The ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran that's causing fuel prices to surge from ski towns to farm towns across Colorado's Western Slope and the nation has put a spotlight on candidates and their military service with less than three weeks until the June 30 primary election.
That's true of local races for sheriff all the way up to congressional races where the winners may have to vote on curtailing perceived executive overreach under the War Powers Act of 1973, which limits congressionally unauthorized military action to 60 days and sets strict congressional reporting guidelines. The House recently voted to end U.S. hostilities with Iran.
As Eagle County voters are receiving their mail-in ballots for the June 30 primary (send by mail by June 22 or use a ballot drop-box until 7 p.m. on June 30), the undeclared war in Iran may be top of mind as international tourism to the Western Slope wanes and prices at the pump for gas and diesel inflate the cost of everything from groceries to airline tickets.
Besides calling out the Trump administration's decision to continue attacking Iran from the air and by sea on Feb. 28, which led to Iran essentially shutting down the Strait of Hormuz and the flow of 20% of the global supply of oil and natural gas, Democrats are pointing to their own military service during a previous era when the White House sought congressional permission, public support and as many allies as possible in its role as a global peacemaker.
Fifth Judicial District Attorney's Office (Eagle, Summit, Lake and Clear Creek counties) chief investigator Jason Boston, a former police officer and U.S. Army infantryman, says his overseas service helped shape his law enforcement philosophies as he seeks the Democratic primary nod to take on incumbent Republican Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek.
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As a member of the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division, Boston said he was attached to United Nations peacekeeping missions in both Kosovo and North Macedonia as the breakup of the former Yugoslavia caused widespread ethnic cleansing, death and destruction in the 1990s.
“Looking back now, that was really foundationally the start for me of working with others,†Boston said in an interview, emphasizing his collaborative approach to law enforcement. “Those missions were going into these villages, working with town elders, working with the community, (seeing) how we could maintain peace … we have to have strong partnerships.â€
While she has not served in the military overseas, Vail Police Sgt. Rebecca Anderson, who is squaring off with Boston in the Democratic primary to take on van Beek in the Nov. 3 general election, cites her long career in local law enforcement, including 17 years as a master patrol deputy with the Eagle County Sheriff's Office — four of them as a field training officer.
“What gives me the advantage is I'm a little bit more outgoing, I'm a little bit more able to think on my feet. I have more experience, particularly right now in critical incidents that are occurring right now,†Anderson said in an interview. “I've been part of incident command for many of our wildland fires, Grizzly Creek, Lake Christine, Sylvan Lake. I'm the head of the hostage negotiations team here locally. So every time a special operations call comes out, which we're very fortunate, they don't happen that often, I'm part of that decision-making team for that.â€
Sheriff van Beek, who first narrowly won office in 2014, went unchallenged in 2018 and decisively cruised to victory in 2022, also served in the U.S. Army in both Kosovo and Afghanistan. He does not have a Republican primary challenger. Both Boston and Anderson say they're challenging van Beek because of a broken culture at the sheriff's office that has caused experienced deputies to resign.
Military service in CD3
While the majority of Eagle County, including Vail, is in Colorado's 2nd Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse — the assistant House minority leader — an estimated 17% of the county's approximately 55,000 residents live in the Roaring Fork Valley (Basalt and El Jebel) portion of Colorado's 3rd Congressional District.
Dwayne Romero, a property management company owner and former Aspen City Council and Aspen Board of Education member, is locked in a Democratic primary battle with businessman Alex Kelloff, who spent 30 years in the telecommunications sector and co-founded Armada Skis. The winner will take on first-term incumbent Republican Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction lawyer who is facing a Republican primary challenger in former state lawmaker and veteran Ron Hanks.
Romero, a West Point graduate, is an 11-year U.S. Army Ranger combat veteran who was airborne- and combat-engineer-qualified. He served in the Persian Gulf War under Republican President George H.W. Bush when Congress authorized an attack on the army of Iraq's Saddam Hussein to push his troop out of Kuwait. NATO and several Gulf allies participated.
“So all of that (congressional approval and global coordination) actually occurred (in 1990),†Romero said. “That particular body of military history is very instructive. Obviously, none of that exists today, and the war in Iran was an unnecessary move. It hasn't been supported, and it's caused a lot of additional pain here domestically.â€
Romero says there are 46,000 veterans in CD3, a massive district that stretches from Grand Junction to Pueblo, and many of them are part of the 35,000 people in the district who have lost health insurance under President Donald Trump's “One Big Beautiful Bill.â€
“There are many combat veterans in this district and their surrounding families that are hurting,†Romero said. “They're very upset with what's going on, and they're right there with their brothers and sisters in the farming community, the ranching communities and all the small businesses, even the ski towns and their suffering. It's a different flavor of suffering, but it's still a suffering.â€
Romero said there are many snowcat drivers, mechanics, teachers, healthcare workers, first responders and other blue-collar workers in ski towns who are feeling the economic impacts of the war.
Kelloff, also of Aspen, points to his own blue-collar background in southern Colorado, from his grandfather who owned and operated food markets to his other grandfather who worked as a carpenter and tile layer and helped build some of the first Vail homes.
“So my background is informed by some of, frankly, the more conservative areas of the district and goes back generations, over 130 years,†said Kelloff, who did not serve in the military. “I will be the first one to say, I respect Dwayne's service. He also served in the military over 30 years ago, so it wasn't yesterday that he served. I'm younger. I've been (campaigning) for 13 months.â€
Kelloff got into the race more than a year ago so he could travel the 29 counties of the massive district, where he has met with hundreds of voters feeling the pain at the pump, in rural hospitals and at groceries stores.
“I would back up and say it all started with (Trump's) tariffs, and then it's continued with the war,†Kelloff said. “Even if people don't know why gas prices are so high, they certainly think it's an issue and they're certainly feeling it in their pocketbooks.â€
Romero said that if he survives the June 30 primary with Kelloff and can beat either Hurd or Hanks in the Nov. 3 general, he knows what he would do to start bringing prices down.
“I would immediately stop falling in line and rubber-stamping any additional executive orders, and I would obviously vote with how the House voted just a few days ago (last week) on not extending the war,†said Romero, who does not expect the Senate to follow suit. “Obviously, we had (four) brave (House) Republicans step across the aisle. They'll probably get severely punished. But guess what? Jeff Hurd was not one of them.â€
The campaign for Hurd, who did not serve in the military, did not respond to a request for comment.
“There is an overwhelming difference between me and Jeff Hurd on these foreign policy and military issues, and the overseas conflicts that we are involved in,†former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer Hanks wrote in an email.
In his 32-year military career, Hanks said he worked on the ground in Iraq and operationally throughout several theaters (Central Command, Pacific Command, European Command, Africa Command and Northern Command) and at the headquarters of European Command and Africa Command. He also said he served at the National Security Agency as an Arabic linguist and in the U.S. Embassy in Kazakhstan on counterdrug cooperation, among other posts.
“I've been working this while the United States was still in deep conflict with the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc nations,†Hanks added. “I've worked the Iran-Iraq War, Desert Storm against Iraq, and the Global War on Terror. Jeff Hurd has no similar experience.â€
