Michael Pierson

How does your experience make you qualified to represent the people as State Representative for District 22?

I spent 32 years serving my country, 20 years as an Active-Duty US Air Force officer, and another 12 as a Federal civilian official. Now, I want to serve my community as their representative in the Colorado Legislature. My professional career made me responsible for maintaining the Air Force’s relationship with local and state elected leaders in Colorado Georgia, New Mexico, and Texas. Along with a degree in Political Science, this gave me a deep understanding of how government decisions affect everyone. Most of all, my experience taught me to work with everyone to find common-ground solutions that benefit everyone.

Local and state-level elections have a much greater impact on our daily lives, even though national politics get most of the attention. The state legislature makes decisions on a wide range of working-family issues, including Public Safety, Education, Labor Laws, Transportation, and more. Thanks to KRDO13 for providing local candidates with the opportunity to tell people about ourselves and our values.

What are your top policy priorities as State Representative for District 22?

I’m not running for office to champion any particular policy issue. I’m running to provide my district with a more reasonable representative who doesn’t spend his working hours trolling people on social media or insulting his fellow Coloradans. Beyond that, I will prioritize Public Safety, Infrastructure, and Education. These are the issues where the state can have the most impact to make life better for all Coloradans. I will listen to everyone, consider their input equally, and cast my vote for legislation that reflects my values: Equality for All, Opportunity for All, and Freedom for All. That’s not the level of service we’re getting from our current representative.

What is your approach and thoughts on how we will address immigration issues facing our country and Colorado?

The US immigration system is broken, but Immigration is a federal issue that must be addressed at the federal level. We need more resources for the Customs and Border Patrol and for the courts who are so under-funded that it takes years for migrants to make their case for asylum.

We also need more avenues for legal immigration. Elon Musk, Albert Einstein, Nicola Tesla, Henry Kissinger, Andrew Carnegie, Jonas Salk, and millions more immigrants have made America a better, healthier, more prosperous, more powerful nation. We need to continue our tradition of welcoming people who yearn to succeed in the “Land of Opportunity.” As long as migrants are residing in our state, we need to ensure they are safe and provided with opportunities to contribute to their communities.

Coloradans are feeling the pinch for the cost of living because of skyrocketing inflation. What do you think needs to be done to help families?

Inflation is painful and damaging, but we’ve come through bouts of inflation many times in our country, usually after the shock of a major event, like COVID was. We are starting to see prices stabilize or even come down on groceries, gas and rent. Many workers are receiving better pay and benefits, due in no small part to the work of our unions. But the cost of living in Colorado is getting higher so we need to deliver government services that help the people who most need help.

The government is not the only answer to our problems. I volunteer at Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado, and I see how much our non-profit organizations bring to the table helping people in need. I want to see the non-profit sector included more often in discussions about helping to make Colorado a better place to live, work, and raise families.

What role do you believe the state government has in addressing gun violence? What are your ideas on implementing gun policies?

Gun violence is a threat to everyone. I believe the state government plays an important role in addressing gun violence; I include this in my broad definition of Public Safey. I also believe the threat of mass shootings is a drag on our economy. Education, healthcare, entertainment, government and more areas suffer as people worry about the safety of their families in public spaces. When I ask people if they’re going out as much as they did before COVID, many reply “It’s safer to just stay home.”

Responsible gun owners welcome responsible gun policies. I support the right of every adult to defend themselves and their families, but we must exercise that right responsibly. Regulations on the proper purchase, transfer, storage, use, and disposal of weapons must carefully balance our rights and responsibilities. I am one of a handful of current candidates who has actually carried a weapon in dangerous places for self-defense as part of my military career. I was trained on how and where it was proper to carry and, in the worst case, use my weapon for self-defense or the defense of others in my care. I take gun safety seriously and expect every gun owner to as well.

Do you have any ideas on what can be done on the state level to increase affordable housing?

I think the state can use its perspective and power to bring together groups that are involved in all aspects of housing, including local zoning officials, builders, financial institutions, unions, insurers, and many more, to address the total cost of housing, especially for young working families getting their start in the world. We need to find innovative ways to increase affordable housing using good ideas that work in other states, including modular and 3D-printed homes, retrofitted shipping containers, small-home

communities and programs that help encourage downsizing to free up more family-sized home inventory. We need more workforce training programs for the construction trades to create a larger corps of builders, electricians, roofers, and more. We also need to be more innovative with filling in community spaces that are already developed so we don’t overburden our utility providers and where we can revitalize aging neighborhoods for the next generation of young families.

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Michael Pierson served 20 years as an Air Force officer and another 12 years as a federal civilian official, helping to connect the Air Force, and later Space Force, with the public, including local and state governments. In his career, he deployed to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Qatar, East Africa, Central America and to New Orleans in response to Hurricane Katrina. His wife of 37 years is a nurse at Children’s Hospital and his son and daughter graduated from Doherty High School, Colorado State, and the University of Denver. He currently volunteers with the Space Foundation, Care and Share Food Bank, and Peterson Air and Space Museum.