Incumbent Democrat Joann Ginal and Republican candidate Donna Walter are running for the state representative seat in District 52. Both women have dedicated their lives to the health of others; Ginal is a bioscientist and has worked in the medical field with animals and humans, and Walter has spent over 27 years in the natural wellness industry. While both women value health in the community, they have differing ideas on how to approach other issues.
Joann Ginal, Democrat
Joann Ginal has been an active participant within the Fort Collins community, and has said that the concerns of citizens are important to her. Since she is the only bioscientist within the state house, her campaign has been largely focused on the health of the community. College costs Ginal supports lowering tuition costs and trying to put more money in the state budget for education. “Higher education is very important. It’s something that used to be reachable for everyone, and I want to get back to that,” Ginal said. Legalization of marijuana Ginal fully supported the legalization of marijuana, but believes that Colorado needs to keep working on the regulation of the drug, particularly edibles. “I don’t want to ban edibles, but we need to look at more studies about their affects and the dosage,” Ginal said. “We need to be able to educate people on that particular issue.” Abortion and birth control Ginal has worked with birth control issues before due to her research in reproductive endocrinology, and believes it is the women’s choice to have an abortion if she feels the need to do so. She also believes that birth control should be freely accessible to all women. Sexual assault on college campuses Ginal is in full support of the awareness and advocacy groups on campus trying to prevent sexual assault. She agrees that training is important, and wants college students to be trained to be aware of their surroundings and to be vigilant. “I have faith in the police department that they are doing what they can to make people feel safe,” Ginal said. “People need to realize also that this happens to everyone, not just women.” Green energy and fracking Ginal fully supports moving to clean energy. She supported and wrote part of a bill that would allow Colorado to depend on wind and clean energy by 2020. She is not against fossil fuels, but feels that Colorado needs to look for alternative methods. She believes that fracking is a big part of the economy, but is concerned about the health risks related to the communities that are affected by it. Immigration Ginal was a supporter of the Asset bill in 2013, which gave undocumented immigrants the chance to receive in-state tuition. She is very proud of this bill, explaining that a lot of undocumented immigrants wanted to get an education, but did not have the chance until the Asset bill.
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Donna Walter, Republican
Walter is running on the republican ticket for Ginal’s current seat in District 52. She has been a naturopathic practitioner for almost 30 years. She believes in less government involvement for Colorado and wants more personal responsibility. She identifies as a liberty candidate running on the republican ticket. College costs Walter believes that before making any decisions about more funding for education, Colorado needs to look at the root cause of the problem. Walter asserts that the institutions should clean up their own budgets before adding more funding from the state. “I think there has been unnecessary spending and inefficiency in the schools’ budgets,” Walter said. “We need to look within before we look without.” Legalization of marijuana Walter’s main concern on the issue of marijuana is the overregulation of the drug. She believes that overtaxation and overregulation will encourage more marijuana sales on the black market. “We need to be sensible about what we regulate,” Walter said. Abortion and birth control Walter believes that the government should not be involved in people’s decisions concerning social issues. She supports the use of birth control and says that it is a woman’s personal choice to get an abortion. Sexual assault on college campuses Walter believes that anything that can be done to make women feel safer should be done. She believe in laws on the issue that are already in place, but is in support of stricter enforcement of those laws. She also thinks that education on the issue is crucial in order to prevent further incidents from happening. Green energy and fracking Walter is in favor of green solutions, but says that Colorado needs to look at their alternative options and really look at the long term effects before implementing new technologies. She believes that fracking is safe, and has faith in the governor and president when they have deemed fracking as a safe procedure. Immigration Walter has said that she believes that immigration works best when done legally. She asserts that illegal immigration is not beneficial for the economy because they are taking away jobs from legal citizens. “Immigration, when done lawfully, works for everyone,” Walter said. Collegian Reporter Amy Borngrebe can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @ABornCollegian.
