Adam Frisch
How does your experience make you qualified to represent the people of the 3rd Congressional District?
I am a Western Slope business owner, a husband, and a father, and I grew up working on my family’s 4th generation cattle trading, grain elevator, and farm supply store, which is still in my family today. Since starting this campaign I’ve driven more than 63,000 miles visiting communities from Dinosaur to Cortez to La Junta, listening and learning about what’s important to them and their families. The people I talk to are fed up with party politics and business as usual — they want someone representing them who understands their challenges, and who wants to help solve problems instead of causing them. It’s these experiences that help me understand the needs of rural and working-class Coloradans. I won’t be a yes-man for either party. I will stand up for rural communities, protect our precious water supply, promote Colorado’s agriculture and energy industries, and above all defend our Colorado way of life, so our kids and our grandkids can enjoy those same opportunities.
What are your top policy priorities for the 3rd Congressional District?
People in rural and small-town Colorado are fed up with politics. Neither party has been able to address the real challenges facing our communities like rising costs, low wages, and lack of access to necessities like housing and health care. I will put politics aside and work to find common-sense solutions that create jobs and lower everyday costs; defend our water supply and keep Colorado water in Colorado's hands; slash regulations and work to cut taxes for small businesses; ensure Colorado remains a leader in domestic energy production; and guarantee that every woman has the freedom to choose what is best for her body, family, and future.
What is your approach to addressing immigration issues facing our country and Colorado?
We desperately need to secure our Southern Border. Our immigration system is broken — but politicians on both sides of the aisle seem more interested in scoring political points than solving the problem. CD3’s current and future economic prosperity and our national security depend on a border that operates safely and efficiently. We need to secure our border with more agents, provide updated technology to law enforcement to detect fentanyl and other contraband infecting our communities, and allow for more judges to swiftly rule on asylum claims. Then we can begin to work on reforming our immigration system in fair, merit-based ways that provide an updated agriculture worker visa program for our ranchers and farmers and support Dreamers.
Coloradans are struggling with the cost of living because of skyrocketing inflation. What do you think needs to be done to help families?
These days everything costs too much, especially the things we need to get by like gas and diesel for our cars and groceries to put on the table. Working families are struggling to afford the essentials they need, while politicians spend too much money and mega corporations price-gouge hardworking Coloradans. A strong Colorado is a working Colorado, which is why we need to invest in local businesses that create good-paying jobs and grow our local communities right here in CD3. Industries like steel production, energy production, and agriculture are the backbone of our economy, and we must do more to support them. We can do this by slashing unnecessary government spending and regulations, and by cutting taxes that harm small businesses. We need to stop policies that chip away at the value of a day’s work and make it easier to earn a living.
What role do you believe the federal government has in addressing gun violence?
When it comes to gun safety, I am more focused on who has the gun than what they have in their hands. Keeping our communities safe and reducing gun deaths is one of my top priorities - and as a father and a former elementary school substitute teacher, I am all too familiar with the fear, outrage, and horrific sadness we all feel in our communities when the unthinkable occurs. Gun ownership is a way of life in rural Colorado. Our state is proof that you can balance strong, sensible gun safety with ardent support and respect for the Second Amendment, and I believe we should allow the states to lead so that each state can forge the system that works best for them. The unfortunate reality is that more than half of all gun deaths are suicides, so we must work more to improve access to mental health support, and provide more resources to people struggling to get the help they need. We must also do more to protect those who are the survivors of domestic violence.
What can be done on the federal level to increase affordable housing?
The statewide shortage of safe, stable housing that working Coloradans can afford is a crisis for families across CD3 - and the sky-high demand for housing families can afford isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, which is why we need to double down on building as much housing as we can, as quickly as possible. When I served on my local city council for 8 years, I invested most of my efforts towards addressing the housing affordability crisis because I know without stable housing, it is really hard to have a stable life. I have insight into what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to building workforce housing, particularly in rural towns where everyday workers like teachers and firefighters are struggling to find places to live. In Congress, I will work to secure resources to close this gap for Coloradans - particularly in underserved communities - while making sure local communities retain control over their housing and zoning laws. I’ll fight to break the regulatory logjam and make housing more affordable and easier to attain so that every family in CD3 can find a safe, affordable place to call home.
