Rifle Forum Exposes Housing Split in Colorado House Race

Rifle —The Ute Theater in Rifle smells like floor wax and stale coffee. It’s a familiar scent to anyone who has sat through a local election forum, but on Monday, the air was thick with something else: friction. Two candidates for House District 57 stood at a podium, separated by a few feet of stage and a chasm of philosophy.

Russ Andrews, a financial adviser who has lived in the Roaring Fork Valley for 32 years, opened with a list of grievances. He spoke about protecting landowners, fixing roads, and embracing small modular nuclear reactors. His argument was straightforward: Colorado has become too expensive and overly regulated, and the state government is to blame.

Across from him sat Elizabeth Velasco, the incumbent. Her list was different. She talked about environmental justice, clean air, and the reality of working multiple jobs to pay rent. Where Andrews saw regulation as a cost center, Velasco saw it as a shield for workers and renters.

The divergence became sharpest when the conversation turned to housing, a topic that hits every household in this district.

Velasco pointed to the math that keeps neighbors up at night. She noted that the median income in their communities is $50,000. Then she pointed to homes selling for above $400,000. “That is not affordable,” she said. She advocated for giving local governments more tools, specifically rent stabilization and protections for mobile home parks against dramatic price hikes after ownership changes. She sees a widening wealth gap, one of the most wide in the nation, and wants to close it.

Andrews disagreed with the diagnosis, if not the symptom. “Regulations cost money,” he said. He argued that rules imposed by the state drive up costs for consumers and developers alike. He also blamed population growth, suggesting that an influx of people has increased demand for entry-level housing and lowered inventories. His solution leans toward deregulation and protecting property rights, framing the issue as one of market mechanics rather than income disparity.

This is the part everyone skips past in campaign ads: the specific, local consequences of those macro arguments. For a family trying to buy their first home in Eagle or Garfield County, the debate isn’t abstract. It’s whether a new regulation makes their mortgage payment $200 higher or if deregulation leads to another speculative purchase.

The forum also touched on energy and water, but the housing split defined the night. Andrews wants to protect rural Colorado by safeguarding hunting and fishing rights and upgrading infrastructure. Velasco wants to adapt communities to wildfire, smoke, and other environmental hazards, drawing on her own background as a wildland firefighter and small-business owner.

“I know firsthand what it is to have to work multiple jobs to pay rent,” Velasco said. “I will continue to make sure that everyone in our communities has the opportunity to thrive.”

Andrews, who runs a successful financial services business with his wife, countered that he has a thorough understanding of economics. He believes the state is moving in the wrong direction on public safety, transportation, and regulation.

Both candidates will be on the ballot Nov. 3. They agree that the cost of living is rising. They disagree entirely on why.

As the forum ended, the crowd filed out into the evening air. The theater lights dimmed, leaving only the exit signs glowing red in the dark hallway. Outside, the parking lot was emptying, cars pulling onto I-70 to head back toward their respective towns, carrying with them the weight of a decision that will shape how they live, work, and pay for shelter in this valley.