CAROL Riggenbach defeated Ryan G. Williams in the Republican primary Tuesday to earn a matchup against Democrat Matthew Martinez for the Colorado House District 62 seat.

Martinez will try to hold onto the statehouse seat for the Democrats following Don Valdez, who has represented the district since 2017. Valdez, who failed in his bid for the U.S. Congress, will end his term in January 2023.

In interviews Tuesday with Alamosa Citizen, Riggenbach and Martinez addressed some of the issues that will come up on the campaign trail leading into the November general election. Read their answers below:

Carol Riggenbach (Republican)

Q: What is the general message you’re trying to get out to voters going into the November General Election? 

A: We have to take our state back. And we need to fight for our freedoms, we cannot lose our freedoms. There are many, many people that died to give us our freedom and we can’t just let it go and take it for granted. 

Q: Do you agree that Colorado has an effective election system? 

A: You know I’ve been watching and I’ve been in the middle of it, it’s complicated and there’s a lot of room for error. And I’ve watched the errors and I actually made a formal complaint within the system for an error that I saw and as a politician it was my duty to do that for the sake of the people that I’m representing even as a candidate. So, I believe there is a lot of space that needs help within the election system. It’s not accurate, it’s just too complicated. Especially, when you move the districts and the districts get remapped and it’s too complex for the county clerks to keep it straight and we saw that in Pueblo. It was too complicated. And when I did all the research in the different counties, in all 8 counties within my District 62, and I talked to each county clerk there was 14 different sets of directions that could have gone out with a ballot. That just goes to show you how complex it is, and that’s within a county that’s not broke up. In our counties, all 6 counties in the San Luis Valley are not broke up, they’re all in District 62. However, Huerfano County is broken up in different districts and so is Pueblo, and so then that makes it more complex for the clerks to get it right, too, and to get the ballots printed correctly and to the right address, to the right voter. 

Q: Do you support Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act, which enshrines the right to an abortion and to birth control? Is this a topic you expect to debate with your opponent? 

A: I do not support the act that was signed, and yes, I do expect to debate this issue. 

Q: What other major issues will you raise on the campaign trail? 

A: Colorado needs to be affordable, and when you have families that have to choose, you have a little momma for instance, that has to choose is she gonna fill up her tank of gas, or is she gonna put, say, 20 or 30 dollars in, and then if she fills it up then that means she can’t buy the cookies for the kids, or it means they can’t have pizza tonight because they had to fill up the car to be able to get to work. So the affordability issue is gonna be a big one. We have the resources in Colorado, we have the gas, we have the oil, we have what we can drill and even in the United States we were self-sustaining and now we’re not. We have all the other countries, we have China who’s drilling now and gonna be selling us oil, that’s just crazy, while our people suffer. The other issue that I really expect to come up is patient rights and resident rights in facilities in long term care, patient rights in hospitals. There was a bill that Senator Sonnenberg sponsored, it’s dead in the water.* And basically that bill, all that it’s saying is that you have the right when you’re in the hospital you have the right to be able to have somebody with you in that hospital, and the hospital cannot keep your family out or a friend out, that you do not have to be alone in that hospital. That bill sat there and died, and why is that? Why are we at a place in our county, in our state, right now where you can’t even have a visitor in the hospital? And that means you could possibly die alone. There is some serious, serious healthcare issues that are on the table right now and it’s election year so they’ve kind of died down, but we’re gonna see all that come up again. It’s only a matter of time. 

*SB22-053 Health Facility Visitation During Pandemic bill, which allows at least one visitor and prohibits a health-care facility from prohibiting visitors due to the COVID-19 Pandemic was signed into law by Gov. Polis on June 8, 2022.

Matthew Martinez (Democrat)

Q: What is the general message you’re trying to get out to voters going into the November General Election? 

A: First of all, I think that rural and southern Colorado really needs a good advocate and fighter at the capital and to be our voice and our representative in Denver to making sure legislation that’s passed has an impact here in the San Luis Valley and in Pueblo and in Huerfano counties, to make sure that we’re well represented. I want to be the voice for that, the voice for southern Colorado and I promise to be our champion, our advocate and our voice

Q: Do you agree that Colorado has an effective election system? 

A: Yes I do. 

Q: Do you support Colorado’s Reproductive Health Equity Act, which enshrines the right to an abortion and to birth control? Is this a topic you expect to debate with your opponent? 

A: Yes and yes. I absolutely agree with the general assembly’s decision, I believe it was this session that they passed those measures in preparation in the event that Roe v. Wade was overturned. So I think that was a good thing. Making sure Coloradans’ access to healthcare and privacy are protected. Yes, I absolutely agree with that and yes, I do believe that will come up in the debates going forward. 

Q: What other major issues will you raise on the campaign trail? 

A: First and foremost, my biggest priority is fighting the RWR project that’s coming into town. I absolutely oppose this project and I want to make sure that we are setting up our water rights owners with the best amount of success to be able to fight this project and making sure it doesn’t come into fruition. My second biggest one, is I want to pass a rural economic incentive package that would provide state funds to local councils, counties, economic development groups in rural colorado to be able to help restimulate the economy post-covid, to making sure we can get back on track. I want to see investments in renewable energy industries, union jobs, primarily, with this initiative. Next, I want to expand healthcare out. I want to improve on our current system with telehealth, as well as providing support for community health center networks and our local hospitals in the district. The last big one is I want to have a statewide initiative to be able to combat veteran susicide from the state level, since the VA system has undergone some changes as of late and they’re not gonna be able to provide the same services that they were two or three years ago, so I want to be able to do that. Then I also want to fight to make sure that the Alamosa VA clinic stays open and operational.