Caroline Cornell

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Caroline Cornell

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of Tampa, 1991

Graduate

University College London, 1992

Personal

Birthplace

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Religion

Christian: Episcopalian

Profession

Small business owner

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

Caroline Cornell (Republican Party) ran for election for Arapahoe County Clerk in Colorado. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

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

Biography

Caroline Cornell was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Tampa in 1991 and a master's degree from University College London in 1992. Her career experience includes owning a small business. Cornell has been affiliated with the Girl Scouts of Colorado and Cherry Creek Schools.

Elections

2022

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

General election

General election for Arapahoe County Clerk

Incumbent Joan Lopez defeated Caroline Cornell in the general election for Arapahoe County Clerk on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Lopez (D)	61.2	152,761
		Caroline Cornell (R)	38.8	96,682

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 249,443
= 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.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Arapahoe County Clerk

Incumbent Joan Lopez advanced from the Democratic primary for Arapahoe County Clerk on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joan Lopez	100.0	54,905

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 54,905
= 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 Clerk

Caroline Cornell advanced from the Republican primary for Arapahoe County Clerk on June 28, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Caroline Cornell	100.0	43,836

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 43,836
= 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 Cornell's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.

2020

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 37

Incumbent Tom Sullivan defeated Caroline Cornell in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 37 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Sullivan (D)	55.6	27,829
		Caroline Cornell (R)	44.4	22,242

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 50,071
= 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 Colorado House of Representatives District 37

Incumbent Tom Sullivan advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 37 on June 30, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tom Sullivan	100.0	14,160

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,160
= 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 Colorado House of Representatives District 37

Caroline Cornell advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 37 on June 30, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Caroline Cornell	100.0	7,608

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,608
= 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

Caroline Cornell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cornell'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.

Caroline is a small business owner, mom, and community leader. She credits her deep community leadership experience as the driver behind her desire to serve Arapahoe County as Clerk & Recorder and her vision for improving services. Caroline is a problem solver who will bring common-sense business practices to the role. She has an eye for process improvement plus strong organizational and consensus-building skills. Caroline’s goal is to efficiently serve ALL of Arapahoe County’s citizens.

Professionally, Caroline has worked in both corporate and non-profit environments. For the past decade, alongside her active community involvement, Caroline has built a small business helping others put their best foot forward as a recruiter, career coach, and consultant. Caroline has held leadership roles with multiple local non-profit organizations, including serving as the board chair for a well-known statewide non-profit.

Caroline grew up in central Florida as the daughter of small business owners. While in college, she helped build a small family retail chain. She has degrees from the University of Tampa in history and political science and a master’s degree in history from University College London. While living in London, Caroline met her husband of 29 years. Together they have two children who are Colorado natives, and graduates of Grandview High 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?

• Arapahoe County needs a non-partisan professional as Clerk & Recorder. My objectives are simple: Check partisan politics at the door. Rebuild an environment of trust and confidence. Ensure Arapahoe County citizens are satisfied with efficiency at the Clerk’s office. Be accountable and accessible to all constituents, regardless of party affiliation. Bring leadership and professionalism back to the table to serve and respect residents.
• Arapahoe is an outlier in Colorado for not allowing walk in DMV services. Residents want all branches fully reopened, blending appointments with same-day walk-in options. As a responsive leader, I know to listen to clear messages from constituents. I’ve heard many who feel their access to services is blocked: residents turned away because they didn't realize services are appointment-only; people who left something in the car and had to reschedule; or folks who wanted to visit the day they learned about a problem instead of waiting weeks for an appointment. Not all services can be handled on a kiosk. Bottom line is one-size-fits-all solutions are not fully meeting the needs of Arapahoe residents.
• I'm a firm believer in continuous improvement; elections are no exception. We want a system where it’s easy to legally vote, and darn near impossible to cheat. Enhancing audit practices will help restore confidence in the process including improving signature verification audits and regulating ballot harvesting activities. Balancing election security and voting accessibility is key. As Clerk, I will check partisan politics at the door, while improving transparency in elections. As a non-profit leader, I've led diverse teams to collaborate on hot button issues uniting members around shared goals. I'll leverage these experiences in the clerk's office to be an unbiased referee for Arapahoe.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Voting is a fundamental part of who we are as Americans. It's about exercising your rights as a citizen rather than for or against a person or issue. As a civics geek with a poli-sci degree, I have long believed that everyone who CAN vote, SHOULD vote. Colorado’s systems are intended to make it easy to legally vote and darn near impossible to cheat.

Voter apathy is a key issue behind improving voter turnout. Far too many people don’t vote because they feel their vote won’t matter. Perhaps they are concerned about election security or feel like their vote doesn’t impact results. Being an informed voter means work - educating yourself about the candidates, following the news, reading the paper, and talking with friends – about a topic many shy away from, politics. Elections are important because they provide an opportunity for each person to have a say in policies that impact our lives.

As Clerk, I plan to create a civic engagement program to boost understanding about why voting matters and how the elections process works while deemphasizing partisan issues that turn people off. This program would range from visiting with high school students who will soon be voters, to educating civic-minded community groups, to working with citizens who have questions about the elections process who want to better understand it. I would leverage this plan to build up our election work pool as well as increase voter participation.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

I firmly believe at their core, elected officials should be servant leaders who want to give back to their community. I've spent over 20 years leading different community organizations - giving back to my community. Serving as Clerk & Recorder would only further an already robust public career.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

I believe elected officials have a duty to be represent their constituents whether they voted for them or not and to be responsive to the public they serve .

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.

2020

Caroline Cornell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cornell'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.

Caroline grew up in Florida and moved to Colorado in 1998. She is a small business owner, mom of two, and relentless community volunteer with a passion for taking action in her community. Caroline earned her bachelor's degrees in history and political science from the University of Tampa and holds a master's degree in history from University College London. Her professional experience includes work in the recruiting, training, and research fields. She's spent 17 years volunteering with Girl Scouts teaching girls and young women to identify problems in their community and then go out and solve them. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Girl Scouts of Colorado. While an at-home mom, Caroline volunteered extensively with Cherry Creek Schools at both the building and district levels, working to increase education funding into the classroom. Caroline is running for office to ensure every child receives a 21st century education so they can grow up to become community problem solvers too.

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?

• As an education advocate, Caroline has worked tirelessly to increase funding in the classroom. As a legislator, she will work to expand education opportunity so more kids across Colorado learn the 21st century skills they will need to become problem solvers too. Now more than ever, Coloradans are seeking education alternatives that work for parents while supporting teachers in the classroom. If you scratch beneath the surface this goes well beyond education - it's about ensuring the next generation enjoys the same quality of life as Coloradans do today.
• Affordable healthcare that empowers people to make informed choices is a huge priority for Coloradans. Costs are skyrocketing while coverage is shrinking. Access to mental health resources is limited while the need for treatment is at an all-time high. Consumers need to be able to make informed choices and know that they are getting the best possible coverage that includes pre-existing conditions at the lowest possible price. I support easier to understand price comparisons for prescription drugs so you can make informed choices for your family. Consumers benefit from competition over a one size fits all government mandated solutions.
• As we recover from COVID, prioritizing job creation over more mandates on businesses will help Coloradans get back to work so they can support their families. Caroline will work to ensure our economy gets back on track and stays there as we emerge from the pandemic. Roads and infrastructure need to be addressed, not deferred. We all benefit when we promote a positive business climate over exhaustive regulations. Coloradan's want to earn a living and support their families - enjoying their American Dream. They want to see innovative solutions and forward thinking, not entitlement programs. Caroline will focus on sustainable growth and job creation, so Coloradans have an opportunity for a better tomorrow. Almost daily voters are voicing their

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Caroline is passionate about ensuring the community has a voice in the legislative process. She believes we have an opportunity to do things differently - to better align to what voters have said priorities should be while ensuring our communities remain a safe place to raise a family. She believes in honest, open dialogue with the public and carrying that voice into the legislative process. She believes in transparency so people can make choices for themselves. Caroline has the capability and confidence to represent our community well at the Capitol. And she's committed to finding common sense solutions to address our community's concerns while inspiring every child to become a problem solver for Colorado's future.

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

I have the capability, confidence and commitment to represent our community at the capitol. I am a small business owner who has lived in the community for more than 20 years. A mom who has raised two kids in the Cherry Creek Schools. And a volunteer with a relentless passion for taking action in the community through organizations like Girl Scouts. I believe we have an opportunity to do things differently - to better align to what our voters have told us our priorities should be while ensuring our communities remain a safe place to raise a family.

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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