This election season marks the end of a two year cycle, which means it’s time for Colorado to choose a new member for the House of Representatives.
Boulder falls into Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District. Democrat Jared Polis has been the representative for the district since he was elected in the 2008 election.
This year, Polis will face GOP candidate Nic Morse in his bid for re-election. Morse is offering policies he believes the residents of district two will be in favor of.
Morse is offering a policy to help with payment of student debt. There would be a pre-tax alternative for recent graduates, once they begin paying back loans. This plan would focus on the income of the student. According to Morse, this will save the average student about $100 a month, if the student is making a salary. It would save slightly less money if the student was working an hourly job.
The GOP also wants to make funding options available for post-secondary education for tradesmen.
Morse is also focused on environmental policy, and believes that alternative energies need to offer a greater yield of energy before the country implements a greater emphasis on using it as a primary source of energy.
“I’m for government subsidies to support alternative energy, but we have to make sure that they’re at the same capacity to produce the same amount of energy as oil and gas,” Morse said. “And when we get to that point, then obviously we can begin to [reel] back the energy sources that are less environmentally friendly.”
Morse also weighed in on broader issues, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. The TPP is a trade deal between 12 countries. Democrats have had the strongest negative attitude toward it, but these attitudes aren’t limited to party lines.
Candidate Morse is opposed to the deal, and even signed a petition started by Sen. Bernie Sanders to stop the TPP.
“We can’t keep passing bills, passing laws [or] international trade agreements without letting Congress negotiate those things,” Morse said. “I’m a big believer in the free market, and I think that any business that has a product that it’s trying to export or negotiate with should be able to [fix] its prices and determine how much is in stock and what the quantity is.”
Morse is also preparing for the presidential election, though he is not campaigning for that office. The GOP candidate has offered support for Donald Trump ever since he won the party’s nomination.
“I support Donald Trump because, although he may not be the perfect candidate, and like I’ve said before, I don’t agree with all the things he’s said, when I look at what Sec. Clinton has done in office, I can’t vote for her,” Morse said. “Is Donald perfect? No. Is he a career politician? Absolutely not. He doesn’t have such a laundry list of negative political mistakes that Sec. Clinton has had.”
Morse will continue to campaign until the election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. He is hoping to become the first Republican representative from district two since 1975.
Contact CU Independent Copy Editor Jake Mauff at jake.mauff@colorado.edu.
