Joe Reagan
District 5 - Democratic Party
How does your experience make you qualified to represent the people?
When people consider qualifications for Congress, they often focus on titles or resumes. I think what matters most is whether you've spent your career solving the problems that matter most to the people you want to represent. Through my work in the nonprofit sector, I've developed deep policy expertise on issues that are central to the families of El Paso County. On veterans' issues in particular, there are very few people in Colorado with the depth of experience I bring from years of direct work supporting military veterans, service members, and their families. Most recently, as Director of the Colorado Veteran Business Outreach Center, I've also worked extensively with entrepreneurs and small business owners, helping them access the resources they need to start, grow, and sustain successful businesses. Just as important as policy knowledge are the relationships that make real progress possible. Over the years, I've built a hyper-local network here in Colorado Springs that includes Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated community leaders who are doing the work every day. One of the things I hear most often—even from people who don't share my party affiliation—is that they know I'll listen, collaborate, and work in good faith. I believe effective representation isn't about winning arguments; it's about bringing people together to solve problems. By combining substantive policy experience with trusted relationships across our community, I can be a stronger, more effective advocate for El Paso County in Washington and ensure that the voices of the people doing the work on the ground are heard where decisions are made.
What are your top policy priorities?
My top three policy priorities are affordability, healthcare, and restoring trust in our democracy. On affordability: wages haven't kept pace with the cost of living, and too many Colorado families are working multiple jobs just to stay afloat. While Trump pushes tariffs that raise the cost of groceries, school supplies, and household goods and hands tax cuts to corporations and the ultra-wealthy, Congress needs to put families first. I'll fight to eliminate those harmful tariffs, crack down on price gouging on prescription drugs and essential goods, expand the Child Tax Credit, and strengthen antitrust laws so corporations can't keep squeezing working people. On housing specifically, rising property insurance costs are pushing homeownership further out of reach, and that matters because buying a home is still one of the most reliable ways families build wealth. I'll support first-time homebuyer grants like those in the Bipartisan American Homeownership Opportunity Act, expand rental assistance, and invest in housing infrastructure to increase supply and lower costs for everyone. On healthcare: this one is personal. I grew up watching my mother battle multiple sclerosis, and I know firsthand what it costs a family to navigate a system that wasn't built for them. I came home from Afghanistan having lost more soldiers to suicide than I did in combat. Those experiences made me a fierce advocate for one simple principle: your financial situation should never determine the quality of care you receive. That means reducing premiums and out-of-pocket costs, capping insulin at $35, protecting Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP, and addressing provider shortages in the rural and urban healthcare deserts right here in CD-5. It means expanding access to mental health care and investing in community support systems so that no one faces a crisis alone. It also means protecting reproductive healthcare: codifying the right to choose, fully funding Title X, and ensuring that decision stays between a woman and her doctor. On restoring trust in government: I've spent my nonprofit career stretching every dollar to deliver real results, and I believe our government must meet the same standard. Right now it isn't. Dark money and corporate interests have too much influence over our elections, members of Congress are trading stocks on inside information, and too many people leave public office richer than when they arrived. That has to end. I'll fight to overturn Citizens United, enact the Lifetime Lobbying Ban Act to shut the revolving door between government and special interests, and strengthen the STOCK Act so there are real consequences for self-dealing. And I'll hold the line on fiscal responsibility, not as a talking point, but as a governing principle. Protect the federal workforce, eliminate waste, and make sure every taxpayer dollar delivers measurable results for the people of Colorado.
What is one issue you think is being overlooked in this race, and how would you address it?
Vision. Too much of this election has been about what we're against, and not enough about what we're for. Voters deserve a candidate who can articulate what a better America actually looks like, not just who to blame for the current one. Here's what I see when I talk to people in CD-5: a middle generation getting absolutely squeezed from both ends. They're paying for childcare they can barely find. Colorado Springs has nearly 47,000 kids under five but only 18,400 licensed childcare spots. At the same time, they're figuring out how to care for aging parents who need support at the end of their lives. That sandwich generation is exhausted, and Washington isn't even having the conversation. And then there's housing. Property insurance costs are skyrocketing, and homeownership, one of the most straightforward ways working families build wealth in this country, is slipping further out of reach. We used to take it as a given that if you worked hard, you could own a home. That's no longer true for many people in this district, and it should be a five-alarm fire. I'm running because I believe we can do better — not just resist what's wrong, but actually build something worth voting for.
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