William DeOreo, the Republican candidate for Colorado House District 10. (Courtesy of Boulder County Republicans)
With only $56.70 spent on his campaign, Republican William DeOreo wants to represent Colorado’s 10th district, which incorporates the city of Boulder, at the State Capitol.
DeOreo, who is running for Colorado House of Representatives District 10, is running against Junie Joseph, the Democratic incumbent. Joseph has spent $163,516 on her campaign. In stark contrast, DeOreo is attempting to win over voters with under $60 and conservative policies, despite running in a predominantly liberal district.
Some of these policies address key issues faced by students today, such as immigration, climate change, inflation and abortion access.
Abortion
DeOreo said that he is against spending public funds on abortions. Amendment 79, a measure on Colorado ballots this year, would include the right to abortion in the state constitution and open the door for the use of public funds to facilitate abortion procedures.
DeOreo said America is currently experiencing a population decline, citing replacement rates, the number of children a couple needs to have to replace themselves, which is 2.1% in America. In 2023 the rate was indicated at 1.62%, marking a new historic low since 1979. DeOreo said that he would support policies that help pregnant individuals and individuals with children.
“I would favor policies that make it easier to support women in families,” DeOreo said. “If a woman is having a crisis pregnancy…I would put state money into helping provide stipends, providing support groups.”
While he does not support Amendment 79, he also is not in favor of a statewide ban on abortions.
“I don’t favor a statewide ban,” he said. “But on the other hand, I don’t favor writing it (abortion access) into the Constitution.”
Currently in Colorado, all individuals are guaranteed the right to abortion under the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which was passed in 2022.
Amendment 79 would repeal an existing ban on using state and local funds for abortion. Currently, there is an exception for cases of abortion in which the pregnancy was due to rape, incest or when the life of the pregnant individual is threatened.
“If a woman wants to make a decision to get an abortion…that’s her decision,” DeOreo said. “Using taxpayer money to fund it, especially to the day of birth, is really barbaric.”
There is no language in Amendment 79 that specifies what stages of a pregnancy public funding for an abortion could be used for.
Immigration
DeOreo believes immigration is a nationwide issue that can be managed at the state level. He said Colorado has relaxed policies regarding immigrants illegally crossing the border.
He claimed that non-governmental Organizations, the United Nations and U.S. governments are engaged in a migration system that verges on human trafficking and are using tax dollars to do so.
“People are brought into the state by people [governments and NGO’s] and they’re being paid to bring these people in,” DeOreo said. “Once they’re here, then tax money is used to pay NGOs to provide them with services like health care, housing and direct financial stipends. Meanwhile, citizens, people, are sleeping under bridges and nothing’s available for them.”
NGOs are independent from the government but can receive funding from government agencies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, through its Shelter and Services Program, does provide $650,000,000, set aside by Congress, to local and state governments along with NGOs that provide sheltering and related activities for noncitizen migrants.
The Texas Attorney General sued one immigration-focused NGO in February, claiming that it engaged in “smuggling.” A judge dismissed the lawsuit in July. The general inspector of the Department of Homeland Security found that there is no record keeping regarding how many immigrants are assisted and relocated through NGOs.
If elected, DeOreo says he plans to create state policies that make it difficult for immigrants who have entered the country illegally to obtain a Colorado driver’s license, vote and purchase firearms in the state. He said it is important for the state to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In 2019, Colorado lawmakers passed HB19-1124. The bill prevents law enforcement from arresting or detaining individuals solely based on their immigration status. It also prevents law enforcement in the state from providing federal officials, like ICE agents, with an individual’s immigration status.
In 2017, Boulder declared itself a sanctuary city.
“For people that are applying for citizenship, applying for green cards and entering legally, I think that they should just go ahead,” DeOreo said. “But it’s a totally different thing…somebody just walking across the border and then declaring themselves to be eligible for all rights of citizenship, where they don’t pay taxes.”
The constitutional rights that both US citizens and immigrants who have crossed the border illegally share consist of the right to due process, the right to legal counsel, the right to be with your family, the right to vote or hold office, the right to education and the right against unreasonable search and seizure, among a few other basic human rights.
Climate Change
DeOreo said he identifies as a “climate skeptic.”
“I do not believe there’s any evidence carbon dioxide is the magic bullet that dials in the temperature,” he said. “There’s a lot of good scientists that agree with that.”
97% of scientists believe that climate change and global warming are caused by humans, mainly through emitting greenhouse gasses.
DeOreo argues that rather than imposing costs on the economy or individuals to eliminate greenhouse gasses, the government should promote state-level programs to develop and commercialize advanced nuclear power stations.
“We’re putting untold money into these green energy systems that are uneconomical and the only reason they’re even built is because they get huge tax subsidies,” DeOreo said.
Tax subsidies and tax incentives have accelerated the adoption of renewables. With the government’s support, fossil fuel industries promote a cleaner energy transition.
In November of 2023, The University of Colorado Board of Regents approved a $43.1 million plan to replace the West District Energy Plant’s heating and power generating systems, which are located on CU Boulder’s Campus. The improvements will reduce the plant’s nitrogen oxide emissions by over 50%. Some university faculty have said the plan, which would still emit greenhouse gasses, is not green enough.
Inflation
DeOreo said he believes there are two major sources of inflation: the shortage of production as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns and deficit spending, which occurs when the government spends more money than it earns and covers the difference by borrowing money from the public.
COVID-19 shutdowns were a large contributor to shortages of production in 2021, but supply chains have normalized since late 2022.
In an attempt to aid this, DeOreo believes the state should take the lead in eliminating unnecessary barriers to production.
“The state should remove all unnecessary barriers to production, like make sure that farmers can grow and sell food directly to the people, that you can start a business without paying ridiculous regulatory fees,” DeOreo said.
In May 2022, Gov. Jared Polis signed HB22-1001, a bill that, among other things, reduced the fee to set up a new LLC in the state to $1 for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
This act, known as the Colorado Business Fee Relief Act, saved $8.4 million for Colorado businesses. Since going into effect, over 155,000 new businesses and 39,000 new trade names registered in Colorado within that year. New LLC registrations were up 38.7% in comparison to the previous year.
During that time many took advantage of the waived fees by creating fraudulent or fake businesses, including one individual registering 15,660 to a stranger’s address. The number of total fraudulent businesses registered is unknown.
Housing
DeOreo said the fundamental issue related to affordable housing is the suppression of interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
“When the Fed suppresses interest rates, you can borrow money cheaply, and therefore, if you want to buy a house, you don’t really care what the price is, because you’re really looking at what your payment is going to be,” he said.
The Fed does not suppress interest rates but raises or lowers them to influence the economy.
In HD10, the district for which DeOreo is running, the median household income is $63,073, but the median home value is $838,100. With these home prices being more than 13 times the typical household income, new home buyers in the district can face significant financial burdens.
After being asked about Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed plan to distribute $50,000 to small business start-ups, DeOreo emphasized his disagreement with government subsidies.
“I’m philosophically opposed to the government handing out swathes of cash. It’s like the idea of the $25,000 first-time help for first-time homebuyers,” he said.
He also expressed his philosophical views on the relationship between people and their government.
“One of my slogans is to make the state government your ally, not your adversary,” he said.
DeOreo, the Republican candidate, appears on the ballot with Junie Joseph, the Democratic candidate, for the position of Colorado House of Representatives District 10. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Hannah Brennan at hannah.brennan@colorado.edu.
Contact CU Independent Guest Writer Madison Swanson at madison.swanson@colorado.edu.
CU Independent Managing Editor Lincoln Roch contributed to this story.
