There will be a new name on the ballot for the primary general election.

Nic Morse, a 2009 Colorado State University graduate, is running as the Republican candidate for the 2nd Congressional District of Colorado against Jared Polis. Morse decided to run because he said he feels Polis is not representing the district very well.

Morse spent the first three years of his undergraduate education at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, but he transferred to CSU in spring of 2007. He finished 2.5 years later with a liberal arts degree, concentrating in history.

“I originally wanted to be a journalist of all things, but I remember the class, I think it was called JTC 211, and at the time it was impossible to get into,” Morse said. “And, since I was open option seeking journalism and not a journalism major, I could never get into it.”

During his time at CSU, Morse participated in a club called Impact at CSU, a club based on service, which Morse said was important to him.

“I really enjoyed helping people, whether it was raking lawns or serving food at the Open Door Shelter (now Fort Collins Rescue Mission),” Morse said.

After graduation, Morse did not become involved in politics until he started feeling frustrated and feeling like his voice wasn’t being heard

“I reached out to the Larimer County Republican party here in town, and I volunteered (and) was offered a board position,” Morse said. “I eventually landed as assistant treasurer, and then into treasurer. It got to the point to where I felt like I could make a bigger impact running against Jared Polis.”

Morse said he decided to reach out to get more political experience in the party before running for office.

“The reason I wanted to go for Congress is I felt like — and I still feel this way — Jared Polis doesn’t represent our district very well,” Morse said. “I feel like he has the interests of just the left in mind and he’s too far extreme on one end to represent centrists and people who are on the right, as well as he should.”

Q&A With Morse on his political platform

Cost of attendance at colleges and universities

Colleges should adjust the cost of attendance; degrees are charged the same for attendance even though potential earnings are different.

Maybe they should tier degree programs based on what you’re trying to do, and incorporate more technical trade and apprenticeships into degree programs.

Student loans

Instead of making it a 30-year, 15-year, 10-year income contingency-based plan, which are all the options that we have right now, why should this not just be a deduction or a cost of living over your working career? If you would take that (debt) and just assign it to every paycheck, you can get the cost down to under $100 every two weeks, to go toward your student loan. That is extremely affordable, regardless of if you’re walking out of college making $30,000 a year, or you walk out making $20,000 a year.

Changing the U+2 law in Fort Collins

You have to have three roommates for a two-bedroom or one bedroom apartment to even make it moderately affordable. I don’t think that’s feasible for people who are working part time, getting paid off of work study. Now, there should be a limit — we shouldn’t pack 20 people into a two-bedroom apartment— but I think maybe five is more reasonable.

Marijuana Regulation

I believe that if you are going to use recreational drugs that are legal, it should be in the privacy of your own home. Your freedom to what you consume only extends as far as someone else’s choice not to.

Reduce State and Federal Taxes

I think (taxes) are layered, and they’re so spread out right now that it might be deceiving people how high your day-to-day tax rate really is.

I’m pretty fortunate to have a good job right now. I can spend roughly $300 every two weeks on groceries. That’s a lot of money, doesn’t matter who you are, but when I get to the cash register, my taxes are roughly $30-$35, and if you actually look at them, you’re getting taxed three or four times and it’s equaling 10-15 percent of what my actual spend is. When you get paid and you actually look at your itemization, you get your gross and you get your net, and in between that, there five, six, seven lines of things that you’re paying for. We can reduce those as well.

That’s very difficult for the lower class and middle class to afford; whether you’re left or right, having that extra money in your paycheck is huge.

There’s a lot of pull from the government, and not in a positive way, about what’s coming out and what we’re contributing to.

Cuts to allow taxes to decrease

I know this is not a popular belief, but it’s going to happen eventually no matter what. Medicare will be insolvent by 2026, Social Security, I believe is 2033.

Why are we still being charged for two bank accounts that have already been leveraged into insolvency?

Freedom in Health care

Why would you contribute into a program that you’re not using, and that you have to re-up every year, and yet you don’t see that money back if you don’t use it?

Health care and rights for women

They (women) are in a position where they’re still being told what they’re able to do and I’m against that. They need more choices, they need less mandates. I think freedom of choice is huge.

Paid maternity leave

If a woman in a family is being punished for having a child, which they are, that’s wrong. Maternity leave should be offered. It should also be paid. American workers work the hardest, have the longest hours, we get the least benefits.

Collegian Reporter Megan Fischer can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @MegFischer04.