Background

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

Answer: I have been vegan for over 20 years, and the decision came from the same place that drives my policy work: once you understand the full picture of how a system operates and who bears the cost, you cannot unknow it. My relationship with animals has deepened through years of fostering rottweilers and pit bulls, breeds that face particular stigma and are overrepresented in shelters. Watching a dog that has been neglected or mishandled learn to trust again is one of the most clarifying experiences I know. It confirmed something I already believed: that how we treat the most vulnerable beings in our care says everything about our values as a community.

Prohibit Force-Feeding Birds Act

Question: Certain products made from animals are created using especially cruel practices. Bans of specific products have ample precedent, notably with statewide bans of fur and foie gras in California. The “Prohibit Force-Feeding Birds Act” has now been confirmed for the ballot in Denver. Will you endorse it? In addition, would you support a statewide force-feeding ban?

Answer: Yes to both. I support the Denver ballot measure and would support a statewide force-feeding ban. The foie gras industry’s production methods are indefensible, and Colorado should not wait for federal action to address them. California has demonstrated that statewide product bans are legally durable and politically achievable. I would support this effort in the legislature and I suspect most of Colorado will be surprised that it’s not already banned.

Intensive Confinement

Question: Since the start of 2025, all eggs sold in Colorado have been required to be from cage-free hens. Are you willing to protect this legislation and similar legislation, like Colorado’s ban on the use of gestation crates for pigs?

Answer: Yes. Colorado’s cage-free egg requirement and gestation crate ban represent meaningful progress and I would protect both from rollback. These are exactly the kinds of baseline welfare standards that should be floors, not ceilings. I would oppose any industry-backed effort to weaken them and would support extending similar protections as opportunities arise.

Climate-Friendly Food & Fair Competition

Question: Federal subsidies overwhelmingly favor animal-based foods, regardless of how they’re produced. Would you support state-level policies to create a more level playing field — for example, directing state procurement toward food produced to higher welfare and environmental standards, creating tax incentives for plant-based protein production in Colorado, requiring state-run facilities to offer a plant-based meal option, or supporting grant programs for farmers transitioning away from factory farming?

Answer: Yes. Federal agricultural subsidies have created a deeply uneven playing field that props up factory farming while making plant-based and higher-welfare alternatives more expensive for consumers and harder to scale for producers. At the state level, I would support procurement practices that encourage food produced with higher welfare and environmental standards including plant-based meal options in state-run facilities, and as the budget allows, explore grant programs for farmers transitioning away from factory farming. These are not fringe positions. They are consistent with where consumer demand, climate science, and public health evidence are all pointing, and Colorado can be a leader.

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 in Colorado?

Answer: Yes. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s own guidance, polling showing broad public support, and existing international precedent all point in the same direction. Requiring pain relief for castration, dehorning, teeth clipping, and similar procedures is a straightforward, evidence-based welfare standard. I would support legislation requiring it in Colorado. It’s even hard to write about these procedures and imagine them without it.

Other

Question: What else would you like to share? Please add anything else that might be helpful regarding your past or current support for pro-animal policies.

Answer: Animal welfare has been a personal priority for me for a long time, not something I arrived at through campaign research. More than 20 years of veganism, years of fostering rottweilers and pit bulls, and past engagement with animal rights advocacy on the East Coast have shaped how I think about these issues. I understand some of the movement’s structure, from farm animal welfare to companion animal policy to the climate dimensions of industrial agriculture, and this is a policy area that deserves rigor and stakeholdering like other areas of policy.