkan is a good friend and a tireless advocate and would do a good job also. I know that he would look at the whole process with new eyes. Might stir things up a bit and that is not bad either.

The only other contested local race is for treasurer. This is a tough one for me, as both candidates are good long-time friends of mine. I support Bill Wallace knowing that he has lived in the county for 34 years, is a former town council member, was a leader in the teacher's union, helped plan the new school and has served 10 years as county commissioner.

His qualifications are outstanding and I personally know that he understands how to invest money, but he will never tell you that. Jack Taylor is a good and honest man and has years of financial experience but no government background. Regardless of who wins, Summit County will be the winner with either of these two guys.

I support Question 5A on affordable housing, and it deserves our support. If you agree with me, you need to tell your friends, because this might be a tough fight. Just about every important group in Summit County supports this effort.

I also support building a CMC campus on the Frisco Peninsula. I need to disclose that I have taught at CMC off and on since 1986. CMC is on the verge of becoming the center of the Summit County universe with a dedicated central campus. We have an opportunity to shine locally, statewide and nationwide with this campus.

We do not have any local judges on the ballot for retention. Regardless, they are all doing a great job and deserve to be kept.

Even though I ran opposing amendment of the constitution two years ago, I have found out that the state legislature as a whole has no political will or the strength of conviction to pass laws in lieu of amendments.

With that in mind here are my suggestions.

Amendment 38: Petitions: Vote yes. I say power to the people. Some people forget that we live in America where the majority rules. The opponents would say that the majority is stupid and does not understand issues. I would suggest that the opponents look at who put them in office.

Amendment 39: School District Spending Requirements: Vote no. Very bad idea.

Amendment 40: Term limits for Supreme Court and Court of Appeals Judges: Vote no.

Amendment 42: Colorado Minimum Wage: Vote yes. It is still too low, though.

Amendment 43: Marriage: Vote no. It is already in state law.

Amendment 44: Marijuana: Vote yes. I was a police officer for many years and this will do no harm.

Referendum E: Property Tax Reduction for Disabled Veterans: Vote yes. Good idea.

Referendum F: Recall Deadlines: Vote yes. It will not do anything but it looks nice.

Referendum T: Obsolete Constitutional Provisions: Vote yes. This happens every two years.

Referendum H: Limiting a State Business Income Tax Deduction: Vote no. This is racist.

Referendum I: Domestic Partnerships: Vote yes if you care about people. Long overdue.

Referendum J: School District Spending Requirements: Vote no. Terrible idea.

Referendum K: Immigration Lawsuit against Federal Government: Vote yes even though it will not do anything.



State Representative Gary Lindstrom of Lakeview Meadows represents Summit, Eagle and Lake counties. He can be reached at gary@garylindstrom.com, or visit www.garylindstrom.com.