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A publication of
303-469-7873 ELBERT COUNTY, COLORADO 303-HOW-PURE Kimmi Clark Lewis: 1957-2019
Since 1990
Rural voters lose a champion at state Capitol BY TABATHA STEWART SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
In July 2018, in the months before her second landslide election victory, Kimmi Clark Lewis, the Colorado State House District 64 representative, spoke to a crowd at the Matheson farm of Jan and Virgil Kochis as the Rush Creek wind turbine project kicked off. “I’m honored to be on Virgil and Jan’s property today,” Lewis said. “This is true economic development, and I so much endorse that type of growth in rural areas.” Lewis, 62, died on Dec. 6, after battling cancer for the third time. Elbert County residents are mourning the loss of a representative they say was truly a champion for her rural citizens, who fought for agricultural and property rights, and who defended their rural way of life. “As far as state representatives go, she was the right one for Elbert County,” said Elbert County Commissioner Grant Thayer. “She really was someone that focused on the citizens of her district.
She was a very strong leader and someone I looked up to. There was no mystery when you talked to her, you knew exactly what she was trying to accomplish.” Lewis was elected to represent the sprawling, ninecounty District 64 in 2016, and reelected in 2018. She was hailed as a hero by hundreds of cattle ranchers throughout the United States for her work on country-of-origin beef labeling and private property rights issues. Lewis first battled breast cancer in 2014, which returned in 2018 and finally throughout 2019 while she served legislative sessions. “Kimmi has been a strong advocate for our state’s farmers and ranchers,” U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, said in an emailed statement. “She will be remembered as a treasured member of the community who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Coloradans.” Lewis grew up, lived most of her life and died at Colorado’s Muddy Valley Ranch between Kimmi Clark Lewis is remembered as a champion for Colorado’s rural residents.
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VOLUME 124 | ISSUE 46