Varela, Hinrichsen fight for Senate seat in one of Colorado's most competitive races
The major-party candidates hoping to represent Pueblo in the Colorado Senate have a lot in common: they’ve been previously registered as members of the other party, have served in the military and are not originally from Pueblo.
Republican Stephen Varela is challenging incumbent Democrat Nick Hinrichsen for his seat at the Colorado General Assembly, which Hinrichsen was appointed to in February 2022 after Leroy Garcia left for a position at the Pentagon.
The race has garnered significant attention statewide. Colorado Senate District 3 slightly leans Democrat but is one of the most competitive races this November. If Varela wins, it could help Colorado Republicans regain control of the state Senate, where Democrats have held the majority since 2019.
More:Meet the candidates: Lucero and Musso compete to be Pueblo County's next sheriff
Hinrichsen has a background in logistics and transportation from his service in the Army and works as the operations supervisor at Pueblo Transit. He lives in Pueblo with his family — his wife, Bri Buentello, served as the representative in the state House District 46 for two years.
Varela has also served in the Army and the Colorado National Guard. He previously worked at the Pueblo Veterans Affairs community living center, including as the head of its union. Varela has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California but has not been registered as a licensed social worker in Colorado. He is the board president of Chavez Huerta Preparatory Academy.
The two candidates have only spoken at the same event once, at a candidate forum hosted by the Colorado Farm Bureau in September where they gave asynchronous 3-minute speeches. Varela pulled out of the only scheduled in-person debate hosted by the Pueblo Chamber of Commerce two days before it was held.
Alex Mugatu, a Pueblo Republican, is also running for the seat as a write-in candidate.
How the candidates view key issues impacting Pueblo
Varela is running on a platform of “Pueblo values,” which he linked to Pueblo’s diverse, blue-collar background.
“Everybody (in Pueblo) has always had to work together, no matter what your color, your race, your ethnicity. And those values are what I believe we're missing right now in politics in general — it's bringing that middle ground back,” Varela said.
He said he is focusing on issues that people discuss with him while he’s canvassing, such as community safety and inflation.
Varela has a history of switching party registration between Republican and Democrat, which he's done a total of 18 times over the past 11-and-a-half years. He’s been a registered Republican since February 2021.
More:Both candidates in Pueblo’s state Senate race have swapped parties at least 10 times
He said he's a “fiscal conservative, but socially awesome” and clarified that he is “very neutral” on social issues. He said that he is not an election denier and that he supports people who identify as LGBTQ+, but would not share his personal opinion on abortion access.
Hinrichsen has also switched party affiliations at least 10 times and has been registered as a Democrat since early 2016. He previously told the Chieftain that he changed his affiliation largely because of the influence of former President Donald Trump.
Hinrichsen said the cost of living and public safety are the two biggest issues that Puebloans are dealing with. In dealing with those issues at the state legislature, he cited his sponsorship of legislation this spring to put a pause on a 2-cent gas tax increase, as well as reconfiguring 2021 TABOR refunds to go out earlier than scheduled and be distributed more equitably.
He said that he would support repealing the 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which restricts how governments in Colorado can spend money and requires voter approval for tax increases, but “as long as we have TABOR, I do want us to be thoughtful about how that is administered in a way that is as fair as possible,” he said.
“What I would like to see happen is that we repeal TABOR and we create a progressive income tax where we permanently lower income taxes for middle-class families. Right now, Colorado middle-class families pay some of the highest real income tax rates in the country, and the wealthiest Coloradans pay some of the lowest real actualized tax rates — and that's because of TABOR,” Hinrichsen said.
To address public safety, Hinrichsen said he would support continuing reform of prior offenders who can possess weapons. Colorado currently bars people convicted of violent crimes from having a weapon, but he wants motor vehicle theft to be added to the list of previous convictions that prohibit weapon possession.
Since the Supreme Court struck down the precedent of Roe v. Wade, many Republican-led states have passed laws severely restricting and banning access to abortion. The Democratic-led Colorado General Assembly passed a law this spring that enshrines access to reproductive health care in state statute.
Varela repeatedly declined to share his opinion on abortion rights with the Chieftain, saying that voters should decide on the issue.
“(Abortion access) is a very polarizing issue. And being the representative, I believe I would need to give that back to the voter,” Varela said. “It just wouldn't be fair for me with as much as is going on in our community. I would push, personally, to have it go on the ballot.”
Coloradans have rejected multiple ballot measures restricting abortion access, most recently against a proposition banning abortion after 22 weeks of gestation in 2020, with 59% of voters statewide dissenting. The majority of Pueblo County voters also voted against the 2020 proposition.
Hinrichsen has publicly pledged his support for access to reproductive health care and abortion.
Fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, has been a major issue in the 2022 midterms, with many Republicans blaming Democratic leadership in Colorado for an uptick in overdoses.
The Colorado legislature passed a bill in 2019 that made possession of up to 4 grams of illicit drugs, such as fentanyl, a misdemeanor. A contentious bill passed this spring strengthened the penalties for possessing 1-4 grams of fentanyl to a class 4 felony and bolsters funding for drug treatment.
Varela told the Denver Post he does not support the current law and would want to make any possession of fentanyl a felony.
Hinrichsen voted along with many Senate Republicans on a proposed amendment while the bill was in the works. He shared a story on the Senate floor of a family member who died of an overdose, saying that fentanyl is different from other drugs.
He said he has gone against his party with housing code to avoid raising costs on families, as well as on some crime bills.
Hinrichsen outlines legislative priorities, Varela 'focused on the election'
Varela said he would want to reduce business regulation, support law enforcement and bolster programs for veterans if elected. He declined to elaborate on specific regulations he would like to amend if elected, saying that he has "been focused on the election.”
“Right now, my biggest thing is winning this election. I don't think it would be fair for me to be thinking about what committees I want to serve on, or even thinking about what specific policy I'm going to dig into. But I know what areas I want to champion,” Varela said, saying that he wants to work for small businesses, education, crime and safety.
“I want to clean up our communities. But when it comes to the actual digging in the weeds of the policy, I'm not there yet, we need a win. And this win is so important for our community.”
Hinrichsen said that his background in transportation planning and logistics informs his perspective on future infrastructure needs for healthy growth.
“Transportation planning and development is critical to bringing the capacity for business growth, especially the type of businesses that we're in a primary position to recruit,” Hinrichsen said. “My background is in transportation management in the military, the private trucking industry, oil and gas deliveries and public transit, so it's all a realm that I know — and I have a good idea of where we need to go to be successful.”
He said that Pueblo’s geography and direct connections with interstate transportation networks makes the area a desirable spot for the manufacturing and distribution industry.
The legislature has some jurisdiction over the Colorado Department of Transportation and some infrastructure projects, Hinrichsen said, such as expanded rail logistics and more air cargo traffic at Pueblo Memorial Airport.
“We're not a big city. We're not going to be a passenger hub, ever,” Hinrichsen said, adding that there is potential for businesses and manufacturers to use the facility for air cargo shipments.
Election day is Nov. 8.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Meet the major-party candidates for Pueblo's state Senate seat
