Catlin, Buerger both opt for moderate stances on issues impacting Senate District 5, but subtle differences emerge

Voters in a geographically massive district on the Western Slope will soon determine who will represent them at the state Capitol in the election for Colorado’s 5th District in the state Senate. 

Republican Marc Catlin, a state representative from Montrose, and Democrat Cole Buerger, a business owner from Glenwood Springs, are vying for the position. 

Both candidates have largely leaned away from partisanship in their campaigns in favor of more moderate positions, a nod to how close the race is expected to be. The toss-up race, which could determine whether Democrats enter a new tier of power for the first time in 90 years, is being closely watched by state Democrats and Republicans. 

---

---

“Here we are agreeing,” Catlin said in a recent forum hosted by the Glenwood Springs Post Independent and the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association. “I guess it’s not too much of a debate.”

“There is very little daylight between myself and Rep. Catlin on this,” Buerger said in response to another question.

---

---

Half of the voters in the district are unaffiliated with either party, according to the Secretary of State’s office. 

Senate District 5 stretches from the Interstate 70 corridor in Garfield County through the Roaring Fork Valley into Hinsdale County, near the southern border of the state. It includes the entirety of Pitkin, Gunnison, and Hinsdale counties and portions of Delta, Montrose, Garfield, and Eagle counties. 

Here’s what the candidates have said about some of the most important issues in the district.

Housing 

Both candidates say addressing the high cost of living would be their first priority upon being sworn in. Housing, one of the biggest contributors to the state’s high cost of living, is a significant concern for voters in the state and the Western Slope. 

Catlin has said he wants to prioritize local control but that he supports the state having a role in helping create more “attainable housing.” He said he wants to see school districts, hospitals, and fire departments work together to come up with solutions and then bring the ideas to the state. 

“When we know what it costs and we know how much we can raise to do it, then we would go to the state and start talking about grants and or permanent financing,” he said in the Club 20 debate.

Buerger talked about changing the incentive structure for home builders. 

“I think we need to get out of the way,” he said. “Whether that’s with construction defects, whether that’s making sure that we can streamline some of the zoning and local control areas, making sure that we’re working on public-private partnerships, and finding good, reliable sources and sustainable funding for what has already been passed.”

During the 2024 lawmaking session, a bill aimed at boosting construction by reducing lawsuits related to defects failed to get enough support in the House, which is the chamber with more progressive lawmakers. The sponsor, Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat, said she would bring it back in 2025. 

Water

Both candidates have talked about the importance of keeping water on the Western Slope, improving conservation and ensuring clean drinking water.

In a debate hosted by Club 20, Buerger pointed to the state’s prior appropriation system, which controls who can use water, saying it “should guide us in every way, making sure that we are protecting the agricultural rights and historic rights before we’re expanding any new usages.”

Catlin, who has a reputation at the Capitol as one of the most knowledgeable lawmakers on water policy, agreed but added that the Colorado River Compact is just as important. 

“There is a lot of pressure down below us that they would like to renegotiate that because they think they’ve got a bigger need and a bigger want and a bigger right to that river,” he said. “That’s something we need to be very aware of.”

Buerger said in debate held in Glenwood Springs he wants to ensure the state has enough resources to support that negotiation process. 

Both candidates also said they support the Colorado River Water Conservation District’s efforts to purchase the Shoshone water rights. 

Other cost of living concerns

Buerger wants to decrease health care costs for Coloradans by incentivizing small and medium businesses to create risk pools with the hopes of allowing them to offer cheaper benefits. He also wants the state to consider partnering with local governments to increase childcare access.

“Looking at where we can save people money, whether it’s at the fuel pump or a utility bill or when they’re writing their property tax check every year, I think we can do that to make sure we’re targeting working families and seniors and others,” he said in an interview. 

In response to a questionnaire, Catlin said lawmakers could improve other cost of living concerns by not picking “winners and losers.” 

“The burdens that the state of Colorado has placed on the last few sessions on industries such as agriculture, energy production, healthcare, and construction needs to stop,” he said. “Colorado needs to be open for business.” 

Short-term rental regulations 

Lawmakers at the Capitol are likely to be faced with complex questions about the state’s role in regulating and taxing short-term rentals and vacation homes. 

During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers received hundreds of emails about a bill that would have nearly quadrupled taxes on short-term rental properties. The bill ultimately died in its first committee hearing.

Other bills related to property taxes have proposed taxing secondary homes differently from primary homes. While none has passed, lawmakers have hinted the idea may return.  

Municipalities on the Western Slope have also said they want the state to give them permission to set an extra tax on vacation homes and short-term rentals and create fees for real estate transfers. 

Buerger has said he believes local control is critical, but he wants to disincentivize empty housing units that are only used for a few weeks or months per year. 

“Where I think we have to look at it is whether it’s an individual mom and pop or whether it’s a large corporate entity, and that should determine a lot of how we’re figuring out the status or where they fall into,” he said. 

Catlin also said he wants to protect mom-and-pop operations and points to the importance of private property rights when asked about short-term rentals.

“There are retired folks that rent out units to supplement their income; those are not the folks that we should be trying to force out of the market,” he said.

Roads and infrastructure

Both candidates have spoken about the importance of transportation infrastructure in the 5th District.

Catlin, who sits on the House Transportation, Housing & Local Government Committee, said he’s worked to hold the Colorado Department of Transportation accountable. 

“They continue to lower the budget for rural paving projects,” he said. (A spokesperson for CDOT said this is inaccurate.)

Catlin pointed to his support of Senate Bill 24-100, which prohibits truckers from using the left lane on certain parts of Interstate 70. 

If elected, Buerger said he will ask to be on the Senate Transportation & Energy Committee, so he can advocate for an appropriate amount of resources for the Western Slope. 

“We know there are not that many of us on this side of the mountain in comparison, but there are a lot of miles of road,” he said. “We need to make sure that the calculus for CDOT funding and others reflects the mileage rather than just the number of people.”

The candidates sparred over the closure of Blue Mesa Bridge in Gunnison County during the Club 20 debate. Buerger said he thinks the state should have been more pro-active in finding the cracks that caused the closure.

“We should have known that we need backups for these really critical pinch points, and we should be advancing plans to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” he said. 

Catlin pushed back, saying there was no way for the state to catch the cracks any earlier.

“Those bridges were built in the ’60s with techniques that we didn’t know were not right,” he said. “We need to just make sure that we get those people as much work as they can. They’ve been working 24 hours a day to get that bridge fixed.”

Ballots have been mailed to voters, and Election Day is Nov. 5.