Dear citizens of southern Colorado,

Last week we saw our U.S. Capital in a way that hasn’t ever been seen by our eyes.  We saw the supporters of Donald Trump storm our Capital.  And let’s be clear, they were Trump supporters.  We didn’t see the flag of the GOP.  We saw Trump flags, Don’t Tread on Me flags, Confederate Flags and others. Depending on whether you are supportive of the President or not, this type of behavior is not how democracy works in Our country. 

The President has been so divisive for us.  He even turned on his own Vice President.  I heard chants of “Hang Mike Pence” while seeing a hanging gallows erected.

Mike Pence has been a lifelong conservative, Christian Republican and Trump supporters turned on him.

This all occurred because Donald Trump can’t handle a defeat.  He stated four years ago that if he lost the election, it would be due to a rigged system against him.  Well… he won and didn’t complain about it then.  Let’s be clear, he did get a lot of votes, but Biden got more.  That’s how elections work.  This was a fair election. To all those who believe Trump’s claims the election was rigged remember this, all of the lawsuits of voter fraud claims have been thrown out by the courts due to lack of evidence.

We rely on a majority vote election process.  Then we wait.   We wait to see what our elected officials do for us.  We wait to see if enough people are wanting a change in that office.  We wait for new opposition to run against these officials in the time prescribed by the law.

Even though we may be opponents during election seasons, we are not enemies.  Cleave Simpson, the current Colorado Senator whom I ran against, is not my enemy.   He is my Senator and I am willing to help him be successful in any manner that helps other Coloradoans.  If you don’t like the work of an elected official, I highly encourage you to submit a letter of intent and run for what is important to you.  That is the American Way.

In closing I hope that we remember a quote from President Teddy Roosevelt, “Patriotism means to stand by the country.  It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.”

Respectfully,

Carlos R. Lopez

Citizen of Trinidad, CO