The two candidates vying to represent Colorado House District 57, Democratic incumbent Rep. Elizabeth Velasco and Republican challenger Russ Andrews, identify affordability, public safety, and the region’s infrastructure as key issues. However, they hold sharply different views on how state lawmakers should tackle these challenges for the district, which covers Garfield and Pitkin counties, along with the southwestern portion of Eagle County, home to nearly 88,000 residents, according to 2024 Census data.
Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, a 38-year-old Democrat from Glenwood Springs, is seeking her third term. Velasco, who first took office in 2023, became the first Mexican-born state representative in Colorado. During her second term, she was a prime sponsor on 26 bills, with 15 becoming law. Velasco stated she is most proud of her work in environmental justice and worker protections, including bills enforcing air quality violations, improving water quality in mobile home parks, and creating protections for workers in extreme temperatures.
Velasco has also focused on water protection, rallying against the Uinta Basin Railway project and advocating for funds to maintain healthy watersheds. Her legislative efforts have included advocating for more transportation funding, co-sponsoring a bill in 2024 that established a fee on oil and gas production to generate revenue for public transportation. She also worked on a law preventing semi-trucks from using the passing lane in Glenwood Canyon and other I-70 corridors, stating that she has "always identified I-70 and open roads and safe roads as a priority for the district."
Other priorities for Velasco include "thriving communities" and "public safety," encompassing access to clean air and water and improved preparedness for natural disasters like wildfires. She chairs the Wildfire Matters Interim Committee for the Colorado General Assembly and has worked on legislation to help rural communities apply for wildfire grant funding. More recently, Velasco has focused on immigration, sponsoring bills that increased penalties for local authorities sharing personal information with federal immigration agencies and enhanced oversight of ICE detention centers and their private operators.
Russ Andrews, 68, a financial advisor from Carbondale with a background in engineering and finance, is the Republican challenger. Andrews, who serves as secretary of the Colorado GOP, stated his decision to run for House District 57 was driven by a desire to unify the Republican Party, acknowledging that his party is "very fractured." Andrews previously ran in the 2024 Republican primary for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
Andrews identified cost of living, transportation, and water rights as key issues for his campaign. He argues that excessive regulations are a major factor driving higher expenses and cost-of-living challenges, particularly impacting rural Colorado, including farmers and ranchers. Citing a 2024 study by the Colorado Chamber of Commerce, which ranked Colorado as the 6th most regulated state, Andrews stated that a priority in office would be to roll back many of these regulations. He asserted that rural counties "make the energy, we make the food, we deliver the water and we offer the tourism that drives the state’s economy" but believe that people in the state's urban counties seek to "dictate to us how we live our lives."
On water issues, Andrews supports building more reservoirs, arguing that Colorado exports too much water. He also believes lawmakers should give greater consideration to the Western Slope’s water needs due to significant drops in natural river flows since the 1922 Colorado River Compact, noting, "We send 180 billion gallons of water to the Front Range every year." Andrews has also criticized Gov. Jared Polis’ spending record, stating that new spending programs have caused government spending to outpace combined rates of inflation and population growth. He contends that current funding allocations for the Colorado Department of Transportation are insufficient for the district’s infrastructure needs, highlighting that "Every hour that Glenwood Canyon is closed, it costs our state economy a million dollars."
The candidates differ significantly on specific policy measures. Andrews stated, "Fourteen out of fourteen issues we disagree on," referring to measures on the November 3 ballot. Historically, House District 57 had elected Republican representatives for nearly 40 years before district maps were redrawn in 2021. Since then, voting patterns in the district have shifted toward the Democratic Party by 39 percentage points, with a majority of residents voting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. As of the reporting period ending September 16, Velasco has outraised and outspent Andrews, reporting roughly $43,000 more in campaign funds.
