Linda Newell

LITTLETON –“It’s time to bring people together by building bridges between all parties and create common sense solutions that work for all of us,” Littleton businesswoman Linda Newell said today as she officially kicked off her campaign for Colorado Senate District 26.

The district includes Littleton and parts of Centennial, Englewood, Sheridan, Bow Mar, Cherry Hills and Cherry Hills Village.

“It’s time for ‘we the people’ to stand up together for our values – not Democratic values or Republican values, but Colorado values and American values,” Newell said at her campaign kickoff on July 10.. “We need a senator who will listen to the people, represent the people and respond to the people because we’re all in this together. If you send me to the Senate, I will do just that.”

“I’m not a professional politician,” Newell said. “The experience I bring to this race is the experience of an ordinary citizen who genuinely cares. I have experience in large and small business, experience on the Governor’s Workforce Development Council. I’ve struggled financially to get the food on the table and I’ve worked my way up the corporate ladder and had experience working in the community as a volunteer with numerous organizations. Since 2000, I’ve had experience as a single mother raising two wonderful daughters.”

Newell also has been around politics most of her life, starting as a volunteer canvasser when she was in the sixth grade. “I’ve always supported responsible and responsive government,” she said.

“The way to solve our problems is not for one side to ‘win’ at the expense of the other,” Newell said. “We’re neighbors with a common goal of quality living in the beautiful state of Colorado. We live, work, play and pray together. And, ultimately, we all win or lose together.”

Newell identified three key economic issues that she plans to focus on:

– Ensuring we have an educated workforce with good Colorado jobs. We’re 46th in the nation in higher education funding – forcing some companies to recruit from out of state because either people can’t afford to go to college here or they’re among the 38 percent of students who drop out of high school and don’t even qualify. “This is unacceptable and I will work to remedy that.”
– Affordable, preventive healthcare for all citizens. “In my career, I’ve seen the employees and employers struggle to pay more for less coverage. We need to focus on affordable choices in healthcare, preventive healthcare for all citizens; employees and employers, young and old. Companies should be focusing on their business, not employee benefits. People should be focusing on their work, not their benefits. I will work hard on that for you.”
– The environment. “None of us should have to worry if there’s going to be enough gas in our car or water to drink or clean air to breathe. We should be focusing on alternative and renewable energy solutions like biofuels, geothermal, wind and solar – or at the least a solid reducing, reusing and recycling program. I’m going to work on that.”

The kickoff event was held at the Columbine Lakes Clubhouse in Littleton.