A Republican rancher from Gilpin County, Corey Marshall, is challenging incumbent Democrat Dylan Roberts for Colorado’s Senate District 8 seat in the upcoming November election. The district encompasses 10 counties in the northwest corner of the state, including parts of our Western Slope communities.
Marshall, a fourth-generation Coloradan who owns Rudolph Ranch, said he believes the state's direction is not where it should be, stating he wants to "help guide us to a new and better direction and future." Roberts, a Frisco resident seeking reelection, highlighted his leadership in fostering bipartisan agreement at the state capital on issues impacting Coloradans, noting his dedication to serving the region where he grew up and is raising his family.
Both candidates identify "affordability" as the top issue for District 8 voters. They share concerns about rising housing and healthcare costs, the impacts of drought, and protecting Colorado's water supplies. However, their approaches to these and other issues, such as the state's budget deficit, diverge, often along party lines.
On the issue of affordability, Roberts, who has two children with his wife, acknowledged the challenges of rising costs for everything from gas and groceries to childcare and healthcare, especially for those in rural areas and mountain towns. He attributed many affordability issues to federal actions, including the Trump administration's tariffs, the war in Iran, and legislative changes like H.R. 1, which he said would slash healthcare funding and impact rural hospitals. At the state level, Roberts stated he has passed legislation to increase affordable housing units, created healthcare options like the Colorado Option, and capped prices for insulin and EpiPens. He believes the state legislature has been successful in reducing costs despite federal rollbacks and is "on the cusp of turning the housing market."
Marshall, who has experience as a business executive, views addressing affordability through "building the economy." He proposes fostering existing District 8 industries such as farming, ranching, oil and gas exploration, mining, and power generation. Marshall advocates for "lowering taxes across the board," including property taxes, and rolling back building fees and regulations. He also argued that state and federal environmental policies have negatively impacted coal power plants in Moffat and Routt counties, affecting local economies and energy costs, and called for reversing these and other overregulations on agriculture and other Western Slope industries.
Regarding the relationship between state and federal government, Roberts contended that the Trump administration has targeted Colorado for political reasons by withholding federal funds, cutting state-benefiting programs, and denying disaster relief. He believes the state government must push back against federal decisions that harm its citizens. Marshall, conversely, suggested the Trump administration's actions are a response to Colorado's resistance to federal policies. He urged the state to align with the federal government but emphasized that pushing back on "decisions being made out of Denver" is more critical.
The Colorado legislature faces an estimated $1.6 billion budget deficit for the 2027-28 budget year, largely due to soaring Medicaid costs. Roberts described this as a budget crisis and said the state government must carefully consider reforming the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) to fund programs like healthcare, childcare, and education. While not supporting a full elimination of TABOR, he backs modifications to modernize it. Roberts also supports Amendment 87, which aims to create a graduated tax system, and Prop NN, which would raise the TABOR limit to increase state spending on education. If passed, these measures could dedicate over $7 billion more to the state legislature.
Marshall does not support changes to Colorado's tax system. He attributed the state's budget deficit to years of overspending on programs, including what he described as "out-of-control" healthcare programs. Marshall argued the state legislature needs to rein in spending, particularly on healthcare, stating that "abortion and sexual-preference-type procedures" have caused healthcare costs to "balloon out of control." He stressed a focus on "truly necessary and required and reasonable" healthcare, specifically mentioning mental health services, where he believes the state is dramatically lacking.
Roberts noted that the state legislature, especially Western Slope legislators, often works in a bipartisan way, unlike Washington, D.C., to do "what’s right for our communities out here that are so different from the rest of the state.”
