If re-elected, Democratic state Sen. Maryanne “Moe” Keller’s top priority would be “to keep Colorado moving in the right direction,” she said.
For Keller, that means controlling rising health-care costs for underinsured people, taking care of transportation needs and ensuring affordable higher education and accountable public K-12 education with the proper allocation of Referendum C funds.
Keller, who taught special education for the deaf in the Jefferson County School District for 25 years, said her most important role in the last legislative session was in appropriating Referendum C funds according to voters’ wishes as a member of the Senate Budget Committee.
Keller has a long history of civic involvement. She served on the Wheat Ridge City Council from 1983 to 1989 and was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1992. After serving four terms, Keller ran for the Senate in 2002 and is now up for re-election.
Transportation issues are becoming increasingly important, Keller said. In Wheat Ridge, Keller helped obtain funding from the Colorado Department of Transportation for necessary traffic improvements at Interstate 70 and Highway 58 for the planned Cabela’s store.
There’s a lot of popular support for FasTracks and Light Rail, she said, and she is committed to finding more mass transit solutions to accommodate growth.
“It’s within our reach,” she said.
High-deductible health-insurance plans have left a growing number of Coloradans underinsured, and Keller wants to work on rising health-care costs, she said.
Keller’s endorsers include the Colorado Hospital Association and the Jefferson County Teacher’s Association. This spring, she was named “Legislator of the Year” by the West Chamber.
Keller enjoys the public process, she said.
“I appreciate all of the support I’ve received in the community,” she added.
Maryanne ‘Moe’ Keller
Age: 57
Residence: Wheat Ridge
HOW LONG: 31 years
Profession: Retired
special education teacher
Family: Husband, Stephen;
two adult children
Education: Bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology, Buffalo State University; master’s degree in education of the deaf, Canisius College
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Dick Sargent
Like the incumbent for Senate District 20, Republican challenger Dick Sargent has a long history of civic service.
Sargent served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Reserves for 26 years, rising to the rank of colonel. He served on the Golden City Council from 1981 to 1985, ran as the Republican candidate for state treasurer in 1986 and 1990, ran for the governorship in 1994 and served on the RTD board of directors in 1999. He serves on the board of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, a bipartisan organization that tracks legislators’ voting records on fiscal impact bills, he said.
If elected, Sargent pledged to be a “vocal conscience” in the Senate, protecting taxpayers and making sure Referendum C dollars are spent appropriately, he said.
Sargent has worked in investment brokerage since 1962, and said his experience with finance would serve him well if elected.
“I want to be involved in the dollars and cents of government,” he said.
Although Sargent did not personally support Referendum C, his duty, if elected, would be to uphold it and make sure monies were appropriately spent, improving existing programs without creating new ones.
As a leader, Sargent would make decisions based on citizen input, he said.
“Anyone who says a citizen individually doesn’t have an impact doesn’t know how the system works,” he said.
Illegal immigration has a huge impact on the state and should be treated as a national emergency, Sargent said.
“Immigration has been the first thing of concern for 90 percent of the people I’ve talked to,” he said.
Sargent said he will not have to answer to any special-interest unions and will only represent citizens and taxpayers.
“You need a guy like me with fiscal discipline to stand there and do what’s right for the state of Colorado,” he said.
Dick Sargent
Age: 72
Residence: Golden
HOW LONG: 34 years
Profession: Investment securities broker; 26 years in Marine Corps, Reserves
Family: wife, Tricia; two daughters, three stepsons
Education: Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, U.S. Naval Academy; graduate of Army War College