WEEK OF OCTOBER 24, 2024
VOLUME 122 | ISSUE 48
Senate District 2 candidates discuss affordability, housing and immigration
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Election officials push back at Ganahl’s ‘reckless’ claims of voting security issues County clerks gather in Highlands Ranch following accusations from former GOP candidate
BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Castle Rock state Rep. Lisa Frizell is hoping to transition to representing District 2 in the state Senate, but she will first face challengers Jennifer Brady and Caryn Ann Harlos. Senate District 2, which includes Parker and Castle Rock, is currently represented by Republican Sen. Jim Smallwood, who is term-limited. Frizell, a Republican, currently represents House District 45, which includes Castle Rock, and previously served as the Douglas County Assessor. Brady, a Democrat, worked for the Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Services, as well as served in the Ohio House of Representatives in 2007 and 2008. Harlos, a Libertarian, is the secretary of the Libertarian National Committee and a paralegal. As of September, which was the latest data available, voters in the district were 16% Democrat, 33% Republican and 49% unaffiliated. The Douglas County News-Press spoke with Frizell and Harlos about their campaigns. Brady was unavailable for an interview. Frizell said she is running to carry forward the legacy Smallwood leaves behind and continue her work on tax policy, such as providing property tax relief. As a senator, Frizell said her top priorities would be tax relief, consumer protections and improving public safety. SEE SENATE, P14
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At the lectern, Douglas County Clerk Sheri Davis speaks at an Oct. 10 news conference next to a ballot drop box (not pictured) in Highlands Ranch. Behind her, from left, stands Kregg Lilly, who has served as an election worker; Molly Fitzpatrick, Boulder County clerk; and Hayle Johnson, Jackson County clerk. Matt Crane, the Colorado County Clerks Association director, also spoke at the event, along with Ed Brookes, PHOTO BY ELLIS ARNOLD who has also served as an election worker. BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Less than a month out from Election Day, current and former local election officials met in Douglas County to contest claims of voting security problems after a barrage of allegations raised by Colorado’s 2022 Republican candidate for governor, Heidi Ganahl. Ganahl’s effort to push those claims is “a reckless attempt for attention,” said Matt Crane, a Republican who is a former Arapahoe County clerk and recorder.
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Clerks act as the top election officials for their counties, and the Douglas and Boulder clerks showed up alongside Crane to speak in Highlands Ranch about voting security following Ganahl’s bevy of claims that partly focused on Douglas County. The former candidate said the voting system could be exposed to unauthorized remote access, but clerks disputed that concern. “Our officials have been patting us on the head, telling us everything is fine; everything is not fine, and how would they even know?” Ganahl said in a re-
cent post on the Rocky Mountain Voice, a conservative outlet that she founded. At the news conference, two weeks after Ganahl took aim at Douglas County, the local clerk announced a new effort to ensure confidence in the election system. “Douglas County will be providing a live stream of the surveillance (feed) at each of our 21 drop boxes throughout this election,” Douglas Clerk Sheri Davis said. SEE CLERKS, P5
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