Colorado native Kathleen Curry is running for the state’s House Seat No. 45, and like her opponent Larry Don Suckla, she’s also part of a ranching family. Curry married into a multi-generational cow-calf and hay operation. Her husband, Greg Peterson, is fourth generation, and the fifth generation is already at work on the outfit too.
They’re on Tomichi Creek, east of Gunnison, up at 8,000 feet. Their ranch isn’t a tourist destination or a dude ranch. It’s a true family ranch, something that makes Curry proud, since she said not so many are left these days working in production ag. They do raise Limousine-Angus cattle and buy some of their bulls from Redd Ranches, of Paradox.
Curry told the Forum she has spent time in Norwood and the West End. Recently, she attended the Club 20 meetings this summer in Nucla. She added she is opposed to a national monument along the Dolores River, and she doesn’t like that local voices weren’t included in the planning — something she said state representatives must take seriously.
Curry has a masters degree in “water resources planning and management” from Colorado State University. She was first hired as manager of the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District in Gunnison.
“I decided to run for the Colorado House in 2004, so I could work to protect West Slope water and agriculture,” she said. “I won the election and ended up serving three terms and was appointed chair of the House Ag and Natural Resources Committee, in addition to serving as speaker pro tem for a year.”
Curry said she passed more than 50 water-related bills, many that provided protection and assistance for Western Slope water users. She also owned two small businesses on Main Street in Gunnison, but those closed during the pandemic.
“I went back to the Capitol to advocate for West Slope water users, sportsmen and livestock producers, which is what I have been doing for the last six years,” she said.
Curry said she’s policy-oriented and has worked off and on at the state level for nearly 20 years as an elected official, professional lobbyist and concerned citizen and voter. She’s said she’s also fiscally conservative and has done a lot of work in the budget process.
She said she has the qualified experience.
“I have always focused on natural resources issues and was recognized by numerous organizations when I last served, including the Colorado Farm Bureau, the Colorado Livestock Association, Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, the Royalty Owners Association, and the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union. I love the legislative process, and I was honored to be an elected representative for the people in my district,” she said.
If elected again in November, Curry wants to serve on the House Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources committee and will be seeking a leadership role on that committee.
“I am also very interested in protecting small businesses, so I would like to sit on the Business Affairs committee,” she said. “I want to increase available funds for agricultural and domestic water infrastructure needs, I want to provide more funding to cover the costs of preventative measures that producers are facing in areas where wolves are being released, and I want to pursue options for improving rural health care.”
Additionally, Curry told the Forum if she were elected again she would stay in touch with constituents and be responsive to people who contact her. She agreed to also do regular updates and press releases with the Forum in the future.
