Robert Marshall (Colorado)

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Robert Marshall
Image of Robert Marshall

Candidate, Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Colorado House of Representatives District 43
Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Compensation

Base salary

$47,561/year for legislators whose terms began in 2025. $43,977/year for legislators whose terms began in 2023.

Per diem

For legislators residing within 50 miles of the Capitol: $45/day. For legislators living more than 50 miles from the Capitol: $238/day.

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Next election

June 30, 2026

Education

High school

Evergreen High School

Bachelor's

Georgetown University

Graduate

University of San Diego School of Law

Law

Cornell Law School

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Marine Corps

Personal
Birthplace
Denver, Colo.
Religion
Episcopalian
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Robert Marshall (Democratic Party) is a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, representing District 43. He assumed office on January 9, 2023. His current term ends on January 12, 2027.

Marshall (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the Colorado House of Representatives to represent District 43. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 30, 2026.[source]

Biography

Robert "Bob" Marshall was born in and lives in Colorado. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Marshall earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University, a J.D. and LL.M. in international law from Cornell Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude, and an LL.M. in tax law from the University of San Diego Law School. His career experience includes working as an attorney for the U.S. Marine Corp, including at an Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan, and in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Marshall also worked as a law clerk to Judge Eugene Siler, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and as a commercial litigation and appellate specialist for a law firm in Colorado. Marshall also worked in the large business and international litigation division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).[1]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Committee assignments

2025-2026

Marshall was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Marshall was assigned to the following committees:


Elections

2026

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on June 30, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Incumbent Robert Marshall (D) is running in the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on June 30, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Robert Marshall
Robert Marshall

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Nate Marsh (R) is running in the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on June 30, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Nate Marsh
Nate Marsh  Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

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2024

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Incumbent Robert Marshall defeated Matt Burcham in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Marshall
Robert Marshall (D) Candidate Connection
 
51.3
 
27,915
Image of Matt Burcham
Matt Burcham (R) Candidate Connection
 
48.7
 
26,542

Total votes: 54,457
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Incumbent Robert Marshall advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on June 25, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Marshall
Robert Marshall Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
8,013

Total votes: 8,013
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Matt Burcham defeated Lora Thomas in the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on June 25, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Matt Burcham
Matt Burcham Candidate Connection
 
53.4
 
6,606
Lora Thomas Candidate Connection
 
46.6
 
5,756

Total votes: 12,362
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign finance

2022

See also: Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Robert Marshall defeated incumbent Kurt Huffman in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Marshall
Robert Marshall (D) Candidate Connection
 
50.4
 
22,876
Image of Kurt Huffman
Kurt Huffman (R)
 
49.6
 
22,471

Total votes: 45,347
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Robert Marshall advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Robert Marshall
Robert Marshall Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
7,659

Total votes: 7,659
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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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43

Incumbent Kurt Huffman defeated Robin Webb in the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 43 on June 28, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kurt Huffman
Kurt Huffman
 
60.9
 
7,423
Robin Webb
 
39.1
 
4,770

Total votes: 12,193
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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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

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2024

Candidate Connection

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

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Born and raised in Colorado, I joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Georgetown University. Six years later, the USMC sent me to Cornell Law School where I earned a J.D. & LL.M. in International Law (magna cum laude). I then served as a Senior Defense Counsel and Station Judge Advocate (SJA) before leaving active duty to clerk for Judge Siler on the U.S. Court of Appeals. After clerking, I returned home to Colorado to work at an international law firm as a litigation and appellate specialist while also providing hundreds of hours of pro bono service as a guardian ad-litem and for several public interest cases. In 2005, I began mobilizing frequently for “The Global War on Terror” for such service as a Police Transition Team Leader in Iraq and the Governance OIC in Helmand Province Afghanistan. The State Department requested that I return to Afghanistan as a Senior Rule of Law Advisor, but an injury led to an assignment with Wounded Warrior Battalion as a Disability Evaluation System Advisor. While at WWBN, I earned a LL.M. in Tax Law and subsequently began work for the IRS in the Large Business & International Litigation division. When the COVID pandemic began, I returned to Colorado and began successfully challenging unethical and illegal conduct in the local county government. The Democratic Party then approached me to ask if I would run for office. And in 2022, I won HD43 as the first Democrat elected to a partisan office in Douglas County in > 50 years.
  • PUBLIC SAFETY. I am a strong proponent for public safety & law enforcement, which the Speaker cited as a reason for my removal from the Judiciary Committee "to help deliver the progressive outcomes our caucus is looking for". Colo Sun, Dec 13, 2023. One of my top priorities and first bills I worked on when elected was a law to reduce auto thefts by treating all auto theft as a felony rather than simply as a property crime (i.e., based on monetary value). I was one of only 7 House Democrats who sponsored this law. But it has been cited as THE reason for a reduction in auto thefts statewide by 45% in just one year. Denver Gazette, May 6, 2024.
  • FAIRNESS. As one of the most fiscally conservative members legislators from either party, I frequently vote against special interest tax credits and exemptions no matter who may be the beneficiary. (Republicans have no problem voting for special interest tax breaks for groups they favor, like in the business community). But if someone has been left out of a benefit where they should have been included, I fight hard to ensure that is rectified. So I brought a referred measure to ensure veterans with an individual unemployability (IU) designation from the VA would also receive the disabled veteran homestead exemption and that seniors who rent their homes would also receive tax relief for their housing cost, not just those who own their home.
  • ENVIRONMENT. I am a very pro-business Democrat. But growing up in Colorado's mountains, I am a congenital conservationist and remember the "Brown Cloud" in the 1970s where we had "chewy air". Even if we halved our emissions/person since that time, when we double the population, we are again approaching many of the same issues regarding an unhealthy pollution of the air we breathe and water we drink. Once you emit pollutants off private property that enter public air space or water, it is now public business. So I have been, and will continue to be, a strong conservationist in the state house even while trying to provide business relief from other onerous non-environmental regulations.
GOOD GOVERNANCE. I continue work I began in DougCo for ethical & transparent government. I challenged decades long bipartisan violations of Colorado's Sunshine Laws, which led to a lawsuit against the entire state house, including my own party and leadership, that had even a former GOP Treasurer and Senate Minority Leader remarking that: "It took courage...to blow the whistle on this practice." Colorado Politics, July 14, 2023. Good governance is never popular with those in power. But I engaged in efforts to reform county electoral systems, vacancy committee processes, and put caps on property taxes in the service of better more responsive government for the people and against the insiders and special interests.
Washington, Churchill, De Gaulle, George C. Marshall are all men of extraordinary integrity and ability who persevered through incredibly difficult times for a greater good. I could never hope to measure up to their example, but it is always better to strive for something better than yourself than accept a lesser reality. I am also, however, very partial to Presidents Monroe and Truman as individuals who achieved extraordinary accomplishments with so little drama and strife that the accomplishments are not given the amount of praise or receive the amount of awe that they should. I think that type of quiet leadership is probably the best example to follow where great things are done, but done so quietly they seem ordinary.
"The Constitution of Liberty" by Friedrich Hayek mirrors much of what I think describes the economic and political world properly when people have a nuanced understanding of that work and philosophy. As the great philosopher Yogi Berra once observed: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice . . . there is." Pure ideologies or philosophies seldom survive contact with political, social and economic realities. But Hayek saw that truth as part of a broader pragmatism. The work warns against the dangers of statism and socialism in the traditional sense of those concepts in terms of the government directing what people may or may not do. It does not actually argue against, and in fact concedes the need for, public goods and public welfare programs.
Integrity, transparency and strength of character. You will never be able to please everyone, but should always try and represent everyone by listening to ALL your constituents. And always be willing to explain your vote on an issue. I've had conservative and progressive constituents contact me quite upset about a vote I have made or position I have taken. But I am blessed with well educated, pragmatic reasonable constituents where in the vast majority of cases when I explain my vote or position, they are pleased that I have thought through the issue and can provide them a possible different perspective to the issue or bill that they had not considered before, even if they may still agree with the ultimate vote or conclusion. It is also necessary to never hold a grudge and always be polite and willing to talk to everyone, both colleagues and constituents. 7 of my 8 bills in the last session passed out of committee in a bipartisan unanimous vote. And that only occurred because even when I have had strong disagreements with colleagues, I have tried to never be disagreeable and consider their perspectives. I also believe that if you have the upper hand you should never try and claim "all of the marbles" but try and provide concessions or "throw a bone" to the other side. That way hopefully everyone continues to feel invested and respected by the system even if they do not get their way in any particular instance. Particularly as the shoe may be on the other foot at some point and you may be the one needing a concession for your district or constituents.
To be cognizant of what is in all the bills we vote upon. I've had colleagues actually express to me that they wished I'd stop reading all the bills. I am one of the few legislators that does make an effort to understand what's in each bill that comes to me for a vote. It really is not possible to keep to this goal 100% given we have 500+ bills/session that are frequently amended, changed or die. And one needs to put the most focus on your own bills and those that come to committees upon which you sit. But particularly during my first session, I made an effort to at least understand what was in the bills so that even if constituents disagreed with my vote, they could be assured I made an effort to digest what I was voting upon and not just following what a special interest wanted or the "party line."
First real legitimate W2 job (as opposed to yard work, roofing, or other contract work) was as a busser in high school at "The Wolf House". Worked there my Junior and Senior years in high school and the summer before college. I did a pretty good job as when I returned home for breaks during college, they would find out, call me at home and ask if I would come in to help out.
A strong partnership as the executive branch must administer programs set up the legislature. So it is essential that the executive agencies are intimately involved with legislation from the beginning to ensure that sustainable workable solutions to problems can be done. We do, however, have a severe gap in our state government of legislative oversight authority once legislation is passed. I hope to work on correcting that in the future.
Growth. Both in keeping it affordable to live here (which generally implies increased growth/supply) while protecting the environment from that growth.
Yes. In the beginning. But after one session, any potential "leg up" is usually lost or no longer existent. But even those from other areas of state or local government will have that first year learning curve in the state legislature, including those who were previously aides or worked in the legislature in some capacity.
It's essential. And not in terms of a personal relationship where you do personal favors for each other, but in terms of always talking and keeping the lines of communication open. I had a couple bills I moved out of committee with the help of GOP legislators with whom I voted differently 90% of the time. Had I held a grudge or refused to keep talking and being friendly, when the time finally came where I had a bill they could vote for, I was able to approach them and ask as I had been talking with them before. The time to first talk to someone is not the first time you need their help.
The legislature should definitely have the power to grant the use of emergency powers, but it must be coupled with effective oversight.
Finance, Judiciary, Appropriations. I was assigned to the Judiciary and Finance Committees after being sworn in almost by default given my background. Only later did I discover they are the two busiest committees in the state house . . . by a margin. (Appropriations does more work by volume, but most of the bills are pre-determined and very little work and no testimony is involved on bills coming before that committee).
Absolutely essential. And a key component of my political character since running for office and being elected.

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2022

Candidate Connection

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

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Colorado Native; 28 years Marine Corps (Afghanistan/Iraq); VFW/DAV Life Member; Attorney (Cornell Law School, J.D./LL.M. magna cum laude); Clerk, Judge Siler, US Appeals Court 6th Circuit; USD Tax LLM
  • Strong. Moral courage to do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. Shown throughout Marine Corps career and in taking on corrupt processes and politicians in Colorado for the public interest.
  • Smart. Very well educated, but mainly due to a wide ranging curiosity and willingness to listen more than speak in order to understand before making decisions.
  • Dedicated. Service before self at all times. Love this country, this state, and the people in both and will work hard to have them proud to have me as their rep even if they disagree with some policy choices.
Public Safety; Public Education; Environmental Protection. Public safety includes reforming the mental health system so that jail is not the default mental care system in the state as it does not help the police, the mentally ill, not the public. Fire mitigation and bond reform also are under safety. Should not have personal recognizance bonds for auto theft. Public Education and Environmental Protection are passions by birth as an American and Coloradoan.

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.


Robert Marshall campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Colorado House of Representatives District 43Won general$143,162 $133,047
2022Colorado House of Representatives District 43Won general$121,346 $118,555
Grand total$264,508 $251,602
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

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Colorado

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

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2024


2023








See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Kurt Huffman (R)
Colorado House of Representatives District 43
2023-Present
Succeeded by
-


Current members of the Colorado House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Julie McCluskie
Majority Leader:Monica Duran
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
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Dan Woog (R)
District 20
District 21
District 22
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District 33
District 34
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District 43
District 44
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District 47
Ty Winter (R)
District 48
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District 50
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Democratic Party (43)
Republican Party (22)