Gracious, humble and gentlemanly, Richard Webster, (D-Greeley), candidate for Colorado State House District 64 (HD64) which includes Berthoud, is not a politician and, prior to jumping into this year’s race, had never before sought public office. Webster will face Berthoud resident Ryan Armagost, a Republican, for the two-year term in the newly created district that includes Berthoud, Mead, Johnstown, Milliken and extending north into the western portion of Greeley.

Courtesy photo – Richard Webster

Webster had been married for 38 years, is the father of three and the grandfather to 12. Originally from Wilberforce, Ohio, in the southwestern portion of state near the Dayton area, Webster served in the United States Army from 1982-1985, stationed in Colorado’s Fort Carson. Very well educated – Webster has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Central State University in Ohio, a historically black college, as well as a master’s and an ED. S (Ph.D. equivalent), both from University of Northern Colorado. Webster is also a Pentecostal minister, serving with Pentecostal Church of God in Greeley, where he is also employed as a public school teacher in District 6.

Webster calls himself a “conservative Democrat” and very “middle of the road” stressing that he is not overly partisan or ideological and that, if elected, he will eagerly and regularly work across the aisle to get things accomplished. “I can be supportive of Republican viewpoints, we need to get back to compromise, both sides need to compromise and not just on one or two issues, our citizens are electors, they hire us, and our electors need to know work for them,” Webster explained.

He continued, “I will work on everything together, our electors put us in office to work together, we need to be able to compromise on every situation possible, in some cases we might never agree, and that’s fine, but on many issues, we will be able to agree on some things.”

As an educator by trade, Webster said it might surprise some fellow Democrats to know that he is supportive of school choice, a stance on which he stated he agrees with Armagost. Like his opponent, Webster is supportive of allowing parents to choose which school – public, private, charter, or homeschool – is best for their child and be supported financially by the state in that choice. “I know I might lose some Democrat voters, but I believe in parent choice, in school choice, put your child where you can and where you think is best for them,” he explained, adding that he would like to see very small charter schools come into existence with a very low student to teacher ratio, 10-15 students to each educator.

Furthermore, Webster said the state needs to allow more local choice and input on the state’s standardized testing, with faster turnaround time in the results. Currently, the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, the state’s primary education achievement metric, is administered in April but results do not get published until several months later. This long turnaround time, according to Webster, does not allow teachers the ability to formulate their lesson plans for the school year in a way ideally tailored to their students’ needs as reported by the assessment.

Webster would also, he explained, like to see a more equitable distribution of tax revenue to schools in an effort to bridge the rural-urban divide and assure districts in lower-income areas of the state receive commensurate funding with more affluent areas.

Another issue of importance to HD64, that of oil and gas development, Webster again takes a nuanced stance. He explained that the oil and gas industry employs a lot of residents in the area and, currently, oil and gas are needed as the bedrock of energy production. However, Webster said he would like to see robust efforts undertaken to transition to renewable and “green” energy production.

“We need the oil and gas right now, we need that, but we need to switch out, very slowly, making sure our energy families are employed,” Webster said. “But we need to go green, we need to push those technologies up but do so in a way our energy families are taken care of, and those families aren’t left holding the bag.”

Webster also said that, in conversation with residents in the district, that a lot of oil and gas extraction and development sites are disproportionately located near Latino and Hispanic neighborhoods. “It’s a concern of Latino families in Greeley,” Webster said. “Hispanic community is really concerned about wells being put close to communities, I have no idea, those questions have come up to me, that has come up in conversations with constituents.”

Webster explained he supports women’s reproductive rights, saying the choice to have an abortion should be between a woman and “her God, her family and her doctor,” but he does not like the idea of calls “casual abortions.” Webster is supportive of Second Amendment rights for responsible, law-abiding citizens but believes that those with a criminal history, most especially violent criminals, as well as those suffering from mental illness, should be vetted by their family and law enforcement should they desire to own a firearm.

Webster explained his overall message to the voters is that, if elected, they can expect him to work to get things done in the State House. “I have done that as teacher, I have a record of doing that, I want to be ablet o work and get things done in the state, not a be a hindrance in getting laws passed and keeping Coloradan’s rights, women’s rights, citizens’ rights, keeping voters voting, only Coloradans can vote, but all Coloradans can vote,” he said and added that he wishes Armagost luck in the campaign.