Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Somebody else who hopes to stop the insanity in this
state is State Senator Barb Kirkmeyer, who, before being in
the state Senate was also for many years a.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Weld County commissioner.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And as of yesterday, Barb is the newest Republican there
are a few in already, but the newest Republican to
join in the race to be the next governor of Colorado.
And I have not made up my mind yet on this,
and I may not end up endorsing anybody, but I
(00:31):
will say at this early date, to me, Barb seems
like the most credible Republican candidate of the candidates who
are in at this point, and I don't know if
anybody else will get in, so I'm not endorsing yet,
but I do think Barb is a very credible candidate.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And I liked so.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
First of all, Barb, welcome, Welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It's good to have you. Let me start with this.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I'm on your website at Kirkmeyer for Colorado dot com
and I see your tagline better days ahead or better
days ahead for Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I want you to get specific with me, though, better
days ahead in what ways if Barb Kirkmeyer were to
be governor.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Sure, and thank you again for having me on the show.
Appreciate it. But my tagline is, actually, it's time. It
is time that we do get better days ahead. It's
time that we have a governor who knows how to
govern that will lead us to better days ahead. I
truly believe that they're there. So I'm running for governor
because Colorado needs responsible leadership that delivers real results. Families
(01:37):
are struggling under the weight of rising costs, unsafe communities,
crumbling roads, and underperforming schools, not because decline is inevitable,
but because of poor decision making. So we need a
vision and I believe I will provide one of leadership.
And it's time, you know, to cut costs. It's time,
particularly to cut costs with our insurance costs. We need
(01:58):
to get our healthcare system them back into shape. I mean, gosh,
it is just in crisis mode at this point, and
we need to ensure that families are not excessively taxed
and overburdened. And I just went through a special session
and I'm telling you, we set here and increase taxes,
not we they set there and increase taxes. On small businesses.
Trying to figure out how to balance the budget on
(02:20):
the backs of small businesses just not the thing to
be doing. So it's time to finally fix the darn roads,
make our community safe, strengthen our schools, and build a
Colorado where families can strive. For the last seven years,
we've just had bad decision making by Colorado and lawmakers,
and it's gotten us into this mess. The flip side
is good decision making can turn things around. As a
(02:42):
lifelong Colorado and a mom, a grandmother, a dairy farmer,
small business woman, and a proven conservative leader, I'll put
my experience and my determination to work every day to
make sure that Colorado's best days are truly still ahead
of us.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
All right, lots of things to ask you about. Let
me start with the politics of this. I had David
Flaherty from Magellan Strategies on yesterday. You might have seen
their recent voter survey which was very, very interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
The state still seems to be roughly D.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Plus eleven or something like that, and we definitely know
from recent experience that a lot of voters in Colorado
dislike Donald Trump so much that once they see an
R next to somebody's name, they refuse to consider that person,
even if that person is a good candidate. Now, that
might be improving a little bit right now, because the
other thing that his poll showed is that although the
(03:38):
Republican Party and Democratic Party both are viewed significantly unfavorably
in Colorado, Democrats are actually quite a bit worse than
Republicans on that measure for the first time in a
long time. So that is a long way of me
getting around to ask you, asking you what makes you
think you can win in a state this blue.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So again, I did see that poll, and I've been
seeing other polls for the last few months that have
showed and demonstrated that whether you're unaffiliated, Republican or Democrat,
almost everyone is saying that we are headed in the
wrong direction. But certainly unaffiliated voters, which make up about
fifty percent of our voters in this state, are saying
things are just off course. We're going down the wrong way,
(04:23):
you know, going down the wrong path, and going the
wrong way on that path for quite frankly, So I
just believe, you know it. We need a governor that
will speak to Colorado's needs and interests. And I just
talked about those a little bit, but it's about affordability,
lower insurance costs, safer communities, all of that. Colorada Republicans,
(04:43):
you know, we need to provide meaningful vision, and I
believe that I will that will resonate with Colorado voters.
That's my objective. Some folks in my party are content
with just making a point. I am not. Voters see
right through that stuff. We need to commit to making
a difference for Colorado's and I'm telling you that as
you're governor of the state of Colorado, I am running
(05:04):
to be the governor, not of a party, but running
to be the governor for all of the people of Colorado.
My job as governor will be to look out for
the people of Colorado, to represent the state's best interest
in dealing with the federal government and with other states.
And I believe voters will expect me to act with
integrity and a strong sense of public obligation. That's what
(05:25):
I did as a Well County commissioner. That's what I've
been doing as a state senator. I'm not going to
change anything there. I'm going to go be that same
kind of governor.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And in the interest of time, give me some slightly
shorter answers to the next orld.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, all right, yeah, do you do you think or
how do you think that you specifically and Republican candidates generally,
especially high quality Republican candidates, and I do think you
are one of those can overcome the previous few years
(05:59):
of shenanigans and trouble let's say, I'm putting it very
gently within the Republican Party and sort of some damage
to the brand of the Colorado Republican Party.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
How do you overcome that? How do you change that?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Again? I think it's through good, solid leadership, and I
think when people understand what my accomplishments are and what
accomplishments are and my experiences, that that will help. But
you're exactly right. Our party was completely divided in twenty
twenty three, twenty twenty four, for instance, and our candidates
were outspent. I don't know that we necessarily had the
(06:38):
best candidates. I mean, we were trying. But I think
the big difference though now is is that for the
last seven years, what Colorado voters have been seeing is
this unbridled far left lawmaking and what they're doing, and
the folks in the state just don't like it. I mean,
everything's up. We're the second most dangerous state in the nation.
You know, all like I said, all const are up,
(07:00):
and you know, we're over regulating and we're going after
small businesses and increasing taxes. And I think folks are saying, look,
we've had enough of that. And so I think from
our side, our party has worked pretty diligently. I was
say for myself specifically, I ran for State Senate again,
run pre election for state Senate in twenty twenty four.
(07:20):
But I went out in my community in Weald County
and the Larimer County area and out into the eastern Plains.
We went out and we recruited good candidates, candidates that
are part of the fabric of their community to begin with,
and that have a good sense of conservative values. And
then we all went out and worked together. We didn't
work against each other. We worked together, and we were
able to flip five seats in Welld County, built them
(07:43):
from Democrat to Republican back to Republican because people saw
the message we were delivering and saying, yeah, that's what
we want in the Republican Party, that's who we're going
to vote for. So I think we just need to
do the same things statewide.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Okay, so I think that Democrats are a little bit
afraid of you already.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And again I'm not saying you're a favorite or anything. Right,
It's a.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Democratic state and I think you can win. But I
think just generically even a good Republican would be an
underdog in this state. But I don't think it's an
impossible situation. Now I've seen I saw a statement from
Phil Wiser, and I just want to ask you to
address a couple of things, and again, do this quickly.
You just have a few minutes. Okay Wiser's statement. I
(08:29):
actually emailed him directly about it and kind of criticized
him for a statement. But the first thing he says is, well,
we don't need someone who's a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.
I don't even know what that means when you're talking
about a governor. But do you want to respond to
that at all?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Sure? And I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Well.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
As I said before my job, I'm running to be governor,
not to be governor of a party. I'm also not
running to be a governor for any president. You know,
I support Donald Trump, and as governor, you know, we
have to work with the federal government, and we need
to find a way for that. I don't think I've
ever been, in any portion of my career or anything
that I've ever done, been in rubber Stamp for anybody.
(09:05):
I have fought for everything that I've done, and I've
won those fights, and they've been for the people of
the state of Colorado. They've been in the best interests
of my constituents. So, Robert Stamp, I mean this from
the guy who thinks it's a good idea to turn
around and sue the federal government every opportunity to get
I don't think that's productive. I think it's a waste
of time, it's a waste of money, and I certainly
don't think it's working in the best interests of the
(09:27):
people of the state of Colorado. What I think is
he's just trying to further his political career.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Three or four years ago, shortly after the Supreme Court
overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion was an enormous issue in voting,
and I suspect that you narrowly lost the race for
the eighth Congressional district a few years back on that issue.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
And I see that the Colorado.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Democratic Party has already put out a bunch of stuff
about you, negative stuff about you. Like I said, I
think they're a little bit afraid of you already. But
quite a bit of it is about abortion and you
being pro life. And I'm wondering a first, do you
think abortion is going to be an important piece in
this election or do you think that moment has passed?
Speaker 2 (10:15):
And to the extent that this.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Is mostly a pro choice state and you are not,
how are you going to address what you know they
are going to make an issue?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Sure, and I agree with you. I think they probably
will try to make that an issue, but that is
a settled question in this state, and I think that
has passed regardless if you know my position on it,
and yes I am pro life. But here's the difference
of what between twenty twenty two and what will be
twenty twenty six is that has been embolden into the constitution.
(10:48):
So I am an elected official. As a state senator,
I take an oath of office to uphold the constitution
of this state and the United States. I will be
doing the same as governor. And our constitution the voters
have spoken. So if you want to make anybody, any side,
any point on this. If you want to make any
changes to the constitution, you will need to take it
(11:09):
back to the voters. The voters have spoken. You know,
I follow the constitution, that's my job, and you know what,
you want to make any changes, you got to take
it back to the voters. Well, they'll have to make changes.
If there's going to be any changes, I will not
be doing that.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Last thing for you, going back to what you talked
about early on, is some of your primary goals and motivations.
How can a governor make any important changes to the
people's cost of living?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And I got about one minute.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Well, quite frankly, it's looking at all of the regulations
that we have in this state that we've been putting
onto businesses that are increasing costs. You know, basically the
impact is it increases cost to the consumers. So first
thing when I'm in office, I'm going to charge all
my cabinet members, all my department heads to go back
and work with the industries, the small businesses is that
we are regulating and go back and see where those
(12:03):
regulations are and what we can do to cut through
that red tape, cut their cost we'll cut consumer costs.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Barb Kirkmeyer, State senator, former World County commissioner, the newest
Republican candidate for governor. As I've said, at the moment,
I think Barb is the most credible Republican candidate. I
haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it, and
we will see who else gets in, But at the moment,
I'm thinking that Barb Kirkmeyer is the is the head
of the pack among Republicans. Her website is Kirkmeyer for Colorado.
(12:33):
That's k I R K M E Y E R
F O R Colorado dot com. Barb, thanks for being here.
I appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Thank you Ross, and appreciate what you're doing for the
state of Colorado. Thank you
Somebody else who hopes to stop the insanity in this
state is State Senator Barb Kirkmeyer, who, before being in
the state Senate was also for many years a.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Weld County commissioner.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And as of yesterday, Barb is the newest Republican there
are a few in already, but the newest Republican to
join in the race to be the next governor of Colorado.
And I have not made up my mind yet on this,
and I may not end up endorsing anybody, but I
(00:31):
will say at this early date, to me, Barb seems
like the most credible Republican candidate of the candidates who
are in at this point, and I don't know if
anybody else will get in, so I'm not endorsing yet,
but I do think Barb is a very credible candidate.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And I liked so.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
First of all, Barb, welcome, Welcome back to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It's good to have you. Let me start with this.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I'm on your website at Kirkmeyer for Colorado dot com
and I see your tagline better days ahead or better
days ahead for Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I want you to get specific with me, though, better
days ahead in what ways if Barb Kirkmeyer were to
be governor.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Sure, and thank you again for having me on the show.
Appreciate it. But my tagline is, actually, it's time. It
is time that we do get better days ahead. It's
time that we have a governor who knows how to
govern that will lead us to better days ahead. I
truly believe that they're there. So I'm running for governor
because Colorado needs responsible leadership that delivers real results. Families
(01:37):
are struggling under the weight of rising costs, unsafe communities,
crumbling roads, and underperforming schools, not because decline is inevitable,
but because of poor decision making. So we need a
vision and I believe I will provide one of leadership.
And it's time, you know, to cut costs. It's time,
particularly to cut costs with our insurance costs. We need
(01:58):
to get our healthcare system them back into shape. I mean, gosh,
it is just in crisis mode at this point, and
we need to ensure that families are not excessively taxed
and overburdened. And I just went through a special session
and I'm telling you, we set here and increase taxes,
not we they set there and increase taxes. On small businesses.
Trying to figure out how to balance the budget on
(02:20):
the backs of small businesses just not the thing to
be doing. So it's time to finally fix the darn roads,
make our community safe, strengthen our schools, and build a
Colorado where families can strive. For the last seven years,
we've just had bad decision making by Colorado and lawmakers,
and it's gotten us into this mess. The flip side
is good decision making can turn things around. As a
(02:42):
lifelong Colorado and a mom, a grandmother, a dairy farmer,
small business woman, and a proven conservative leader, I'll put
my experience and my determination to work every day to
make sure that Colorado's best days are truly still ahead
of us.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
All right, lots of things to ask you about. Let
me start with the politics of this. I had David
Flaherty from Magellan Strategies on yesterday. You might have seen
their recent voter survey which was very, very interesting.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
The state still seems to be roughly D.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Plus eleven or something like that, and we definitely know
from recent experience that a lot of voters in Colorado
dislike Donald Trump so much that once they see an
R next to somebody's name, they refuse to consider that person,
even if that person is a good candidate. Now, that
might be improving a little bit right now, because the
other thing that his poll showed is that although the
(03:38):
Republican Party and Democratic Party both are viewed significantly unfavorably
in Colorado, Democrats are actually quite a bit worse than
Republicans on that measure for the first time in a
long time. So that is a long way of me
getting around to ask you, asking you what makes you
think you can win in a state this blue.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So again, I did see that poll, and I've been
seeing other polls for the last few months that have
showed and demonstrated that whether you're unaffiliated, Republican or Democrat,
almost everyone is saying that we are headed in the
wrong direction. But certainly unaffiliated voters, which make up about
fifty percent of our voters in this state, are saying
things are just off course. We're going down the wrong way,
(04:23):
you know, going down the wrong path, and going the
wrong way on that path for quite frankly, So I
just believe, you know it. We need a governor that
will speak to Colorado's needs and interests. And I just
talked about those a little bit, but it's about affordability,
lower insurance costs, safer communities, all of that. Colorada Republicans,
(04:43):
you know, we need to provide meaningful vision, and I
believe that I will that will resonate with Colorado voters.
That's my objective. Some folks in my party are content
with just making a point. I am not. Voters see
right through that stuff. We need to commit to making
a difference for Colorado's and I'm telling you that as
you're governor of the state of Colorado, I am running
(05:04):
to be the governor, not of a party, but running
to be the governor for all of the people of Colorado.
My job as governor will be to look out for
the people of Colorado, to represent the state's best interest
in dealing with the federal government and with other states.
And I believe voters will expect me to act with
integrity and a strong sense of public obligation. That's what
(05:25):
I did as a Well County commissioner. That's what I've
been doing as a state senator. I'm not going to
change anything there. I'm going to go be that same
kind of governor.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
And in the interest of time, give me some slightly
shorter answers to the next orld.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Okay, all right, yeah, do you do you think or
how do you think that you specifically and Republican candidates generally,
especially high quality Republican candidates, and I do think you
are one of those can overcome the previous few years
(05:59):
of shenanigans and trouble let's say, I'm putting it very
gently within the Republican Party and sort of some damage
to the brand of the Colorado Republican Party.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
How do you overcome that? How do you change that?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Again? I think it's through good, solid leadership, and I
think when people understand what my accomplishments are and what
accomplishments are and my experiences, that that will help. But
you're exactly right. Our party was completely divided in twenty
twenty three, twenty twenty four, for instance, and our candidates
were outspent. I don't know that we necessarily had the
(06:38):
best candidates. I mean, we were trying. But I think
the big difference though now is is that for the
last seven years, what Colorado voters have been seeing is
this unbridled far left lawmaking and what they're doing, and
the folks in the state just don't like it. I mean,
everything's up. We're the second most dangerous state in the nation.
You know, all like I said, all const are up,
(07:00):
and you know, we're over regulating and we're going after
small businesses and increasing taxes. And I think folks are saying, look,
we've had enough of that. And so I think from
our side, our party has worked pretty diligently. I was
say for myself specifically, I ran for State Senate again,
run pre election for state Senate in twenty twenty four.
(07:20):
But I went out in my community in Weald County
and the Larimer County area and out into the eastern Plains.
We went out and we recruited good candidates, candidates that
are part of the fabric of their community to begin with,
and that have a good sense of conservative values. And
then we all went out and worked together. We didn't
work against each other. We worked together, and we were
able to flip five seats in Welld County, built them
(07:43):
from Democrat to Republican back to Republican because people saw
the message we were delivering and saying, yeah, that's what
we want in the Republican Party, that's who we're going
to vote for. So I think we just need to
do the same things statewide.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
Okay, so I think that Democrats are a little bit
afraid of you already.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
And again I'm not saying you're a favorite or anything. Right,
It's a.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Democratic state and I think you can win. But I
think just generically even a good Republican would be an
underdog in this state. But I don't think it's an
impossible situation. Now I've seen I saw a statement from
Phil Wiser, and I just want to ask you to
address a couple of things, and again, do this quickly.
You just have a few minutes. Okay Wiser's statement. I
(08:29):
actually emailed him directly about it and kind of criticized
him for a statement. But the first thing he says is, well,
we don't need someone who's a rubber stamp for Donald Trump.
I don't even know what that means when you're talking
about a governor. But do you want to respond to
that at all?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Sure? And I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Well.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
As I said before my job, I'm running to be governor,
not to be governor of a party. I'm also not
running to be a governor for any president. You know,
I support Donald Trump, and as governor, you know, we
have to work with the federal government, and we need
to find a way for that. I don't think I've
ever been, in any portion of my career or anything
that I've ever done, been in rubber Stamp for anybody.
(09:05):
I have fought for everything that I've done, and I've
won those fights, and they've been for the people of
the state of Colorado. They've been in the best interests
of my constituents. So, Robert Stamp, I mean this from
the guy who thinks it's a good idea to turn
around and sue the federal government every opportunity to get
I don't think that's productive. I think it's a waste
of time, it's a waste of money, and I certainly
don't think it's working in the best interests of the
(09:27):
people of the state of Colorado. What I think is
he's just trying to further his political career.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Three or four years ago, shortly after the Supreme Court
overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion was an enormous issue in voting,
and I suspect that you narrowly lost the race for
the eighth Congressional district a few years back on that issue.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
And I see that the Colorado.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Democratic Party has already put out a bunch of stuff
about you, negative stuff about you. Like I said, I
think they're a little bit afraid of you already. But
quite a bit of it is about abortion and you
being pro life. And I'm wondering a first, do you
think abortion is going to be an important piece in
this election or do you think that moment has passed?
Speaker 2 (10:15):
And to the extent that this.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Is mostly a pro choice state and you are not,
how are you going to address what you know they
are going to make an issue?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Sure, and I agree with you. I think they probably
will try to make that an issue, but that is
a settled question in this state, and I think that
has passed regardless if you know my position on it,
and yes I am pro life. But here's the difference
of what between twenty twenty two and what will be
twenty twenty six is that has been embolden into the constitution.
(10:48):
So I am an elected official. As a state senator,
I take an oath of office to uphold the constitution
of this state and the United States. I will be
doing the same as governor. And our constitution the voters
have spoken. So if you want to make anybody, any side,
any point on this. If you want to make any
changes to the constitution, you will need to take it
(11:09):
back to the voters. The voters have spoken. You know,
I follow the constitution, that's my job, and you know what,
you want to make any changes, you got to take
it back to the voters. Well, they'll have to make changes.
If there's going to be any changes, I will not
be doing that.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Last thing for you, going back to what you talked
about early on, is some of your primary goals and motivations.
How can a governor make any important changes to the
people's cost of living?
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And I got about one minute.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Well, quite frankly, it's looking at all of the regulations
that we have in this state that we've been putting
onto businesses that are increasing costs. You know, basically the
impact is it increases cost to the consumers. So first
thing when I'm in office, I'm going to charge all
my cabinet members, all my department heads to go back
and work with the industries, the small businesses is that
we are regulating and go back and see where those
(12:03):
regulations are and what we can do to cut through
that red tape, cut their cost we'll cut consumer costs.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Barb Kirkmeyer, State senator, former World County commissioner, the newest
Republican candidate for governor. As I've said, at the moment,
I think Barb is the most credible Republican candidate. I
haven't spent a lot of time thinking about it, and
we will see who else gets in, But at the moment,
I'm thinking that Barb Kirkmeyer is the is the head
of the pack among Republicans. Her website is Kirkmeyer for Colorado.
(12:33):
That's k I R K M E Y E R
F O R Colorado dot com. Barb, thanks for being here.
I appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Thank you Ross, and appreciate what you're doing for the
state of Colorado. Thank you
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