Letter: Where do Republican candidates stand?
During primary season over the past couple months, Republican candidates, at all levels, took pains to identify with Dear Leader Trump, and applaud the U.S. Supreme Court overthrow of Roe v. Wade, as a way to appeal to the hard-core base and get out the vote.
So what is the status as of early September? Nationally, reporters are noting that Republican candidates that used to highlight Trump connections and support from the former president, and support for anti-abortion positions, have been scrubbing their campaign websites and social media of any mention of Trump or abortion. For example, Blake Masters is a Trump-endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, and had a tough stance on abortion. Until this week.
His website has softened abortion language from “100 percent pro-life” to focusing on the third trimester as to where to draw the line.
So when you get your election ballot in the mail, what will you find among Republican candidates representing Routt County in part or in whole? Quite a bit of populist rhetoric, but almost nothing about Trump, his Big Lie or abortion.
Savannah Wolfson, running for the Colorado House in District 26, doesn’t mention Trump or abortion in her website. Matt Solomon is running for the Colorado Senate in District 8, and his website doesn’t mention Trump or abortion. I did see a Vail newspaper interview where Solomon avoided hard stances on Trump, the Big Lie or abortion, but left himself enough wiggle room to appeal to independents and the MAGA crowd, if one squints hard enough.
Heidi Ganahl, Republican candidate for governor, has zip about Trump, his Big Lie or abortion on her website, but has been quoted by Colorado newspapers as being concerned about election integrity and abortion.
Marshall Dawson, Republican candidate for the U.S. House in District 2, didn’t mention Trump, but was enthusiastic about the overturn of Roe v. Wade in his website. He does come across as fairly, Trumpy, endorsing sunsetting established laws for new authorization votes. That’s MAGA-speak for ending Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and laws protecting minorities, labor and the environment.
Joe O’Dea, running for the U.S. Senate seat, has no mention of Trump, but many anti-abortion endorsements.
So what are these candidates trying to hide? Ask them if you get the chance.
Brodie Farquhar
Hayden
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