Kelly Lear

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Kelly Lear

Democratic Party

Arapahoe County Coroner

Tenure

2015 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

10

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

Cornell College, 1994

Medical

University of Colorado, 1998

Personal

Birthplace

Colorado Springs, Colo.

Profession

Physician

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

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Kelly Lear (Democratic Party) is the Arapahoe County Coroner in Colorado. She assumed office in 2015. Her current term ends on January 12, 2027.

Lear (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Arapahoe County Coroner in Colorado. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Lear completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

In 2022, Lear filed to run as a Democratic Party candidate. She was previously affiliated with the Republican Party.

Biography

Kelly Lear was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell College in 1994 and an M.D. from the University of Colorado in 1998. Her career experience includes working as a physician and forensic pathologist. Lear has been affiliated with the following organizations:

• National Association of Medical Examiners
• American Academy of Forensic Sciences
• College of American Pathologists
• Colorado Coroners Association
• Colorado Homicide Investigators Association
• Sudden Unexpected Death in Childhood Registry and Research Collaborative
• Governor's Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee
• Not One More Child Community Coalition
• American Board of Pathology
• TriCounty Overdose Prevention Partnership
• North Central Region Fatality Management
• University of Colorado Hospital Department of Pathology
• Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Elections

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Arapahoe County, Colorado (2022)

General election

General election for Arapahoe County Coroner

Incumbent Kelly Lear defeated Ron Bouchard and Kat Martin in the general election for Arapahoe County Coroner on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kelly Lear (D)	58.9	144,562
	Submit photo	Ron Bouchard (R)	37.4	91,749
	Submit photo	Kat Martin (L)	3.7	8,975

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 245,286
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arapahoe County Coroner

Incumbent Kelly Lear advanced from the Democratic primary for Arapahoe County Coroner on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kelly Lear	100.0	53,840

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 53,840
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arapahoe County Coroner

Ron Bouchard advanced from the Republican primary for Arapahoe County Coroner on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Ron Bouchard	100.0	43,275

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 43,275
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Lear's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2018

See also: Municipal elections in Arapahoe County, Colorado (2018)

General election

General election for Arapahoe County Coroner

Incumbent Kelly Lear won election in the general election for Arapahoe County Coroner on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kelly Lear (R)	100.0	182,839

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 182,839
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Arapahoe County Coroner

Incumbent Kelly Lear advanced from the Republican primary for Arapahoe County Coroner on June 26, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kelly Lear	100.0	41,663

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 41,663
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Kelly Lear completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Lear's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a Colorado native and live in Arapahoe County with my partner and our three teenage girls, two dogs, and two cats. I am an avid trail runner, retired triathlete, and enjoy paddle boarding when the weather is warm. I am a medical doctor specializing in forensic pathology; I completed my medical doctorate, pathology residency, and surgical pathology fellowship at the University of Colorado Hospital, and my forensic pathology fellowship at the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator. I am a nationally-recognized, board-certified forensic pathologist with 18 years of experience at Arapahoe County Coroner's Office, including 8 years as the elected Coroner. I first became involved with the Arapahoe County Coroner's Office as a medical student 27 years ago and have played a key role in our growth and development to become a nationally accredited office. I have performed over 5000 autopsies and testified as an expert witness in hundreds of criminal and civil trials. I have numerous peer-reviewed publications in the field of medicine and forensic science including journal articles and textbooks, and am actively involved in national research in the area of sudden pediatric death. I am a member of numerous local, state, and national committees to include work in childhood death, mass fatalities, overdose prevention, and forensic science education. I have teaching appointments at the University of Colorado Hospital and Rocky Vista medical school.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I am the only candidate for Arapahoe Coroner with experience in the field and I am the only medical doctor on the ballot. The Coroner's role is to supervise death investigations, decide when an autopsy is performed, and to fill out death certificates; as a forensic pathologist who actually performs the autopsies, I have the training and experience to ensure these decisions are medically based.
• Having a forensic pathologist as Coroner provides the highest standard of service and follows national recommendations for death investigation; it also saves the county significant funds. While performing the duties of both forensic pathologist and coroner, I am salaried only as a forensic pathologist. A non-pathologist coroner would either have to hire another forensic pathologist to fill my position or contract out the autopsies at a greater expense.
• As one of only four Coroner's Offices in Colorado (and only approximately 80 nationwide) to be accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners, the Arapahoe Coroner's Office meets national standards and delivers the highest-quality death investigation and autopsy services to our residents; accreditation depends on having a forensic pathologist leader making autopsy and death certification decisions, and it is a priority to maintain this quality for the families whom we serve.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

1. Locally and nationwide, we are experiencing a fentanyl overdose epidemic; I autopsy deaths related to overdoses and toxic exposures several times per week. I will continue my efforts to address this epidemic with public education through media channels as well as with presentations to every audience, from high schoolers to senior commissions, and I will continue to collaborate with community partners in prevention efforts as I provide a vital resource to the local and state public health departments and to national death reporting systems.
2. In 2021, Arapahoe County saw a 25% increase in the number of suicide deaths over the previous year; these are tragic and unnecessary deaths. I have been on various prevention teams and committees for almost 2 decades and will continue this work in collaboration with partner agencies to provide education and policy recommendations regarding risk factors, harm reduction, means restriction, and importantly, access to mental health resources.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The Coroner's Office independently investigates sudden and unexpected deaths, serving our community members during an often tragic event. Surviving family members, law enforcement, and other agencies deserve professionalism and information based on medicine, not politics. Death certification is a mandatory function with information provided to next-of-kin as well as to local and national vital records offices, from which statistical data regarding health and mortality is derived, which is why having medical knowledge and training is key in making cause of death determinations. The forensic pathologist performs autopsies which provide additional information on how and why an individual died, again contributing data for public health threats and emerging trends as well as areas for intervention and prevention, including documentation of issues surrounding consumer protection, workplace safety, therapeutic misadventure, and law enforcement altercations. The forensic pathologist is often called to testify regarding autopsy findings and cause and manner of death in criminal and civil court cases, and must retain medical professionalism to provide testimony reflective of autopsy facts, not influenced by prosecution or defense attorneys, law enforcement, or other investigating agencies.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

In addition to being a medical professional, I have a passion for the work and hold myself to high ethical standards. My duty is to treat my patients, the decedents for whom I care, with respect and dignity, and that includes speaking the truth about their death and the surrounding circumstances without undue influence from outside sources. I have two decades of experience in the field and have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the industry practices, national guidelines, and statutory requirements of the office.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Holders of this office should have training in medicine and death investigation; the position should not be political and in many states has been eliminated as an elected position in favor of an appointed medical examiner physician, following the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

The Coroner should be a medical doctor trained in forensic pathology; this is the nationally recommended standard for the medical examiner system, which has replaced the coroner system in many states. At the very least, training in medicolegal death investigation and certification by the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators should be required for the position of Coroner.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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