PUEBLO — The Democrat running for Colorado’s State Senate District 3 is leaving some Pueblo-area voters scratching their heads trying to determine if he is pro-life or pro-choice on abortion, a topic that has been the focus for Democrats in most every political race in America since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Some don’t know if Nick Hinrichsen is really the pro-choice candidate he’s campaigning as, since both he and his wife, former House District 47 Rep. Bri Buentello, have in the past led the Pueblo community to believe they are pro-life.
Hinrichsen, who was appointed to the SD-3 seat in February 2022 to replace Leroy Garcia, after Garcia took a position at the Pentagon, is on record in this election saying men shouldn’t have an opinion on the medical decisions women make regarding their own bodies, and he has pledged to support continuing access to abortion if elected.
He most recently took part in a protest at A Caring Pregnancy Center (ACPC) in Pueblo. The center works with pregnant women, providing resources they need to give birth rather than get an abortion.
However, in 2018 when Buentello was running for House District 47 everything was much different. In fact, the Executive Director at ACPC, Tamra Axworthy, told Complete Colorado that Hinrichsen and Buentello were allies of the center, with Hinrichsen even donating to a fundraiser held on behalf of ACPC.
Axworthy said Buentello came into the center during her election run in 2018, presenting herself as a pro-life Democrat. She befriended Axworthy and in return, Axworthy introduced her to friends of hers inside the Republican Party.
HD-47 has traditionally been held by more conservative, prolife representatives, Axworthy said.
“She was trying to appeal to moderate conservatives,” Axworthy said, adding they were not close friends but would spend time together on occasion. “I introduced her to a bunch of people.”
It was around that time that ACPC hosted the “Walk for Life” to raise money for the center. It was a peer-to-peer fundraiser, so participants solicited money from family and personal friends, including Hinrichsen, who donated to Axworthy.
“We all worked together to help (Buentello’s) campaign, getting her connected to pro-life people,” Axworthy said. “I’m wondering what his stance really is.”
A request for comment from the Hinrichsen campaign has not been returned.
