Routledge\u2019s campaign is a solo operation. After being a delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., in 2016, Routledge was inspired to pursue his first attempt at representing the 3rd Congressional District of Colorado. Although collecting only 2% of the vote, his candidacy in 2018 allowed Routledge to learn more about the nomination process, equipping him with the skills he said he needed to announce his candidacy for 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never stopped being a candidate in 2018,\u201d Routledge said. \u201cIt\u2019s just me. I do my own filing with the FEC (Federal Elections Commission), I don\u2019t have an entourage or a campaign manager. \u2026 That\u2019s not where my campaign is, and I chose to do it this way because I need time to get everything ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Routledge moved from Canada to the U.S. when he was 7 years old. Before serving in the Vietnam War, he had lived in various Western rural states, and after finishing his service in 1972, he moved to Colorado, settling in Durango 25 years ago. Since then, Routledge has made climate activism his primary focus and believes that his climate platform will differentiate him from the other three Democratic candidates.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate is the most important existential threat to humanity ever, and it is current, and it is bearing down on us,\u201d Routledge said. \u201cIt is surprising to me that no one has spoken on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Diane Mitsch Bush, Donald Valdez and James Iacino, the other contenders, had barely mentioned climate, Routledge said, and \u201cthey think that they have to have an opinion on everything\u201d instead of focusing on the pressing issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have anything passed in Congress to deal with climate change,\u201d Routledge said. \u201cI\u2019m a veteran from a war so I\u2019ve got a lot of fight in me, and that\u2019s why I jumped in and made climate a focus because it\u2019s so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a \u201cscientifically educated systems engineer,\u201d Routledge said he understands the complexity of the climate and the severity of the situation, which will give him an edge over Tipton, who is \u201cliterally a climate denier.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a 2017 interview with ThinkProgress, a public policy research organization, Tipton said that while he does believe climate change exists, it is caused by natural climate cycles, rather than humans. His pro-environment scorecard with the League of Conservation Voters is currently at 9%.<\/p>\n
Aside from climate, Routledge outlined four issue areas he intends to prioritize should he serve as representative: a healthy democracy, a healthy economy, a healthy population and a healthy environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf our democracy isn\u2019t functioning, which it isn\u2019t right now, with gerrymandering and the dark money in politics, then we don\u2019t have a chance in fixing anything,\u201d Routledge said.<\/p>\n
In terms of a healthy population, Routledge referenced hurdles in obtaining access to health care and said that as a low-income senior, he supports Medicare for all because he understands the financial toll health care can take on an individual.<\/p>\n
While he acknowledges the issues affecting the 3rd Congressional District, such as preserving public lands and improving health care access, Routledge said he is not going to spend time working on issues that are already being addressed in Congress.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have studied what\u2019s out there and I know what the bills are,\u201d Routledge said. \u201cI don\u2019t have to re-create them. I can support what\u2019s already in place. But when you look at the big picture, at the strategic things that are affecting the viability of our future, if we don\u2019t help our future, nothing else is going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Routledge said that while he is confident in his climate platform, he is at a \u201cgreat disadvantage\u201d in terms of campaign funding, having only received $2,000, with $1,500 being campaign loans. However, if he can raise the necessary funds, he believes he can take on his opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve really got what it takes if climate becomes the issue,\u201d Routledge said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s a hard sell, and if that\u2019s the issue, I don\u2019t think anyone can touch me.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the only candidate to make climate a campaign focus, Routledge hopes to rally the 3rd Congressional District behind him and fight for change in Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to Washington to reach across the goddamn aisle,\u201d Routledge said. \u201cI will go to Washington to fight for the future with passion in my heart and fire in my belly and lead on climate because that\u2019s what we need right now, and it\u2019s our last chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ayelet Sheffey is a student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Routledge won 2% of primary vote in 2016; says he\u2019s better prepared now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5766,5764,5737,5736,5735,5765],"tags":[981,266,28,23],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-91963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colorado-3rd-congressional-district","category-election","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-u-s-rep-scott-tipton","tag-colorado-3rd-congressional-district","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-u-s-rep-scott-tipton"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91963","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=91963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91963"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=91963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}