Skip to content
Sign up free
News

A Unique Election Year Brings Out More Independent Thinking

A Unique Election Year Brings Out More Independent Thinking

By Tisha Casida

2-minute read

Candidates are stepping up across the country to fill a void for voters – the void is where the Republican and Democratic parties have become so overwhelmingly ‘controlled’ by people who refuse to have dialogue and conversation with the people who make up their parties. Ask most people, and they will agree – they are looking for “down-to-earth” individuals who want to be public servants and represent others versus politicians, who are looking to fulfill their own agendas.

There are several networks that have done a great job of highlighting these candidates in local, state, and federal elections. Our campaign team has been cataloging all of them so that we can continue to build the network and database of leaders who are stepping up to fulfill the void of trustworthy representatives. It doesn’t matter what affiliation these candidates have – it is about their message and whether or not they know the difference between right and wrong.In Colorado, I have been very lucky to meet several candidates for state and local races who are working hard to shake hands and listen to the people they wish to represent. Several of these people are running for county commissioner seats – including Johnie Rosenfeld and Shayne Mitchell in Eagle County, as well as John Kincaid and Rick Barnes in Moffat County

Johnie Rosenfeld, believes he has a “unique combination of experience” – being involved in both business and the community, to “get Eagle County growing.” He said the biggest issue for the county was the economy and the spending priorities of government (sound familiar?).

Shayne Mitchell recounted how he was inspired by his daughter and the 2008 election. His daughter, although too young to officially vote at the time, was interested in Ron Paul and Paul's liberty-oriented platform. After some conversation and asking her dad to check it out, Mitchell became more interested in the platform and in being a voice for constitutional government.

Rick Barnes, decided he wanted to run for county commissioner (district 2) in Moffat County after he felt a “lack of being heard at both the local and federal level of government.” He went on to explain how he wanted to discuss an issue with his elected officials, but if you didn’t agree with their take on them, they “tuned you out.” He also emphasized that he “doesn’t like how local governments are being strong-armed by the federal government.”

John Kinkaid, independent candidate for county commissioner (district 1) in Moffat County said that he is running “for his son Caleb, and for all of the other ‘Calebs’ in Moffat County.” He speaks to the over-regulation in coal mining, power plants, oil, and gas production – his son who is a coal miner is directly affected by these regulations. Kincaid said he is “fighting for their jobs and the local economy.”

Will Furse is running for district attorney in Montezuma County – I had the chance to meet him last year at a Constitution Class in Cortez, Colorado. He is an attorney with a sincere interest in the matters of law and how that law is affecting citizens in his county.

And this is just a handful of the people in the third district, which is just a drop in the bucket of people in the State and the country. We are doing this – and we are becoming the media so that we can actually have reports on the amazing races and movement taking place.

Photo Credit: goldyg / shutterstock.com

Tags: News

Adhere to the IVN etiquette

By posting a comment, you agree to adhere to our etiquette rules: No partisan attacks, no personal attacks, substantiate your sources, no self-promotion.

Get IVN’s Free Weekly Newsletter:Get IVN’s Free Newsletter

Get IVN’s Free Weekly Newsletter:Get IVN’s Free Newsletter

Nonpartisan Issues. Diverse Perspectives.

Check your inbox and click the link to confirm.

Republish this article

Republishing guidelines

Republish IVN articles for free. Independent Voter News articles may be republished online or in print under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, on these terms:

  1. Credit the author and IVN. Keep the byline ("By Author Name, Independent Voter News") and the attribution note at the end, which links to the original.
  2. Keep the meaning. You may update time and place references and apply your house style. You may trim for length, as long as the cuts don't change the meaning or misrepresent the author. Keep the headline. Mark any additions as your own (for example "Additional reporting by ...").
  3. Translations are welcome. Translate faithfully, add "Translated from English by [your outlet]", and tell us at editor@ivn.us.
  4. Keep the links, including the link to the original article.
  5. Keep the tracking image. The HTML includes a 1-pixel image that counts readers on your page. It collects no personal information.
  6. Photos and illustrations. Images credited to IVN may be used with this article only. Images credited to others (AP, Getty, Unsplash, Wikimedia and so on) stay under their owners' terms. Secure the rights or switch "Include images" off.
  7. Don't sell it. You can't sell our articles or sell ads specifically against them. Your normal site advertising is fine.
  8. No implied endorsement. Don't suggest that IVN or the author endorses you, your candidates or your causes, or that donations to you support IVN.
  9. Keep labels. Opinion or analysis pieces keep that label.
  10. Point search engines to the original. Set the canonical URL of your copy to the original IVN article (the HTML we give you includes the tag).
  11. No bulk or automated republishing, and don't submit our articles to aggregators (Apple News, Google News, MSN) as your own.
  12. Corrections and removals. Update your copy when we correct it, and remove it promptly if we ask. We'll contact you at the email you give us.
  13. Questions or print republication: editor@ivn.us.

IVN staff: fill in who you're inviting above, then create the invite.

Preparing the article

A Unique Election Year Brings Out More Independent Thinking

Choose a format
  • HTML
  • Email HTML
  • Markdown
  • Formatted (.docx)
  • Plain text
  • WordPress blocks
  • PDF
Choose a platform

Photos credited to others need their owners' permission.

To for

Republishing somewhere else? Questions? editor@ivn.us