(Editor’s note: This is one of a series of guest columns by supporters of the various Colorado Republican hopefuls, making the case for their candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2022 November election. The case for Joe O’Dea is here, for Gino Campana is here, for Greg Moore is here, and for Eli Bremer is here.)
I am supporting Deborah Flora for U.S. Senate in Colorado, because she is the best person for the job, and she has the best chance of beating Michael Bennet.
Deborah and I first got to know one another when she had me on her radio show to talk about school safety. I am the founder and Executive Director of FASTER Colorado, where we train the very qualified armed K-12 school staff members in Colorado. We are entering our 6th training year, and have trained over 250 Colorado teachers, principals, janitors, coaches, and those in other positions on Colorado’s K-12 campuses. While many people express immediate skepticism about the policy, Deborah understands the need to support real solutions to protect students, instead of allowing these tragedies to be politicized for anti-Second Amendment agendas. She has continuously highlighted important issues like this through her radio show, leading rallies, testifying at our state Capitol, speaking up at school boards, and moderating events, including about school safety.
Deborah has a record of getting big things done. As Director of Public Policy at KNUS in Denver, she helped to stop the approval of supervised heroin injection sites in Colorado, exposing how overdose death rates and violent crime have skyrocketed wherever they have been tried. She launched Parents United America to give parents a place to defend their right to raise their children. When the legislature ignored hundreds of parents, passing age-inappropriate sex education despite their objections, Deborah helped introduce sex-ed transparency legislation. Her school board testimony dissecting Critical Race Theory and the agenda to keep parents in the dark went viral, led to national media attention, and helped flip the school board in her district. Tireless in her advocacy for parents, students and teachers, Deborah also co-produced the upcoming docu
mentary Whose Children Are They? to expose what is really happening in public schools, and to galvanize citizens to stand together for educational freedom which benefits every child.
These are just a few examples of issues that are important to Coloradans, regardless of political party. Deborah saw the problems, and she worked to fix them. This is the kind of U.S. Senator Deborah Flora will be.
I am supporting Deborah because I believe she will not waver as our representative in the United States Senate.
Another issue impacting every Coloradan is rising crime and our deteriorating strength abroad after the debacle in Afghanistan. Growing up on Lowry Air Force Base, the daughter of a Lt. Col., and the wife of an 82nd Airborne veteran, Deborah is a champion of our military and veterans. Having traveled to the Soviet Union and East Germany, she clearly understands why strength is the key to keep us from sliding into the Socialism she witnessed firsthand. I have no doubt she will stand for safety in our streets and security abroad.
Deborah has overseen the finances for her own company, as a board member for several national organizations with multi-million-dollar budgets, and as a working mom, her own household. She is uniquely positioned to understand the devastation of over-regulation and out-of-control inflation on small business owners and hard-working Colorado families. She will always push back on this big government overreach.
There is only one question to consider when determining which candidate we should support to face Michael Bennet in November: Do we want to beat him? The power of the incumbency is strong, but the right candidate can unseat him and help retake the U.S. Senate. In 2016, Bennet beat Republican Darryl Glenn by just 155,000 votes, or just under 6 percentage points. Ready Colorado has conducted a poll just that revealed Bennet is trailing a generic Republican candidate by just one point. But Deborah is more than a generic Republican; she is the only candidate who appeals both to the grassroots of the party, as well as that large swath of Colorado voters who are unaffiliated with any political party. Both are essential to winning.
Please join me in supporting Deborah Flora for U.S. Senate at your neighborhood caucus on March 1st, and as a delegate for her in the State Assembly.
This endorsement is from Laura Carno personally, and is not to be construed as coming from any of her organizations. Laura is the Executive Director of FASTER Colorado, an organization that trains armed school staff, and co-founder of SpringsTaxpayers.com. She is also a Senior Fellow with Independent Women’s Forum.
