Kelloff Leaves 30-Year Telecom Career to Run for Congress in Colorado’s 3rd District

Kelloff’s Food Markets didn’t just appear in the San Luis Valley. It was founded during the Great Depression by his grandfather, born from the same grit that sent his great-grandfather into the coal mines of Trinidad in 1893.

That history isn’t just flavor text for a campaign brochure. It’s the foundation of why Kelloff is running for Congress in Colorado’s 3rd District.

"My decision to run for Congress came from a deep concern about the direction of our country," Kelloff wrote in a recent opinion piece. "After Donald Trump was reelected in November 2024, I felt a responsibility to step up."

He’s not waiting for permission to care. He’s stepping away from a 30-year career in telecommunications to do it. In April 2025, he left a job where he was "doing well" to launch a campaign where he hopes to "do good."

The question is whether that career pivot is enough to win a district that’s been shifting under its feet.

Kelloff has spent the last 13 months on the ground. He didn’t just drive through on Highway 50; he launched the "By The People Tour." These weren’t your typical political rallies with big stages and loud music. They were workshops. Neighbors came together to share ideas.

"People are worried about rising costs, access to healthcare, the future of our public lands and whether the next generation will have the same opportunities that previous generations enjoyed," he said.

That last point hits hard for folks around here. We’ve seen the opportunities shrink. Rural hospitals are cutting services. Schools are doing more with less. And the cost of getting to work — gasoline and diesel prices — is squeezing families who already spend more than their urban cousins just to get around.

Kelloff is betting that if you listen closely enough, you’ll hear the same complaints in Montrose as you will in Alamosa.

"Families are feeling squeezed by the cost of gasoline, diesel, groceries and other essentials," he noted. "Rural hospitals face serious financial challenges, and some are being forced to reduce services that local residents and veterans depend on."

He’s not just talking about money, though. He’s talking about the land itself. Public lands and water are central to life in CD3. That’s not a slogan; it’s how the valley survives. He’s opposing efforts that threaten those resources, specifically calling out Jeff Hurd’s Productive Public Lands Act.

It’s a clear line in the sand. If you want to turn public lands into private assets or strip protections from the people who manage them, Kelloff is against it.

His platform is built on a few pillars: protecting Medicaid, supporting public education, ensuring veterans get their care, and investing in infrastructure. It’s a standard list, sure. But the context matters. In a district where a single hospital closure can devastate a local economy, "protecting Medicaid" isn’t abstract policy. It’s about keeping the doors open.

"My father has worked for the federal government for nearly 60 years and still goes to work every day at age 83," Kelloff said. "He taught me a lesson that has stayed with me my entire life: do well so that you can do good."

That’s the family motto. It’s also the campaign promise.

Kelloff argues that the current trajectory, where proposals weaken public land protections and rural services get gutted; is unsustainable. He wants to reverse that. He wants to strengthen the foundations that allow communities to grow.

Whether he can translate that family legacy into votes is the real question. But he’s already doing the work. He’s talking to people. He’s listening. And he’s making a case that the 3rd District deserves a representative who actually lives here, not just someone who visits during election season.

"I stepped away from the career where I was doing well and launched this campaign to do good because our district needed someone willing to advocate for the people who call CD3 home," he said.

It’s a bold move. Leaving a secure, successful career for a political race is never a guarantee of success. But in a time when folks feel squeezed and overlooked, it might be exactly what they’re looking for.