Environmental Justice

Elisabeth is proud to be endorsed by the Green New Deal Campaign Committee. Elisabeth agrees with Gov. Polis that Colorado can be a nationwide leader by becoming the first state to reach 100% renewable energy by 2040, but that is not enough. As State Representative, she will:

• Improve air quality and hold polluters accountable.

• Invest in robust, accessible, electric public transit.

• Increase funding for sustainable infrastructure.

• Equip communities to mitigate effects of climate change and address food insecurity.

All Coloradans have a right to access clean air, potable water, rich soil, and healthy food. Climate change is real, and the consequences of decades of inaction are devastating Colorado, particularly our low-income communities and communities of color. Elisabeth champions an approach to environmental justice that centers adaptability and preparedness within vulnerable communities.

The Colorado Chamber of Commerce, the conservative Republican lobby, and other corporate interests are the biggest impediments to progress on environmental justice legislation in Colorado. Elisabeth will never take any corporate money, and rejects any donations from groups that oppose the Democratic agenda of interrupting climate change. Elisabeth’s HD6 opponent is endorsed by, and her campaign is funded by, special interest groups named above.

BACK TO TOP

Reproductive Justice

Abortion, birth control, and pregnancy support are healthcare. As with all healthcare, these reproductive services must be safe, affordable, and accessible to all. Elisabeth is proudly endorsed by Colorado’s only reproductive justice organization, COLOR Latina and is also endorsed by Cobalt and Colorado BlueFlower Fund.

Electing pro-choice Democrats is good, but not enough. Elisabeth supported the passage of RHEA (Reproductive Health Equity Act), and is already working to:

• Repeal and resist any infringement on the use of state dollars that limit reproductive care.

• Advance a constitutional amendment that furthers the codification of RHEA.

• Expand provider access to make Colorado a beacon for neighboring states that infringe upon reproductive rights.

2021 was the worst year on record for abortion access, and with Roe v. Wade having fallen, 2022 is even worse. Elisabeth understands that reproductive justice is more than abortion access. In 2019, when she served an unjust jail sentence for a municipal offense, the jail refused to allow her access to any menstrual products. Elisabeth was released from jail, contacted state legislators, and within months of being freed, she was responsible for the creation of HB19-1224 which guaranteed menstrual products in all Colorado jails, prisons, and detention centers.

Through the Colorado Freedom Fund, Elisabeth buys pre-trial liberty to get pregnant people out of Colorado cages. She has already fought to expand reproductive healthcare access, and she will do the same as our elected state representative.

Elisabeth has been a reproductive justice champion ever since she was a teenager. She was a clinic escort and interpreter, and has been courageously telling her own abortion story for years. In May 2022, she was featured in a Sunday edition of the Denver Post.

BACK TO TOP

Economic Justice

With income disparity and wealth inequality at unprecedented levels, it’s become all too clear that even in Colorado, the economy is set against the middle and working class. Colorado can lead the nation in making a new economy where all individuals pay their fair share, people are put over profits, and work is championed over wealth. Elisabeth promises to fight for all families, work to finally abolish TABOR, end welfare for the rich, and protect consumers.

BACK TO TOP

Housing Justice

Housing is a human right and should be protected as such. Renters deserve tenants’ rights protections and every person at risk of eviction deserves a right to an attorney at no cost. The current homelessness crisis is unprecedented in modern American history.

But homelessness is entirely a policy choice, often a policy choice made by states and cities that labels themselves “Progressive.” To fight for our unhoused neighbors, Elisabeth will champion Housing First policies, push meaningful zoning reform, diminish the housing gap through new construction, and focus on housing for the entire community rather than the rich few. Elisabeth will work to repeal the state-wide prohibition on rent control; local jurisdictions should be able to decide if rent control is right for their community.

For our seniors, it’s critical that we fix the Homestead Exemption and ensure that it is helping keep folks in their primary residence, not be a windfall for people with multiple residences. Elisabeth also cares deeply about investing in accessible, affordable, independent living, and she is on the board of Atlantis Community, Inc.

The corporate landlord lobby is the biggest impediment to progress on housing justice legislation in Colorado. Elisabeth will never take any corporate money, and rejects any donations from these groups. Elisabeth’s HD6 opponent is endorsed by, and her campaign is funded by the Colorado Apartment Association and the Apartment Association of Metro Denver — the same lobby that maxes out donations to Republicans and fought to evict people during the pandemic.

BACK TO TOP

Civil Rights

Whether it’s advocating for herself and other Black queer women or fighting for trans siblings locked in jails and prisons, Elisabeth is a civil rights activist to her core. Elisabeth focuses her work on the most vulnerable, not only because that’s the just route, but because when queer Black women get free, everyone gets free.

While Colorado Freedom Fund pays ransom for people of any/all identities, the priority is liberating the folks who have been over-policed and who are most at risk in already dangerous cages, and those folks are often our LGBTQIA+ siblings.

BACK TO TOP

Gun Violence Prevention

Elisabeth advocates for common-sense gun violence prevention legislation and supports responsible gun ownership.

Elisabeth is proud to be certified by Moms Demand Action as a Certified Gun Sense Candidate and will lead boldly to end our nation’s inexcusable status as the world’s leader in mass shootings and other forms of gun violence. As State Representative, Elisabeth will always prioritize saving lives over saving her seat in office, and will legislate accordingly.

Elisabeth supports common-sense gun control and has a public track record of advocating for smart data-driven gun policy including banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines, extreme risk protection orders (red flag laws), increasing purchase age for firearms, expanding background checks, safe storage laws, and waiting periods. All of these policies can—and must—be enacted in data-driven ways that do not perpetuate further over-criminalization of people and communities most harmed by gun violence.

In Colorado, we must pass a statewide ban on both assault weapons and high capacity magazines. Too many Colorado Dems are content to wait for a federal ban; of course we need a renewed federal ban too, but Colorado can’t afford to wait for Congress to act. Elisabeth will not be intimidated by the conservative gun lobby, but she also won’t be intimated by conservative Democrats who don’t want to vote on an assault weapons ban. In a state with a Democratic House, Senate, and Governor, it is inexcusable Dem leadership has not advanced the assault weapons ban legislation that we know will save lives.

Like all issues of public safety, interrupting gun violence requires addressing its root causes. As a Black mother, Elisabeth is particularly attuned to how truly transformative gun violence prevention will include lenses of racial and disability justice. Our work on gun control must include work to interrupt gun violence in all its forms including suicide, intimate partner violence, intra+inter-community harm, militarized state violence, and more.

Elisabeth is a survivor of domestic violence and has seen first hand how laws meant to protect victims fall short when those laws (such as a statute aiming to remove guns from people who commit domestic violence) do not include monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. As a legislator, Elisabeth will center survivors and victim families as true partners in the work.

The Colorado chapter of Moms Demand Action is truly taking a lead on gun policy that centers the most impacted people in crafting solutions that benefit us all. As a legislator, Elisabeth will continue to lead courageously on policies proven to interrupt gun violence and save lives.

BACK TO TOP

Education

Every person, no matter their circumstances, deserves a high quality public education in their local community. Elisabeth became a mother at 16 and her son was present at her high school graduation. 16 years later, she was with him when he graduated from Denver East High School. Colorado did a great job expanding to full-day kindergarten and pre-school, but Colorado still remains one of the worst states for school funding at both the K-12 and Higher Education level.

Elisabeth will fight hard to make sure every student has abundant opportunity and every teacher has the resources to succeed. Elisabeth will work to repeal TABOR, invest in public education, support teachers and teachers unions, and limit the influence of corporate backers in public schools. Elisabeth will not accept any financial support from “education reform"/charter school groups.

Elisabeth is proud to have earned the endorsements of current and former DPS School Board Members Dir. Scott Esserman and Rep. Jennifer Bacon.

BACK TO TOP

Immigration

Migration is a human right. Long before she went to law school and helped represent undocumented neighbors in UVA Law’s Immigration Clinic, Elisabeth was a patient care coordinator at a health clinic that served a large immigrant population. She worked to ensure that citizenship status was not a barrier to access at her clinic.

Elisabeth has supported and will continue to support state and local policies such as immigrant legal defense funds, expand school resources for undocumented students, and work to end ICE-cooperation at the state and local levels.

BACK TO TOP

Transportation

Movement is a fundamental right, and far too often people are stripped of their ability to have affordable and consistent access to their families, workplaces, schools, places of worship, and Colorado’s breathtaking outdoors. In order to provide and build better public transportation, Colorado must meaningfully invest in transit agencies with whole community input. Elisabeth supports green infrastructure policies that will reduce dependence on cars, as well as maximize safety and ease of transit for cyclists and pedestrians.

BACK TO TOP

Labor

Every worker deserves the right to be represented by a union. Elisabeth will fight for stronger union rights, higher minimum wages, strengthening workers’ protections, and supporting our local businesses over large corporations.

We need to have not just a minimum wage, but a thriving wage. Workers deserve paid family and medical leave, paid new parent leave, and meaningful access to a secure retirement. Elisabeth has stood with striking workers, rallied to celebrate collective bargaining wins, and is the child of a 29-year AFA-CWA member.

Elisabeth recognizes that collective bargaining on law enforcement contracts are unlike those for other workers, and should be treated distinctly. Further, worker protections must not be dependent on citizenship, and partnering with legislators who craft policy to protect migrant workers will be a priority for Elisabeth.

BACK TO TOP

Voting Rights

Elisabeth’s maternal grandmother was born without the right to vote, but lived to vote for America’s first Black President. That’s monumental progress, but we must remain diligent and vigilant in protecting this fundamental right of our democracy.

Colorado should be proud of our universal mail-in ballots and same-day voter registration, and must work to expand voter access even further. Residents should be able to vote in local elections independent of citizenship, if municipalities so decide. Localities should also be able to lower the voting age for school board races.

Urgently, Colorado must re-enfranchise voting rights to all adults, regardless of their current or past conviction status. (Elisabeth has some further ideas about voting. You should ask her one-on-one.)

BACK TO TOP

Abolition

As an abolitionist, Elisabeth believes people deserve to be safe, healthy, and free. So she focuses on policy solutions that give people the opportunities and resources to be safe, healthy, and free. Elisabeth is a survivor of intimate partner violence as well as police violence, sexual assault, and multiple incidents of property crime. She wants to be safe in her home and in her community, so she is fully committed to protecting the safety of all Coloradans.

Her personal experiences of enduring harm, along with a lifetime of advocacy, shaped her commitment to advancing abolitionist reforms. Elisabeth knows the best way to reduce future harm is by building safe, healthy communities where people have their basic needs met, and she has been doing that work for years.

Abolitionists understand that we cannot arrest our way out of homelessness and we cannot prosecute people into stopping the drug use that underlies so much criminal activity. We all deserve to be safe—and abolition is a commitment to doing the brave bold work of ensuring real safety. For Elisabeth, abolition does not mean immediately disbanding all law enforcement and decriminalizing all offenses—of course not.

But it does mean actively investing in mental health care, harm reduction, smart drug policy, public schools, clean air and safe water, and other sound policies actually proven to enhance community safety for all. When Elisabeth discusses abolition, she means doing the courageous, evidence-based, system-changing work of abolishing poverty, eradicating educational and health disparities, and interrupting violence. As an abolitionist, Elisabeth supports compassionate policies rooted in empirical evidence, and will always legislate based on Facts, not Fear.

To learn more about abolition, a great place to start is TransformHarm.org

Another great introductory resource: CriticalResistance.

BACK TO TOP