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James Boelens
James Boelens (Republican Party) ran for election to the Colorado House of Representatives to represent District 18. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Boelens completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
James Boelens was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a high school diploma from Johnsburg High School. His career experience includes working as a carpenter.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 18
Amy Paschal defeated James Boelens in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 18 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Amy Paschal (D)  | 53.5 | 24,780 |
 | James Boelens (R) | 46.5 | 21,510 | |
| Total votes: 46,290 | |||
| = 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ben Hopper (Unaffiliated)
- Greg Lauer (L)
- Conrad Czajkowski (Unaffiliated)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 18
Amy Paschal advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 18 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amy Paschal | 100.0 | 6,617 |
| Total votes: 6,617 | |||
| = 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 18
James Boelens advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 18 on June 25, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | James Boelens | 100.0 | 7,918 |
| Total votes: 7,918 | |||
| = 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 finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Boelens in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
James Boelens completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Boelens' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- A Platform We Can All Stand On
Our paychecks are smaller and our bills are higher. Those who are elected don't seem to see this. They continue to push legislation that makes life harder. For every government action - there is a reaction - and it's almost always us Coloradans that suffer. It seems we are becoming a divided nation. And I believe we all want basically the same things. We want our children to be educated, our neighborhoods to be peaceful and, a clean and safe environment for our children to prosper in.
I believe that if we give a voice to the voiceless, if we build prosperity in our community, and if we cut the B.S. in the State Capital - then we will have a platform we can all stand on. - Give a Voice to the Voiceless A lot of us are afraid of big box stores pushing out our mom-and-pop shops, our local start-ups, and people trying to be entrepreneurs. We as legislators need to remember it's not about us, it's about the people we represent! We need to make things business friendly so more individuals can enjoy the American dream. When it comes to our children, we need to teach life skills like taxes, budgeting, and reading contracts. Rounded mentorship creates the opportunities that our children need to prosper. As a state legislator, I will work to bring opportunities to our kids, advocate bringing money back to taxpayers, and work with small business owners. This is how we give a voice to the voiceless.
- Prosperity in the Community Unfortunately, overregulation has made life difficult for Coloradans. Many of us have seen this first hand. All the rules and regulations, good or bad, make everyone's life harder by driving up the costs for one, driving up the costs for all. We need to start writing laws that benefit people, not third parties looking for new ways to bring in more money by gaming the system. Too many State Reps are career politicians that are afraid to do some good, honest work, meanwhile I have lived a life that meant getting in the sand pit to get food on the table. I like seeing things grow, especially our businesses. We have great communities in HD18, let's thrive together with laws that make
I am the product of a vocational school and I have seen firsthand how our traditional school systems fail the people that they intend to help. We can put up a large education budget, but it seems it never gets where it needs to be. When it comes to our children, we need to teach life skills like taxes, budgeting, and reading contracts. Now we don't need large vocational wings in every school but let's build them in convenient locations so all students can benefit in the surrounding areas. At night these could help adults learn new skills and give them space to design things. When we mentor our students correctly and afford them the space for creativity, they will build a great life for themselves and Colorado.
The Second responsibility has to do with protecting the rights of the people. I believe that this office must protect the rights afforded to citizens under the U.S. Constitution.
The third responsibility is to ensure that the area you represent is prosperous and flourishing. I believe this starts with fighting tax hikes and getting more of your hard-earned money back into your pocket, working with local businesses, and creating sustainable and affordable opportunities for our communities to start businesses and find good-paying, stable jobs. All of these goals will build up to having a free and flourishing House District that takes care of its members and neighbors. This is THE office to accomplish these things and to fight against policies that hinder local governance and infrastructure upkeep. All you have to do is look at our roads and you will know that we need change.
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.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 14, 2024
