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Marshall Dawson

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Marshall Dawson
Image of Marshall Dawson
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Kentucky

Personal
Profession
Engineer
Contact

Marshall Dawson (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Colorado's 2nd Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Dawson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Marshall Dawson was born in Midway, Kentucky. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky. His career experience includes working as a engineer. Dawson has been affiliated with Liberty Toastmasters North.[1][2]

Elections

2024

See also: Colorado's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024

Colorado's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Democratic primary)

Colorado's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (June 25 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Colorado District 2

The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 2 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joe Neguse
Joe Neguse (D)
 
68.4
 
284,994
Image of Marshall Dawson
Marshall Dawson (R) Candidate Connection
 
28.9
 
120,633
Image of Gaylon Kent
Gaylon Kent (L) Candidate Connection
 
1.2
 
5,180
Image of Cynthia Munhos de Aquino Sirianni
Cynthia Munhos de Aquino Sirianni (Unity Party) Candidate Connection
 
0.9
 
3,744
Image of Jan Kok
Jan Kok (Approval Voting Party)
 
0.6
 
2,349
Mike Watson (Unaffiliated) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
8

Total votes: 416,908
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 2

Incumbent Joe Neguse advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 2 on June 25, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joe Neguse
Joe Neguse
 
100.0
 
91,218

Total votes: 91,218
Candidate Connection = 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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 2

Marshall Dawson advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 2 on June 25, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Marshall Dawson
Marshall Dawson Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
30,825

Total votes: 30,825
Candidate Connection = 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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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Dawson in this election.

2022

See also: Colorado's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Colorado District 2

Incumbent Joe Neguse defeated Marshall Dawson, Steve Yurash, Gary Nation, and Tim Wolf in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 2 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joe Neguse
Joe Neguse (D)
 
70.0
 
244,107
Image of Marshall Dawson
Marshall Dawson (R) Candidate Connection
 
28.0
 
97,700
Image of Steve Yurash
Steve Yurash (Colorado Center Party) Candidate Connection
 
0.8
 
2,876
Gary Nation (American Constitution Party)
 
0.6
 
2,188
Image of Tim Wolf
Tim Wolf (Unity Party)
 
0.6
 
1,968

Total votes: 348,839
Candidate Connection = 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 U.S. House Colorado District 2

Incumbent Joe Neguse advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 2 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Joe Neguse
Joe Neguse
 
100.0
 
91,793

Total votes: 91,793
Candidate Connection = 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 U.S. House Colorado District 2

Marshall Dawson advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 2 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Marshall Dawson
Marshall Dawson Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
43,164

Total votes: 43,164
Candidate Connection = 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

Candidate Connection

Marshall Dawson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dawson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Marshall was raised on a farm in a community of 2,400 people outside of Midway, Kentucky, located between Lexington and Frankfort. Seated among rolling farmland and world-famous distilleries, the town of Midway was, and still is, an example of the quintessential American ideal where all are welcome and afforded the freedom of self-determination.

Since childhood, Marshall has had an interest in problem-solving. Inspired by his uncle’s research in electric cars, Marshall attended the University of Kentucky and earned a degree in Electrical Engineering.

After Marshall earned his Electrical Engineering degree in 1991, he went to work for IBM in Raleigh, North Carolina, and quickly found out why IBM stands for “I’ve been moved.” In 1997, Marshall left IBM for new opportunities in Longmont. As an open-source engineer, Marshall has worked for both big and small companies, and has run his own company. Today, Marshall runs a development organization for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Before running for Congress, Marshall has served in leadership of various political and non-profit organizations. He has coached high school volleyball teams, and loves photography and mountain biking.
  • Peace: The federal government has taken on too many responsibilities that it shouldn’t have. The primary responsibility of government is to protect individual rights and we must reclaim that mission statement.
  • Power: We have seen a marked shift of power over Americans’ everyday lives to an ever-expanding federal government. We must shift the balance of power back to the people to determine the best ways to live their lives.
  • Prosperity: Our poor economy and high inflation is harming many Americans. By continuing to borrow and print money, Congress is effectively robbing us of our purchasing power so we must unleash the economy by getting the spending under control. A responsible Congress will put an end to the practice of Continuing Resolutions.
If you look at the first sections of uscode.house.gov, you will find the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution which includes the Bill of Rights. The federal government has overstepped its bounds. But one example is the curtailing of free speech.
I have quite a lot of admiration for our nation’s founders for their debates which paved the way for a novel form of government. But I’ll call out Thomas Jefferson for his penning of the Declaration of Independence, the moral justification for our founding.
There are simply too many to list. I am a fan of Thomas Sowell's work yet no single author steers my philosophy.
Elected officials should not fall in with the latest political and cultural fads. They should assess factual data and carefully consider the secondary and tertiary effects of legislation. We have too many bills, enacted in the name of compassion, which do more harm than good because of shortsightedness.
I’m not beholden to ideology, nor tied to emotions, when it comes to making decisions. I examine data and prior examples of policy success or failure, then apply reason to decide whether a plan will have the intended outcomes and has merit.
For each piece of legislation, consider whether it is constitutional, and ask whether it falls within the proper role for the federal government. Many decisions are better made by the state legislatures or by individuals.
That I helped Congress reclaim its authority for legislating and reduce the power of the bureaucratic state. For example, I hope we can finally get the REINS Act passed to compel Congressional approval for the many new agency rules which have economic impacts and which can carry the force of law. Another example is to ensure that new programs are equipped with sunset provisions, ensuring Congress reconsiders whether a program has been successful and deserves renewal.
I remember when Richard Nixon resigned. That must have been at eight years old.
Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” is special for me because many people take away so many different key messages.
Don't ask - I finally got rid of it!
Congress is arguably the most important branch of government, having been listed first in the Constitution. And while the Senate was originally designed to represent the interests of the states, it’s the House of Representatives who are closest to the voters and must be the most responsive to their needs. Standing for election, every two years, is designed to keep our representatives accountable for their voting records.
No and in fact it’s surely a detriment. The people would be better served by citizens who temporarily set aside their vocations to go into public service; citizens who’ve had many shared experiences with the voters.
The debt and inflation. The decay of the rule of law. And, it will take a decade to recover from the effects of President Biden’s border mismanagement.
Yes. Longer terms would put powerful incumbents further out of touch with the constituents.
I like the idea however I have no illusions that term limits alone will fix Washington’s dysfunction. Congressmen will never propose an amendment to limit their own power so I support the Article V approach and let the states decide whether there should be limits.
Absolutely! I vividly remember a story about the cost of living in Colorado. A person shared how she and her neighbors pool their money to buy dog food because it was cheaper than people food. As I listened, I felt a great sadness for her, but also a profound ire at the politicians whose pet projects are more important than the harm being done to citizens struggling to make ends meet.
Effective compromise is merely allowing for a lower priority concession while you obtain something of higher value. In that sense, yes.
Due to current policies, Americans are already struggling to do more with less. Congress doesn’t have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem. I have no plans to ask Americans to send more money to the government.
For oversight, for exposing corruption, and for learning of government’s violation of American’s civil rights.
Natural Resources, Science Space and Technology, and Small Business
It’s of paramount importance if we are to have trust in our government and our elected officials. While I like that many programs and agencies are required to generate reports, I’m not convinced they receive enough scrutiny. We can do better by putting sunset clauses into legislation. When the topic is up for debate again, Americans will have the opportunity to hear how well or how poorly their money is being spent.

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.

2022

Candidate Connection

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

Expand all | Collapse all

Marshall was raised on a farm in a community of 2,400 people outside of Midway, Kentucky, located between Lexington and Frankfort. Seated among rolling farmland and world-famous distilleries, the town of Midway was, and still is, an example of the quintessential American ideal where all are welcome and afforded the freedom of self-determination.

Since childhood, Marshall has had an interest in problem-solving. Inspired by his uncle’s research in electric cars, Marshall attended the University of Kentucky and earned a degree in Electrical Engineering.

After Marshall earned his Electrical Engineering degree in 1991, he went to work for IBM in Raleigh, North Carolina, and quickly found out why IBM stands for “I’ve been moved.” In 1997, Marshall left IBM for new opportunities in Longmont. As an open-source engineer, Marshall has worked for both big and small companies, and has run his own company. Today, Marshall runs a development organization for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), spanning time zones from Germany to California.

Before running for Congress, Marshall has served as one of the Vice Chairmen of the Boulder County Republicans and as President of Liberty Toastmasters North, where he is now serving as Vice President of Education. Aside from politics, Marshall has coached high school volleyball teams, and loves photography and mountain biking.
Let Americans decide which regulations are in America’s best interest: If elected to serve as your representative, Marshall will work with both Democrats and Republicans to pass the REINS Act. The REINS Act will require that all regulatory actions, having a $100M effect on the economy, be reviewed and voted on by Congress. Federal agencies currently enact regulations without the approval of Congress, the representatives of the people. The REINS Act will ensure that potentially onerous regulations require your representative to be on record, for or against, regarding policies affecting you.

It’s time to take school safety seriously: Congress has funded various programs to prevent school violence. Although these do good work, they are inadequately funded. Congress should care as much about safeguarding America’s children from domestic threats as for funding the security of foreign countries.

For example, the STOP School Violence Act has funded school violence prevention programs up to $125 million in 2022. If each state was provided equal funding, Colorado would receive $2,500,000 for our 1,972 schools; only $1,270 for each school to enhance its security, provide training, and implement evidence-based threat assessments. This is unreasonable and will do little to protect our children from the threat of school violence.

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 website

Dawson's campaign website stated the following:

PEACE

Congress invested $54 billion for Ukraine, but why can’t Congress adequately invest in children’s safety?

– It’s time to take school safety seriously.

Congress has funded various programs to prevent school violence. Although these do good work, they are inadequately funded. Congress should care as much about safeguarding America’s children from domestic threats as for funding the security of foreign countries.

For example, the STOP School Violence Act has funded school violence prevention programs up to $125 million in 2022. If each state was provided equal funding, Colorado would receive $2,500,000 for our 1,972 schools; only $1,270 for each school to enhance its security, provide training, and implement evidence-based threat assessments. This is unreasonable and will do little to protect our children from the threat of school violence.

1. “Justice Department Awards More Than $125 Million in Grants Under the STOP School Violence Act,” Department of Justice

– Colorado needs active representation in Congress to curb Colorado’s fentanyl crisis.

Deaths from synthetic opioid overdoses are seven times higher than when CD2 Congressman Joe Neguse took office, jumping 39% between 2020 and 2021. Despite Colorado leading the nation in the rate of fentanyl deaths, with 624 Coloradans dying already this year, Neguse has been silent in Congress. Neguse has even been silent after 19 Boulder County residents, one as young as 18 years old, died of fentanyl overdoses since February. Neguse has not released any statements, nor joined any efforts in Congress to pass legislation to curb Colorado’s fentanyl crisis.

If elected, Marshall would work with both Democrats and Republicans to pass legislation to help curb Colorado’s fentanyl crisis. This legislation would also require that Congress provide much-needed resources to our border patrol agents who are overwhelmed with the influx of illegal drugs arriving from China and Mexico and immigrants arriving at our Southern border. In just 2021, Texas law enforcement seized enough fentanyl to kill 222 million Americans. Any legislation that seriously addresses fentanyl must provide support to Americans protecting our Southern border.

If elected, Marshall would be an active, not absent, representative for Coloradans.

1. “Five more fentanyl deaths confirmed in Boulder County, bringing total to 19 in nine months,” The Colorado Sun
2. “Abbott says enough fentanyl seized in Texas to kill 222 million Americans, Biden ‘does not care’,” Fox News


POWER

Power back to the parents.

– Parents are not domestic terror threats.

It’s time for the Biden White House, Attorney General Merrick Garland, the FBI, and Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to come clean on exactly why they enthusiastically endorsed and acted on the National School Board Association’s (NSBA) letter requesting the Biden Administration to deploy “federal law enforcement [to] monitor and, potentially, intervene in local school board meetings across the country.” Why did the Biden Administration support the NSBA’s letter which called to use the power of the PATRIOT Act to investigate parents? Why were the FBI’s counterterrorism resources used to monitor and investigate parents expressing their First Amendment rights? Why did Attorney General Garland use the power of the federal government to threaten and intimidate rightfully-concerned American parents?

Parents need to have assurance that this breach of power will never happen again.

If elected, Marshall would endorse the House Judiciary Committee’s efforts to fully investigate the Biden Administration’s alleged involvement with the NSBA’s request, including Attorney General Garland’s and the FBI’s apparent counterterrorism actions against parents.

Marshall would also work to repeal the PATRIOT Act, which has been used to monitor Americans who run counter to accepted narratives. The NSBA’s request of the Biden Administration to use the power of the PATRIOT Act is an egregious example of how the unconstitutional PATRIOT Act has been and is being used to intimidate law-abiding Americans.

1. “Re: Federal Assistance to Stop Threats and Acts of Violence Against Public Schoolchildren, Public School Board Members, and Other Public School District Officials and Educators,” NSBA Letter to President Biden
2. “Justice Department Addresses Violent Threats Against School Officials and Teachers,” Department of Justice
3. “Garland vs. Parents,” Wall Street Journal
4. “Garland calls in FBI to counter reported threats against school staffers,” New York Post

Make Congress suck less.

– Let Americans decide which regulations are in America’s best interest.

If elected to serve as your representative, Marshall will work with both Democrats and Republicans to pass the REINS Act. The REINS Act will require that all regulatory actions, having a $100M effect on the economy, be reviewed and voted on by Congress. Federal agencies currently enact regulations without the approval of Congress, the representatives of the people. The REINS Act will ensure that potentially onerous regulations require your representative to be on record, for or against, regarding policies affecting you.

1. Ballotopia, “REINS Act”

– Give every generation an opportunity to re-debate policy.

All major legislation should include a “sunset clause,” which would stipulate a reoccurring congressional review and debate on existing policy and agencies. Every American generation deserves the opportunity to voice their opinion on policies they inherit, fostering our sense of innovation and ingenuity inherent to the American spirit.

A more perfect union is only possible when all Americans are in control of how they experience the Great American Dream. Outdated, ineffectual, and just bad policy threatens not only how our republic functions but also hinders how our republic progresses.

– End House ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ voice votes on all consequential legislation.

Americans should know how their representative votes on consequential legislation via recorded votes, plain and simple.

The biggest spending bill in American history, the $2T coronavirus relief package, was passed in an empty chamber by voice vote. With the exception of one congressman, Congress fought tooth and nail against a recorded vote and ultimately succeeded in avoiding accountability. This should never happen again, no exceptions. Coloradans deserve to know how their representative votes on consequential legislation, especially on big spending bills.

1. “GOP lawmaker plans to try to force recorded vote on $2 trillion coronavirus bill,” NBC News


PROSPERITY

Congress can’t spend America’s way into prosperity.

-Let’s get serious about what’s causing inflation.

It’s no secret our leaders are out of touch, especially when it comes to how out of control inflation is. Many Coloradans noticed months ago that food, material, and gas prices were creeping up, while our leaders in Washington D.C., from President Biden to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, gaslighted Americans into believing that inflation was only transitory and momentarily volatile. In fact, our leaders have passed the blame to American industry for price gouging and even onto Putin, despite the majority of economists arguing that it has been Biden’s massive spending policies that have caused the United States to have the highest rate of inflation in the world.

Here are just a few examples of how Joe and Joe have been wrong on inflation and obfuscated responsibility:

– Congressman Neguse’s only statement on inflation, posted on Twitter on May 9, 2022 in response to a Tweet posted by Senator Chuck Grassley: “So . . . you’re saying it IS price-gouging driving inflation? Good to know.” [link to Tweet]

– President Biden in July 2021: “Our experts believe and our data shows that most of the price increases we’ve seen were expected and expected to be temporary.” [link to quote]

– President Biden in November 2021: “Because of the strength of our economic recovery, American families have been able to buy more products… And — but guess what? They’re not going out to dinner and lunch and going to the local bars because of COVID. So what are they doing? They’re staying home, they’re ordering online, and they’re buying product.” [link to quote]

– President Biden in December 2021: “Half of the price increases in this report are in cars and energy costs from November. Since then, we have seen significant energy price reductions.” [link to quote]

– Press Secretary Jen Psaki on May 10, 2022: “And we’ve seen in recent months the impact of President Putin’s invasion and the energy prices that have gone up and been a main driver of inflation.” [link to quote]

If elected to be CD2’s representative, Marshall would immediately:

1. Reduce and cut spending where it makes sense to do so. The United States has the highest inflation rate in the world and it is partially due to record congressional spending. Congress needs to focus on spending on the basic necessities that are within Congress’s constitutional purview.

1. “Why Is U.S. Inflation Higher than in Other Countries?,” Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco”

2. Reintroduce the Keystone XL Pipeline Construction and Jobs Preservation Act (H.R.684) while supporting efforts to integrate nuclear power into America’s energy infrastructure.

3. Support any congressional efforts to fire Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Secretary Yellen said it herself, “I think I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take. As I mentioned, there have been unanticipated and large shocks to the economy that have boosted energy and food prices and supply bottlenecks that have affected our economy badly that I didn’t — at the time — didn’t fully understand, but we recognize that now.” Now that Secretary Yellen has acknowledged her grave mistake, it’s time for her to step aside so the Treasury Department can be led by a competent economist who can better advise the White House through this inflation crisis.

1. “Treasury secretary concedes she was wrong on ‘path that inflation would take’,” CNN

– It’s time to return to what’s possible, not what’s convenient.

Record Congressional spending, and Biden’s ideological war on energy production, have caused the worst inflation crisis since 1980. Congress needs to dramatically reduce spending while entrusting Americans to create value through technology, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship. For example, Congress should immediately reduce self-employment taxes. As many Americans are leaving their jobs to start their own businesses, it is vital that Congress inspires, not curtails, the American entrepreneurial spirit.

– Spend where it matters. Cut spending where it makes sense.[3]

—Marshall Dawson's campaign website (2022)[4]

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.


Marshall Dawson campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* U.S. House Colorado District 2Lost general$8,673 $15,355
2022U.S. House Colorado District 2Lost general$48,943 $34,886
Grand total$57,616 $50,241
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 11, 2022
  2. Dawson for Congress, "Home," accessed June 20, 2024
  3. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. Dawson for Congress, “Platform,” accessed August 30, 2022


Senators
Representatives
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Jeff Hurd (R)
District 4
District 5
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District 8
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