A UCCS alumni and educator could be one of the youngest house representatives in Colorado’s history and one of the youngest female house representatives in the history of the U.S. if elected.
River Gassen, a 27-year-old candidate running for House District 5, said she is on track to receive more votes than any other past Democrat candidate for the district, which is where UCCS resides. The other youngest house representative in Colorado was 27-year-old Ruby Dickson, according to Colorado Politics.
She is running against Republican candidate Jeff Rank, who is the party’s replacement for long-time representative Doug Lamborn following his announcement that he would not seek reelection. According to Colorado Public Radio, District 5 is the only district in the state that has never sent a Democrat to congress.
Gassen is eager for the chance to create change, but she’s worried her campaign lacks the funds necessary to reach voters and convince them her campaign is “winnable,” despite the momentum she has right now.
She has been using mass text messages to reach voters but has been struggling to afford the texts that she wants to send for these next few weeks, which is her goal leading up to the election.
“I know winning is possible. I wouldn’t be running if it wasn’t, but I do feel like we need a lot of resources, and I’m worried that we’re not getting the resources we need,” Gassen said. “In the event that I don’t end up winning, I don’t want to say it’s because we had a lack of resources, [so] I do think I need to work to convince people. Yes, it’s winnable. Yes, we can do this. But I need your help,” Gassen said.
If she’s not elected, Gassen plans to run for the house again, hoping that this election at least gives her some name recognition to start building credibility with voters for the future.
One of Gassen’s priorities is that everyone should have equal access to AI. She believes AI training should be taught in public schools to educate younger generations how to responsibly use it. She also believes AI should be used in legislation to track economic spending, climate change and how people’s lives are affected by policies.
Gassen is also critical of the FAFSA system, noting that the expected family contribution does not consider enough factors, and the dependency rule is arbitrary. If elected, Gassen wants to alter independence status so that it is based on whether the student is paying for themselves.
While Gassen is passionate about this position, she said it has lowered in priority as the election approaches since it doesn’t apply to the majority of voters.
Gassen feels a major priority for the government right now should be resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Noting how divisive the topic is, Gassen emphasized her support for Palestine. “If we [Democrats] don’t get elected, then the conversation can’t even get started on ‘how do we help the Palestinian people?’ It’s really a severe situation. It’s an outright genocide going on right now,” she said.
Voters can learn more about Gassen’s political positions and how to support her campaign through her website. Her website also provides dates for the town meetings where she answers audience questions.
River Gassen. Photo courtesy of KKTV.