by Fred Hernandez
Gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez came to Cañon City on Tuesday, May 29th, and spoke to supporters at the Gibson Mansion on 9th and Greenwood Streets in Cañon City, CO. The venue, a beautifully restored seven thousand square foot, three story home, built originally by lumber baron David E. Gibson, in 1898, was an ideal setting for the more than seventy attendees who crowded the two sitting rooms and part of the dining room of the well-appointed home of current owner, Mr. Brendan Pardue. The opening statement of the candidate set the stage for the rest of his delivery when he said, “ The Lord has a hand on my campaign”.

These are times, according to Mr. Lopez, when everyone who wants to preserve the deeply held values of Coloradans need to unite and insure that a conservative Republican is elected to the governorship or suffer the loss of the soul of Colorado. Not to win the Governor’s Mansion in November is to risk becoming “the ugly twin sister of California”.

With that he launched into a strong call to all Republicans, conservatives and to all those who are concerned that the state may not be headed in the right direction. These are times, according to Mr. Lopez, when everyone who wants to preserve the deeply held values of Coloradans need to unite and insure that a conservative Republican is elected to the governorship or suffer the loss of the soul of Colorado. Not to win the Governor’s Mansion in November is to risk becoming “the ugly twin sister of California”. In describing his job as governor, Greg Lopez said it would be to promote, protect and preserve all of the traditional conservative values of Colorado because his campaign is not about Denver or Boulder but about “all of us”. Proudly admitting he came from humble beginnings, something he never forgets, he amassed experience in all facets of governing communities when he was elected Mayor of the City of Parker at the young age of twenty-seven. At the same time, he was City Manager of Parker, Colorado, and headed various committees including transportation, EMS and other key city services that gave him an intimate insight into the complex workings of government. Greg has been married to his soul mate, Lisa, for thirty years and has two grown children. As a small business owner, he has firsthand knowledge and a keen understanding of the unique role and importance small business plays in communities and the state in general. In fact, he became the director of Small Business Administration for the State of Colorado and during that period was also a member and officer of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
In all these very public organizations he dealt with all stripes of the political spectrum and many times he would get comments from friends and acquaintances making statements such as, and we paraphrase; “We don’t think your party will give you the nomination, but, if they do…..we will vote for you”. Coming as it did from those on the opposite side of the aisle these statements were great endorsements for the candidate. So when he did get the nomination, Republicans, for one, could not believe it. In fact, according to Greg, the black community is also behind him. And why not? Some of the issues he stands for are deeply held beliefs by Americans in general. Take for example the issue of sanctuary cities. Greg is firmly against it and insists that it is not only wrong, it is downright unlawful. But, as strongly as he believes that sanctuary cities is wrong, he is just as strongly is in favor of legal immigration. He also is fully behind the Constitution and proudly and unflinchingly supports The Second Amendment. In addition, with regard to the so called ‘Red Flag’ Bill which unilaterally allows anyone to sign an affidavit declaring that a person, who happens to own a firearm, might hurt himself or others, thus prompting the authorities to remove the firearms and even arrest the person accused [without any other due process], is totally unacceptable. Moreover, there is nothing in the bill that addresses the issue of mental health. Greg is in direct opposition to the passage of this bill.
One of his core beliefs is the creation of jobs. He wants to ensure that high school graduates are “job ready”. Not everyone, he says, has to go to college. There are those who would rather not. Especially for them, vocational training while in high school will get them ready to join the work force as soon as they are out of school. There are many experts in their fields who are not allowed to teach in school because they do not have teaching credentials. Yet they are experts in their line of work and could do a great service by providing their knowledge and experience to those in high school. He would like to harness all that talent and bring it into the school system.
The Candidate Lopez drew much applause with each one of his core beliefs. One, specifically, was the mention of the current state budget as being thirty billion dollars. But no one, he pointed out, brings up the thirty billion deficit which is directly a result of the PERA shortfall. He would address this huge problem by creating a new board composed only of members who have expertise and intimate understand of financial, investments and long-term money management planning. This board would work alongside the present board but concern itself only with the financial aspects of PERA.
In his closing statements, Mr. Lopez spoke eloquently about the urgent need to elect a Republican or conservative governor. Redistricting is going to take place for the 2020 election cycle and the sitting governor is the official who can approve or veto the results. As far as Greg Lopez, candidate for Governor of the Great State of Colorado is concerned: “ United we can win, divided we will lose” Let us win for all of us