Candidates for the state’s 26^th House District stood side-by-side Wednesday morning to answer questions focused on how they plan to foster economic development amid rising taxes and the increasing cost of living.

In the contest, Democrat Meghan Lukens, who has held the state representative position since 2022, is facing Republican challenger Nathan Butler, who most recently served as a Craig City Council member.

Hosted by the Steamboat Springs Chamber, the well-attended event began about 10 minutes late after Butler became snagged in a detour caused by a rockslide that closed U.S. 40 near Milner.

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He said the unexpected commute time caused him to ditch his prepared opening remarks in lieu of “changing it up a little bit.”

“For me, the main reason I got involved in this race has been over the transition from coal,” said Butler. “I don’t believe our state legislature is handling that situation appropriately.”

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Butler is a former U.S. Army Scout with tours in Afghanistan and Korea. After chronic back pain forced his retirement in 2016 as a 100% disabled veteran, he has taken on key roles in the community as the junior vice commander of VFW Post 4265, a board member at the Moffat County Christian Academy and a member of Craig City Council.

The Republican explained how the planned closure of the coal industry in Craig and Moffat will impact the district’s economy. Tri-State Generation and Transmission, which operates the coal-fired Craig Station, plans to close operations entirely by 2028, with the closure of the Tri-State, Trapper and Colowyo coal mines also set to occur by 2030.

Butler said the closures will necessitate a more concerted focus from the state legislature on job creation and changing regulatory policies to encourage economic development.

“We are being set up for failure — 2,800 jobs are going to be lost through the transition, and in this district, we are looking at 22% GDP loss for the whole district. But Moffat County alone is going to be 47% GDP loss,” said Butler.

“We are going to feel that all throughout the valley,” he added.

Introducing herself to the crowd, Lukens extolled her background as a Steamboat Springs native and social studies teacher at Steamboat Springs High School and her track record as a state representative for the 26^th District, which includes Routt, Eagle, Moffat and Rio Blanco counties.

“Over the past two years, I have sat on the education committee as the only current educator on the committee, and I am proud to say the past two years was a breakthrough session when it comes to increasing education funding for K-12 education in Colorado,” said Lukens.

Lukens also noted her role in supporting bills related to affordable housing, the child care space, water protection and mental health access, with all of those pieces of legislation gaining bipartisan support.

“I believe bipartisan policy is good policy,” she said. “I will say that everything we do at the state legislature is community driven, which is why I am running for reelection — to continue giving back to the community.”

In response to how the candidates would work to support business retention, expansion and entrepreneurship, Lukens said local businesses “are the lifeblood of our economy.” She pointed to her co-sponsorship of a bill to expand support for rural entrepreneurs in starting their businesses and for a workforce pipeline for construction professionals.

Lukens said the No. 1 issue facing businesses in the district is a workforce shortage, an issue “compounded by the affordable housing crisis and the early childhood care crisis.”

Making housing more affordable and lowering child care costs “are absolutely essential for supporting our local businesses,” she added.

For Butler, the answer is “deregulation,” but he said he did not mean to suggest allowing “any company to come in and pour sewage into the river — that is not what anyone wants.”

“You could say, for every new policy we create, we need to take two regulations and cut them back,” he said. “Most regulations are just a matter of paperwork.”

The candidates were also asked how they plan to minimize the burden of rising commercial and residential property taxes against the need for the state to collect revenue.

Butler said the state needs to “reassess the way we do taxes in general. We basically nickel and dime the Colorado citizens to death. There is a tax for everything and when there is not a tax, there is a fee.”

He added that options could include getting rid of income tax at the individual level while raising other taxes where sensible. “I do think that there’s definitely room for improvement,” he said.

Lukens pointed to a recent special legislative session where lawmakers agreed on a deal to reduce residential and commercial property taxes, which support essential services in special tax districts across Colorado.

“I know that hasn’t quite hit the property tax valuations yet because it just happened, but that relief should be coming shortly,” added Lukens.

Ballots for the Nov. 5 general election begin to mail Oct. 11 and the deadline to request a mail ballot is Oct. 28, according to the Routt County Clerk and Recorder’s office.