Julien Bouquet

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Julien Bouquet

Nonpartisan

Regional Transportation District Board of Directors District G

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Ken Mihalik

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Denver, 2016

Personal

Profession

Teacher

Julien Bouquet is a member of the Regional Transportation District Board of Directors in Colorado, representing District G. He assumed office on January 5, 2021. His current term ends on December 31, 2028.

Bouquet ran for re-election to the Regional Transportation District Board of Directors to represent District G in Colorado. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Bouquet earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Denver in 2016. His career experience includes working as a teacher. He has also been involved in political campaigns associated with Get out the Vote.

Elections

2024

See also: City elections in Denver, Colorado (2024)

General election

General election for Regional Transportation District Board of Directors District G

Incumbent Julien Bouquet won election in the general election for Regional Transportation District Board of Directors District G on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Julien Bouquet (Nonpartisan)	100.0	74,544

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 74,544
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bouquet in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Arapahoe County, Colorado (2020)

General election

General election for Regional Transportation District Board of Directors District G

Julien Bouquet defeated incumbent Ken Mihalik in the general election for Regional Transportation District Board of Directors District G on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Julien Bouquet (Nonpartisan)	54.0	51,606
	Submit photo	Ken Mihalik (Nonpartisan)	46.0	44,048

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 95,654
= 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

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Julien Bouquet did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Julien Bouquet completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bouquet's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Julien Bouquet is a local public school teacher for Douglas County School District, and also a frequent RTD rider. He grew up in Douglas County, and used the RTD light rail while attending the University of Denver. As a rider, a teacher, and an organizer he is fighting to increase RTD ridership and to fix the many issues RTD is currently facing. He is fighting to get RTD back on track.

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?

• Affordability. We need to make fare rates competitive with other forms of transportation.
• Efficiency. We need innovative solutions to make our rides as quick and efficient as possible.
• Accessibility. As a public utility, RTD needs to provide services to all the riders who are reliant on our trains and buses.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am most passionate about caring for the well-being of the public. Anyone who is an elected official should be thinking about the well-being of the public first. (1) I am passionate about the safety of RTD passengers while they are riding. This includes safety during a global pandemic. We need to make sure riders feels safe while using public transportation. (2) I am passionate about the lack of ridership RTD has been experiencing for the last six years. The lack of ridership is based on riders finding quicker and cheaper ways to get to their destination. Riders should want to use RTD, and enjoy their experience. (3) I am passionate about the environmental impact a lack of riders has on our community. Public transportation can naturally help in the reduction of traffic pollution. I also want to aim for our vehicle fleet to be fully electric by 2040. (4) I am passionate about decreasing traffic and pollution in our growing state. Our state has been growing in population, yet RTD ridership has been decreasing. Traffic congestion is a result of residents not choosing to ride. We need to make RTD a more desirable transportation network to use. (5) And I am passionate about treating our riders and drivers/operators with respect. In 2017, RTD had a major driver shortage which led to long-hours for employees. Now, RTD is looking to cut hundreds of jobs due to a massive rider shortage. This is not fair to the employees who have dedicated so many hours to RTD.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

The people I look up to the most are my wife and my parents.

My wife is the kindest person I know, and she always looks for the good in people. Everyone running for public office, should always look for the good in individuals and have empathy for people. People should always come first. I look up to my wife for always being so caring, and I know I want to emulate her level of kindness once I am elected.

Both my parents worked hard to get where they are. They have gone through hard times in their lives, but have always worked together to get through those difficult periods. I look up to my parents for this. As a public servant, I know that we will have to go through some hard times. We will have to make tough decisions, but if we collaborate with each other (members of our community) we can tackle these problems together.

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

An elected official needs empathy. The ability to feel what others are feeling is the main characteristic an elected official should have. An elected official needs to understand that their decisions have an impact on the lives of others. They also need to recognize the possible frustrations that are expressed, and try to work with members of their community to resolve those frustrations.

An elected official needs to be caring. Not only does an elected official need to empathize with their constituents, they need to care about those feelings and turn those feelings into action.

An elected official needs to have passion for the betterment of the community. Every public servant/elected official should have the goal to better their community. My ultimate goal is to leave RTD in better standings than what I walked into. This is how progress is made. This is how we move forward as a society. This is how we care for our community.

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

I understand, as a teacher, how to be innovative and caring at the same time. As a school teacher, you need to make hundreds of decisions a day. You need to be adaptive, but you also need to assess how that decision will impact your class. You need to make sure you are meeting the needs of not only a majority of your class, but your entire class. You look after every student, and this is what I want to do as an elected official. I want to make sure we are looking after the betterment of all our transportation community.

My training and experience in utilizing innovative solutions, and having the empathy to care for everyone would make me a successful RTD Director. Also, as a Director you need to collaborate with 14 other Directors. I have been collaborating with others my entire professional career. You need the ability to cooperate with your fellow Board Directors, but you also need to be able to work with local leaders and public officials. My experience of working in a school district with many differing ideas will be beneficial for when we as a Board of Directors will need to negotiate with fellow public officials.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

The Times They are a-Changin' by Bob Dylan

(Feels appropriate for a challenger trying to make a difference for our political system)

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

People should be aware of how much of an impact transportation can have on the daily lives of our local residents. A lot of riders are reliant on RTD because they don't own a car, or because they may have a disability that inhibits them from driving. Transportation matters for these individuals because they need RTD not only to get to work, but to get to the grocery store, or to pick up their children from school, or simply to get home. This a major responsibility held by the Board of Directors for RTD. Directors need to always consider how their actions are going to effect residents who truly need RTD's services.

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

I do not believe that a Director on the RTD Board needs to have previous government experience. I do believe a RTD Director needs to have experience in listening to the needs and concerns of people. As mentioned prior, I am currently a school teacher and I understand that I need to listen to the concerns of all my students. My experience in working in public education has taught me how to listen to students, fellow teachers, principals and parents. This ability to listen and be flexible with the day-to-day operations of a school can translate into being a public servant.

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

The RTD Board of Directors is made up of 15 Directors. I believe every Board Director needs to actually ride and use RTD's services. A Director who rides RTD has empathy for both riders and drivers. Someone in this public position should be able to have empathy for all their constituents, because this will have an impact on what decisions are made for the agency. If the opinions of riders, drivers, operators and other members of the RTD community are not put into consideration, we will continue to see multiple failings from our public transportation network. Holders of this office ultimately need to listen to their constituents, empathize with their community and test innovative solutions for the issues that currently exist.

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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