Springs official bids to unseat Lamborn

A Colorado Springs city councilman who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in last year’s presidential election is planning to run as a Republican in the growing race to unseat sixterm incumbent Congressman Doug Lamborn.

Tom Strand — who has been in and out of the GOP over the past roughly 18 months — says he plans to formally announce his campaign for the 5th Congressional District seat in September.

Strand, who was a registered Democrat until last year before joining the Republican Party (only to become unaffiliated and then rejoin the GOP in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election), hopes to offer a moderate choice for voters. He supports the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade and believes abortion should be a woman’s choice and isn’t against same sex marriage.

The 30-year Air Force veteran also thinks Trump’s border wall plans are the wrong way to go, but dislikes President Obama’s Affordable Care Act — which is part of what drove him from the Democratic Party.

Strand said he grew up a Democrat in Cleveland where his father was a union steward. He stayed with the party as a young adult and beyond even as his viewpoints changed before he registered as a Republican at the start of 2016.

He said when he voted for Clinton he “clenched my teeth and held my nose,” but that he wasn’t happy with Trump’s victory.

“I am currently a Republican and plan to be a Republican to the end of my days,” says Strand, who is in his first term on the Colorado Springs City Council as an at-large member. “I wouldn’t do this (run for Congress) if I didn’t think I had a chance. Clearly with a six-term congressman in Congressman Lamborn, this is an uphill battle.”

Also running to unseat Lamborn in the GOP primary are state Sen. Owen Hill and El Paso County Commissioner and failed U.S. Senate candidate Darryl Glenn. Lamborn, Hill and Glenn are all hard-line conservatives.

“I am very conservative in terms of my fiscal, financial and economic viewpoints,” Strand said.

Funding for wildfire prevention and fighting, battling the opioid epidemic and keeping millennials in Colorado Springs are foremost among his platform. Strand’s run was first reported which is comprised of Colorado Springs’ City Council members.

“I think I have positioned myself … to serve at this level,” he said.

Two Democrats, Stephany Rose Spaulding and Betty Ann Field, are registered to run in the race.

The 5th Congressional District is deeply red and covers El Paso, Teller, Fremont and Chaffee counties.