Hannah Goodman — Libertarian Party
Goodman is the current chair of the Colorado Libertarian Party, the largest third party in the state. Goodman’s family has lived in eastern Colorado since the late 19th century, roots that she strongly stresses in her campaign. In recent generations, her family has owned a fuel-hauling business that her husband now works for. Goodman is homeschooling her children and said that makes her particularly interested in education issues.
She said she plans to vote for the presumed Republican candidate in the presidential election, Donald Trump, and said she isn’t concerned by his recent fraud conviction. Goodman also brokered a deal with GOP Party Chair Dave Williams, in which the Libertarian Party promised to pull its candidate from any race where the Republican pledged to pursue certain policy aims.
Goodman is a candidate in both the special vacancy election and the general election for the next Congress.
On democracy and good governance
When asked at a forum whether, in a budget battle, she’d be willing to shut down the government if a spending plan didn’t meet her priorities, Goodman answered, “I’d preemptively shut down the federal government, regardless of any budgetary concerns, because it is such a monolithic behemoth.”
“The most important thing I can do is advance liberty… In the six short months I would be serving in a congressional term, I could make inroads and try to whip votes that align with liberty,” said Goodman.
She said she would not have supported the House effort to impeach President Joe Biden.
On the economy and cost of living
Goodman said she would vote against public benefits programs, like SNAP, but would also push to lower taxes.
“We can make people far more prosperous by reducing taxes, and reducing all these social programs as well,” she said. “It is not the federal government’s responsibility to feed people, it’s the responsibility of the federal government to protect their rights, and their right to free trade as they see fit.”
No information is publicly available on Goodman's positions on immigration and the environment.
Frank Atwood — Approval Voting Party
Atwood is using his candidacy purely as a vehicle to raise public awareness about approval voting, which he summed up at a recent forum as “vote for one, vote for some, or vote for all but one.”
“We’re all concerned with spoilers, we’re all concerned with RFK this year,” said Atwood. “If we want to avoid the spoiler issue, we need to go with an alternative voting method, and the best and simplest is approval voting.”
Atwood is something of a perennial candidate; in recent years he has run for U.S. Senate, President, Vice President and the First Congressional District, in that case as a Libertarian.
During a recent candidate forum, Atwood made it clear that his sole focus is on spreading the gospel of approval voting — and pitching it as a superior option to ranked-choice voting — and refused to answer most questions on other policy areas.
No information is publicly available on Atwood's positions on democracy, the economy, immigration, and the environment.
