{"id":42232,"date":"2022-02-10T10:19:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T17:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/3rd-congressional-district-candidate-enters-race-vowing-to-end-daylight-saving-time\/"},"modified":"2022-02-10T17:19:56","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T17:19:56","slug":"3rd-congressional-district-candidate-enters-race-vowing-to-end-daylight-saving-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/3rd-congressional-district-candidate-enters-race-vowing-to-end-daylight-saving-time\/","title":{"rendered":"3rd Congressional District candidate enters race vowing to end daylight saving time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Scott
Scott Yates is a Democratic candidate for the 3rd Congressional District in 2022. He recently moved to Pueblo from Denver to qualify as a candidate. (Handout\/via The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Scott Yates knows it\u2019s hard to find common ground in this hyperpartisan, divided political world these days.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s hoping the voters in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District can agree on at least one thing \u2013 it\u2019s time to get rid of daylight saving time.<\/p>\n

The newest Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for the House seat, currently occupied by Republican Lauren Boebert, has a few priorities in his campaign platform. But kicking the time change to the curb is at the top of his list.<\/p>\n

The 57-year-old Pueblo resident sees himself as a problem-solver, a role he\u2019s played repeatedly. And he\u2019s been campaigning against daylight saving time for the past eight years \u2013 a problem he sees that needs fixing and something he vows to solve if he\u2019s elected.<\/p>\n

His fight against the time change started after he and his wife, Kathy, read \u201cA Complaint Free World,\u201d and he found himself grumbling about daylight saving time during a meal.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018I thought we weren\u2019t complaining about things anymore,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yates started to research reasons for ending daylight saving time and launched the \u201cLock the Clock\u201d initiative, since joined by others who want to end the practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a Democrat or Republican issue,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just one government is doing badly.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes this common ground can help bring people together in agreement and find a solution together, in an otherwise polarized political scene.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t mistake Yates for a single-issue candidate, despite his passion for stopping the clock.<\/p>\n

His other priorities include protecting water for Colorado\u2019s use.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt drives me absolutely crazy that there are these lush, green golf courses in Vegas, all with Colorado River water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yates is familiar with the preciousness of water in the West, and co-authored a book on the subject, \u201cThe Future of Water.\u201d He\u2019s particularly concerned with the division of Colorado River water as it flows to California, governed by the Colorado River Compact.<\/p>\n

The centennial anniversary of its signing is coming up this year, and water users have found it divides up more water than is available, most of the time, as it was negotiated using generous hydrologic data. Since then, drought, climate change and population growth in the West has further strained the resource.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt needs a reboot, clearly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Another priority is what Yates calls \u201chuman-centered economic development,\u201d which could include everything from broadband internet to any other infrastructure or tool helping to boost the economy.<\/p>\n

The idea to enter the Congressional race didn\u2019t cross his mind until Democrat favorite State Sen. Kerry Donovan dropped out of the race in November, after her Eagle County home was drawn out of the district. Since then, a handful of Democrats have joined the race but none are as well-known as Donovan.<\/p>\n

Yates\u2019 primary opponents include state Rep. Don Valdez of La Jara and first-time candidate and community activist Sol Sandoval of Pueblo. Yates filed his paperwork to run for the seat on Jan. 25, according to Federal Election Commission records.<\/p>\n

He figures at this point, it\u2019s anyone\u2019s race. He\u2019s not a politician, and hasn\u2019t run for office since an unsuccessful bid for student council nearly 40 years ago, but why not? He has experience in the political realm and likes solving problems.<\/p>\n

The former Republican once worked for Gov. Bill Owens as a policy wonk. He volunteered on Republican Greg Walcher\u2019s campaign when he ran for 3rd Congressional District in 2004. And he worked for Walcher when he was the state Department of Natural Resources director.<\/p>\n

But at least 10 years ago, Yates changed parties. He said he can\u2019t remember exactly when he switched his \u201cR\u201d to a \u201cD\u201d or what prompted the change.<\/p>\n

What makes him a Democrat now is largely what he thinks made him a Republican back when he worked for Owens.<\/p>\n

\u201cRule of law, free markets, free people \u2026 humane and business-friendly immigration policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel I\u2019ve changed at all,\u201d he said. \u201cI just feel like the party\u2019s been changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yates, who recently rented a home in Pueblo in order to run for the seat, said he relates well to the Western Slope and was born in Glenwood Springs. His move to Pueblo is strategic \u2013 it has traditionally been an important part of the congressional district for Democrats to dominate if they want to win the election.<\/p>\n

He grew up mostly on the Front Range, graduating from Denver South High School and attending the University of Colorado in Boulder before going on to school at New York University, earning a journalism degree. But he came right back to Colorado, with his first reporting job out of school at The Durango Herald<\/em>. He followed it up with reporting jobs in Loveland and at Westword<\/em>, and a short stint in Connecticut, but eventually left journalism.<\/p>\n

Since then, he\u2019s been a bit of a serial entrepreneur, starting various companies \u2013 everything from a service for tracking legislation to a traffic news company which was eventually acquired by Microsoft.<\/p>\n

He most recently founded a new venture seeking to form a network of verified, trustworthy news sources to help battle disinformation, called JournalList.<\/p>\n

And now, he\u2019s running for Congress.<\/p>\n

Those watching the race should expect a different kind of campaign from Yates, who isn\u2019t planning on spending money on digital consultants from Washington, D.C., or spending money on a bunch of television attack ads against opponents.<\/p>\n

In fact, he doesn\u2019t plan on bashing anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing negative, ever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t want to be the candidate people support because they want to be against something.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want people to donate because they dislike Lauren Boebert,\u201d he said. \u201cI want people to donate because they like the idea of fixing daylight saving time and lowering the temperature of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not hiring focus groups or strategists to tell him what plays well with soccer moms or retirees. Yates is sticking to a mantra he hopes will carry him through the election \u2013 to just be himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to be completely honest, be completely myself and if people respond to that, that\u2019s great, and if not, that\u2019s OK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Interested voters will get a chance to meet him soon.<\/p>\n

Yates must gather 1,500 signatures from registered Democrats in the district to join the ballot.<\/p>\n

He plans a trek across the sprawling, nearly 50,000-square mile district in his Ford Edge nicknamed the \u201cDaylight Express\u201d to gather signatures personally. He\u2019s not going to hire a bunch of temp workers to harass people in front of grocery stores for signatures. Instead, he\u2019ll visit places across the district and gather signatures, or if people can\u2019t come to those events, he\u2019ll come to their houses.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not kidding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll just come to your porch personally and you can sign the petition and you can take a selfie and I\u2019ll be on my way,\u201d he said, \u201cI don\u2019t feel like there\u2019s any way to run in this district without showing up. I\u2019m going to be the guy that actually shows up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

also focused on water, broadband access and economic issues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[981,28,167,826],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-3rd-congressional-district","tag-headlines","tag-local-news-lead","tag-political-campaigns"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42232"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}