ALAMOSA — Dr. Debby Burnett – large and small animal veterinarian, physical therapist, and small business owner in Gunnison — has announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination to challenge U.S. House Colorado District 3 incumbent Representative Lauren Boebert in 2024.

This is Burnett’s second attempt to garner the nomination after failing to qualify in 2022, yet she remains as committed as ever to winning the primary in a year and unseating Boebert in the fall of 2024

“Nothing has changed,” Burnett says. “Our representative is still not talking about the issues that matter most to people in the third district.”

Among the issues that matter most to people, Burnett believes water tops everything else.

“(Water) is our lifeblood. Whether it’s agriculture, recreation, tourism — water drives all of those things,” Burnett says. “We need someone who doesn’t just talk about water being important but backs it up with votes. Our representative doesn’t do that. She hasn’t done that since she was elected. People need to just look at her record.”

Burnett, whose late father was a water engineer, acknowledges that the federal government addressing water is complicated as each state handles their water differently. But she sees a clear role elected representatives can play.

“Representatives can be involved in bringing people with different backgrounds to the table,” Burnett says. “People on the ground who live in the district and deal with the issues every day, they’re the real experts. Representatives should be listening to them, finding out what they need and then lobbying to get them the resources they need to do what they need to do in their area.”

The number one job of a representative, Burnett says, is to listen — to everyone, regardless of their affiliation.

“Our representative doesn’t do that. She only listens to those who voted for her,” Burnett says.

Burnett says that her ability to listen and to speak to people in a language they understand is one of her strengths. It is a skill she uses as a veterinarian in explaining to people what is happening with their animals and a skill she has used as a physical therapist.

“I used to stand outside a patient’s room in the hospital waiting for their doctor to finish speaking with them before I went in,” Burnett says. “I heard the doctor explaining things that I knew patients didn’t always understand. So, when I went into the room, I would always spend the first 20 minutes or so with a patient listening and talking to them about why I was there and what we were going to do.”

That hospital experience also helped to shape her opinion about the need for affordable and accessible health care, another one of her top issues.

“Health care in rural areas is more expensive. I know that from my own experience,” Burnett says. “Sometimes, I’ve had to travel to the Front Range to get the health care that I need. I know what that’s like. Access and affordability are keeping many people from getting the health care that they need.”

Housing is another top issue in the district and one where the federal government can be of help in getting local communities the resources they need to address the shortage.

Burnett is clear that, before she can take on Rep. Boebert, she must win the Democratic primary, and she feels that her “lived experience” makes her more qualified than former candidates.

“The Democratic Party has lost the last six elections in this district, and I think it’s because the candidates have come from wealthier enclaves,” Burnett says. “This district is a huge swath of the state, but we have consistently nominated people who just don’t understand what life is like for most of the people who live here.

“I understand the challenges people are facing. My husband owns his own business — he bales and transports hay. I know what it's like when he doesn’t have enough business because the drought has affected how much hay is grown or what it means when he has a problem with his baler. We also have a 16-year-old daughter who will be going to college in a few years. I know what it’s like to talk about how we’re going to be able to afford that,” Burnett says.

“I truly believe the nominee should represent the lived experience of the voters in the third district, and we’re not nominating people who can speak to that experience,” Burnett says.

The largest block of voters in CD-3 are unaffiliated. When asked why she thinks that is the case, Burnett attributes it to “a real streak of independence in Western Colorado. People don’t like to be told who they can or can’t vote for,” she says. “They want to base their decision on something besides party.”

But she also feels the Democratic Party should be a natural fit for many unaffiliated voters because “we’re the party with the solutions.”

The segment of the Republican Party that Rep. Boebert represents, she says, uses fear to divide people.

“Fear of immigrants, fear of people who transgender, fear of people who support a woman’s right to choose, fear of LGBTQ,” Burnett says. “Their whole message is based on emotion. It’s politically very divisive.”

The Democratic Party, she says, is focused on issues that she believes are the ones that really matter to people.

“Lived experience is not red or blue. The issues we care about aren’t red or blue,” Burnett says. “Water, crumbling roads, health care, housing. Senator (Michael) Bennet’s child tax credit — that helped people. The projects that were funded by the Infrastructure Bill — those aren’t red or blue projects. We just need to nominate people who can listen and relate to the experiences of the people who live here.”

Burnett is aware that Adam Frisch, the 2022 Democratic nominee who ran against Rep. Boebert in 2022, lost by less than 600 votes, but that has not deterred her from throwing her hat in the ring again.

“In that election, 31,000 Democrats in the third district didn’t vote,” Burnett says. “Some people say that was because it was an off year and there was no presidential nominee on the ballot. Maybe they’re right. But I think it’s because (Frisch) didn’t appeal to Democratic voters.

“I’m not a wealthy businessman. I don’t have $2 million to loan to my campaign. One of the staff members on my campaign said people may look at this primary as a choice between a rich white man and a poor woman. Well, dollars don’t vote. People do. And I understand the people in Colorado’s third district,” Burnett says.