Background

Question: Can you briefly tell us a story that impacted the way you feel about animals?

Answer: I grew up as poor and destitute as one can imagine. My parents were neglectful and abusive. By the age of 14, I was abandoned and left homeless on my own in Phoenix, Arizona. As an adult outside that environment, it has been rare for me to recognize that level and depth of pain in the eyes of another. Occasionally though, I’ll be driving or walking down the road and ahead of my path I will spot a lost dog. Sometimes hurt, usually hungry and in need of water. Sometimes, in those moments, I see that pain again and it breaks my heart. I know that our government and communities have a responsibility to protect and care for the animals and environment around us because I know the damage and pain that we cause when we refuse.

Save Our Bacon Act/Farm Bill

Question: The EATS Act — now included in the House Farm Bill (the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026) as the ‘Save Our Bacon’ provision — would strip state and local governments of the authority to set animal welfare standards, gutting hundreds of laws nationwide and preventing our organization from working on effective animal welfare legislation, as our efforts would be undermined by out-of-state producers who would crowd our compliant farmers out of the market. Would you publicly oppose efforts to preempt animal protection laws, whether through the EATS Act, the current Farm Bill, or future versions of this legislation?

Answer: While this is not legislation that The El Paso County Board of Commissioners has any say in the passage or implementation of, I will still publicly oppose efforts to undermine or preempt local and state governments from enacting or enforcing animal protection laws and regulations.

Climate-Friendly Food & Fair Competition

Question: The federal government spends billions annually subsidizing animal agriculture, with little regard for how that food is produced. Would you support policies to create a more level playing field between factory-farmed products and higher-welfare or plant-based alternatives — for example, reforming crop insurance and commodity support programs to reduce incentives for factory farming, directing federal procurement toward food produced to higher welfare and environmental standards, or supporting grant programs for farmers transitioning away from factory farming?

Answer: While I do support transitioning away from factory farm practices and enacting higher environmental standards, I believe that before any substantial agriculture reform can be passed, our federal government needs to investigate trust busting the major food production and agriculture mega-corporations, of which there are less than half a dozen who control the vast majority of the industry, in order to allow the federal government to pass progressive, common sense agriculture reform without undo interference from special interests and corporate lobbyists.

Pain Relief

Question: The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends pain relief for common agricultural practices like castration, dehorning, teeth clipping, and tail docking; polling consistently shows that the vast majority of Americans support the same. Several countries, including the UK and members of the EU already require or incentivize pain relief for these procedures. Would you support requiring pain relief during painful procedures performed on farmed animals?

Answer: Without doubt or reservation, I support requiring pain relief during painful procedures in accordance with The American Veterinary Medical Association. There is no reason or justification for purposefully causing unnecessary pain, whether it is inflicted on a human or other animal.

Prohibit Force-Feeding Birds Act

Question: Pro-Animal Colorado has qualified the Prohibit Force-Feeding Birds Act for the 2026 Denver ballot. Would you endorse it?

Answer: While I do not live in Denver or the Denver Metro area, I would happily endorse the Prohibit Force-Feeding Birds Act. Practices such as force-feeding animals is nothing less than cruel and should not be legally or socially acceptable.