Summary
Current Position: State Senator of District 23 since 2020
Affiliation: Republican
Candidate: 2023 US Representative for District 8
Barbara Jean Kirkmeyer (born December 31, 1969)is an American politician serving as a member of the Colorado Senate for district 23, which encompasses parts of Weld and Larimer counties and all of the City and County of Broomfield in north-central Colorado.
She is the Republican nominee for Colorado’s 8th congressional district in the 2022 election.
OnAir Post: Barbara Kirkmeyer
About
Barb Kirkmeyer has built a record as a conservative fighter who wins as the state senator from District 23, encompassing Broomfield and portions of Weld and Larimer counties and as a 20-year Weld County Commissioner.
In her first year as a state senator, Barb was able to pass 17 bills to promote economic and personal freedom and improve Coloradans’ safety and quality of life, in spite of the Democrats’ advantage in the chamber. She was acknowledged by Colorado Politics as a notable legislator who “ debated like a statehouse veteran, not a first-year back bencher.”
Senator Kirkmeyer serves on the Senate Education, Senate Health and Human Services and Senate Local Government Committees. She was also appointed to the Statutory Revisions Committee, where she serves as vice chair, the Public-School Finance Interim Committee, vice chair and the Early Childhood and School Readiness Interim Committee.
Barb Kirkmeyer is a 4th generation Coloradan who has lived in southern Weld County for over 35 years. As a Weld County Commissioner for 20 years, Kirkmeyer pursued a strong conservative agenda, leaving Weld County as Colorado’s only large, debt-free county. She also helped coordinate an effort to make Weld County a Second Amendment sanctuary from liberal assaults on gun rights. Prior to serving as a county commissioner, Barb co-owned and operated a dairy farm, was a small business owner for 15 years, and served in Governor Owens’ cabinet as the acting executive director of the Department of Local Affairs.
Kirkmeyer graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in physical education. Both her daughters graduated from Weld County schools and live with their families in southern Weld County. When not involved in legislative related business, Kirkmeyer enjoys volunteering and spending time with her family, including her six grandsons.
Web
Campaign Site, Twitter, Wikipedia, LinkedIn
Politics
Source: none
Finances
KIRKMEYER, BARBARA has run in 3 races for public office, winning 1 of them. The candidate has raised a total of $258,686.
Source: Follow the Money
Voting Record
See: Vote Smart
Issues
Source: Campaign page
Under Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, America is on the wrong track. I want to restore a better quality of life. Let’s put people above politics and lower the cost of living, restore order to the border, bring back energy independence, and stand up for law enforcement.
Democracy & Governance
Reduce the Cost of Government:
I believe the greatest threat to America’s prosperity and leadership in the world is mounting debt. Deficit spending seemingly gets worse with each administration. Regrettably, a day of reckoning awaits our country, and Republicans bear some of this blame. I will work to renew our party’s commitment to fiscal conservatism by ending deficit spending and balancing our budget. I have a record to prove it. Weld County, where I served as commissioner for 20 years, is Colorado’s only large, debt-free county.
Economy & Jobs
Lower the Cost of Living:
Inflation results from bad policy in Washington, D.C. – bad monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and bad fiscal policy from Congress and President Biden. Now at levels unseen in decades, inflation is taking a bigger and bigger bite out of every American’s paycheck. The good news? Just as bad policy creates dire consequences, good policy can rein in inflation and foster the creation of good jobs. That starts with ending Washington, D.C.’s spending spree.
Stand Up for America’s Farmers:
Agricultural interests and rural Colorado’s way of life are increasingly under attack in our state and national Capitols. Increasing numbers of politicians ridicule and disparage agriculture interests and the rural lifestyle. As a long-time dairy farmer, I will work to defend the rights and interests of American farmers against attacks on their property rights and onerous regulations that punish farmers.
Environment & Energy
Promote American Energy Independence:
The Biden Administration’s drilling bans and regulations are simultaneously killing American jobs while subjugating America’s interests to those of countries like Russia, which are stepping in to fill the energy production void. Here in Colorado, the problem is complicated by the efforts of Governor Polis and Colorado Democrats to demonize energy workers and shut down production. I’ve spent my career supporting American energy workers and American energy independence, and I’ll do the same in Congress.
Health & Education
No More Mandates or Lockdowns:
Let’s be frank. COVID-19 has become an excuse for power-hungry politicians and bureaucrats to exert greater and greater control over Americans’ lives. Here in Colorado, unelected bureaucrats in many counties and cities are imposing restrictions and mandates on citizens that are not based in sound science. This must end. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking the right approach. Work to protect those most vulnerable to the virus, make decisions based on sound science, and allow people to make decisions best for themselves and their families. Our freedoms should not exist at the mercy of Anthony Fauci
Teach American Greatness:
Too many education institutions are indoctrinating kids to hate America. The latest form of such indoctrination comes in the form of critical race theory, a racist concept that teaches kids to judge people based on the color of one’s skin. Meanwhile, many education institutions punish academics and students with whom they disagree. My remedy is simple: institutions caught teaching critical race theory and/or which punish academics or kids who express conservative or alternative thought should lose their federal funding. Period.
Human Rights
Protect the Free Expression of Ideas:
Censorship. Cancel culture. Speech codes. Safe spaces. Shadow banning and deplatforming of conservatives by social media. Had enough? It is time to end subsidies and preferential treatment provided to educational institutions and tech companies that punish and discriminate against conservative thought and speech.
Defend the Sanctity of Life:
The far left wants to impose a national right to abortion on demand here in Colorado and across the nation. This callous disregard for the value of life breaks my heart. Not only will I oppose any such policy, I will make the case for protecting society’s most vulnerable, the unborn child. I have been pro-life my entire life.
Defend the Second Amendment:
The Second Amendment is a fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution. As a Weld County Commissioner, I fought to make Weld a sanctuary county from Jared Polis’ so-called “red flag” law. As your Congresswoman, I will defend the Second Amendment at every turn.
Public Safety
Secure our Borders:
The Biden Administration not only refuses to enforce our borders; it effectively invites illegal immigrants to come to America. His administration provides generous benefits to illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, left-wing run sanctuary cities refuse to work with the federal government to enforce our laws. This must change. A nation that ceases to enforce her borders ceases to be a nation. I will work to fund the wall, secure our borders, and end policies that reward illegal immigration. So-called “sanctuary” cities and states that refuse to work with the federal government to enforce immigration laws should lose federal funding.
Get Tough on Criminals:
Lawlessness constrains far too many American cities. While Congress cannot make local governments enforce the rule of law and we should resist the temptation to use the federal government to interfere in local policing, we must set an example and promote a strong criminal justice system. The rhetoric of Congresswoman Andrea Ocasio Cortez and other members of the socialist “squad” is dangerous, fostering growing resentment toward the police and the rule of law and leading far-left states and jurisdictions to pursue policies such as cashless bail. People who break the law should be punished, and our criminal justice system should be blind to politics. That starts, by the way, with punishing those who promoted the false Russian collusion theory against President Trump, if laws were broken.
See Also
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Wikipedia
Barbara Jean Kirkmeyer (born September 15, 1958)[1] is an American politician serving as a member of the Colorado Senate for District 23, which encompasses parts of Weld and Larimer counties in north-central Colorado.[2] She was the Republican nominee for Colorado’s 8th congressional district in the 2022 election, losing to Yadira Caraveo in a close race. Kirkmeyer declined to run for the U.S. House in 2024, instead running for re-election.[3]
Early life and education
Kirkmeyer has lived in Weld County for 40 years. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1980.[4]
Career
Kirkmeyer served for a total of 19 years as a County Commissioner for Weld County, Colorado, having been elected and re-elected five times. Representing the third district, she served from 1993 to 2000 and again from 2009 to 2020. In the interim, Kirkmeyer served as acting director of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs under Colorado Governor Bill Owens. In addition, she has served on several boards and commissions, including the Fort Lupton Urban Renewal Authority Board and the Dacono Urban Renewal Authority Board.
In the 2020 Republican primary election for Colorado’s 23rd Senate district, Kirkmeyer defeated opponent Rupert Parchment, winning 55.24% of the votes cast.[5] In the 2020 general election, Kirkmeyer defeated her Democratic Party opponent, winning 55.14% of the votes cast.[6] She currently serves on the Senate Education, Local Government, Health and Human Services, and Statutory Revision Committees. She is also Vice Chair of the Legislative Interim Committee on School Finance.[7]
2022 congressional campaign
On November 15, 2021, Kirkmeyer announced she was running to represent Colorado’s new 8th congressional district.[8] On June 28, 2022, she won the Republican primary and advanced to the November general election ultimately losing to Democratic opponent, Yadira Caraveo.[9]
During Kirkmeyer’s campaign, she notably removed her stances on abortion from her website. She is one of Colorado’s most anti-abortion lawmakers, supporting banning the procedure and some forms of contraception and celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade.[10] She did not have to give up her state senate seat to run for Congress; Colorado state senators serve staggered four-year terms, and Kirkmeyer was not up for reelection until 2024.
References
- ^ “Barbara Kirkmeyer (CO-08) Research Report” (PDF). DCCC. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ “Legislative District Information After 2011 Reapportionment: Senate District 23” (PDF). Colorado Reapportionment Commission. December 22, 2011. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- ^ Kim, Caitlyn; Birkeland, Bente. “No rematch in CO-08 — state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer will not challenge Rep. Yadira Caraveo next year”. Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ “…more about Barb Kirkmeyer”. Elect Barbara Kirkmeyer for Senate District 23. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- ^ “Colorado election results: June 30, 2020 primary election, official results, state senator, district 23, Republican Party”. Colorado Secretary of State. October 27, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- ^ “Colorado election results: November 3, 2020 general election”. Colorado Secretary of State. November 25, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- ^ “Barbara Kirkmeyer | Colorado General Assembly”. leg.colorado.gov. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- ^ Aguilar, John (November 15, 2021). “Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer jumps into increasingly crowded 8th Congressional District race”. The Denver Post. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
- ^ Luning, Ernest (June 29, 2022). “Barb Kirkmeyer wins four-way GOP primary in Colorado’s new 8th CD”. The Gazette. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ Roberts, Michael (September 14, 2022). “Colorado Republicans and Abortion: No Longer So Loud and Proud?”. Westword. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
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