Incumbent Douglas County Commissioner George Teal, a Republican, is running unopposed in the upcoming June 25 primary. That places him automatically on the ballot for November, where he will face a Democratic challenger.
The question for Democratic voters in the county is: Which one? Angela Thomas and Julien Bouquet are on the party’s primary ballot. Both Democrats are positioning themselves as an alternative to the status quo — to the all-GOP board of county commissioners, which they consider politically extreme.
Thomas, who spent 20 years as a social worker, wants to “bring moderation to Douglas County.”
“We have to bring people back together and make decisions that are good for all the people of the county, not just a certain demographic,” said Thomas, a former chair of the Douglas County Democratic Party.
Bouquet — a middle school teacher for Douglas County School District — said he wants to focus on the county’s wellbeing. He thinks county leaders have been “way too political.”
“I think this county commissioner board has made huge mistakes when it comes to taking advantage of political opportunities (that) appeal to the farthest right-wing groups that are supporting them,” Bouquet said.
Both candidates spoke to the Douglas County News-Press about their campaigns and stances on the issues.
Thomas also has three years experience as a marketing director for an oil company, worked as a small-business owner and ran an independent print shop.
Bouquet serves as a member of the RTD board of directors, representing the transportation district’s region G, which includes most of Parker, Lone Tree, and portions of Centennial and Aurora. Bouquet won election to the RTD board in 2020.
Thomas and Bouquet are facing off in county commissioner District 2, the vast region that covers Castle Rock and the southern portion of the county, including much of Douglas’ rural areas.
Given the high number of registered Republicans in the county, either Democrat would face a difficult race in the November election.
Douglas County commissioners are elected “at large” from one of three geographic districts. That means commissioners are required to reside in different districts, but voters throughout the entire county cast ballots for each seat.
Commissioners are the county’s policy-making body, approving Douglas’ annual budget and passing local laws that govern “unincorporated” areas, or those outside of city and town limits. That includes Highlands Ranch and many other parts of the county.
In addition to the District 2 race, the District 3 race is also competitive — three Republicans are battling for the northwest Douglas County seat. That district’s population center is Highlands Ranch. Those Republicans, Priscilla Rahn, state Sen. Kevin Van Winkle and John Carson, are running to replace outgoing Commissioner Lora Thomas, who cannot run for reelection because of term limits.
In District 3, one Democrat — Josh Smith — has filed documentation to run for the seat and is also unopposed in the primary.
For a look at District 3’s candidates, see the News-Press’ earlier story at tinyurl.com/DouglasDistrict3.
Here’s what District 2’s Democratic hopefuls had to say on the issues and their backgrounds.
‘Understand the county’
Angela Thomas says her background prepared her for handling commissioner duties.
“One of the things that the county commissioners do is oversee the (county) health and human services departments,” Thomas said, adding that those are topics “I have experience and expertise in.”
She says she worked with budgets in the business world.
“I did contracts with people to provide them printing materials, those kinds of things,” Thomas added.
Bouquet has taught for several years at Rocky Heights Middle School in Highlands Ranch, where students learn film editing in his class. He taught photojournalism as well.
He also served as a substitute, teaching in schools around the county.
“I understand the county really well and the families,” Bouquet said. He added: “I’ve gotten to know them well, got to know their children well and got to know what their concerns are honestly.”
Talking housing
Bouquet lamented that house prices in the county make it difficult for teachers to own a home. He wants leaders to talk to developers about needing diversity in housing types — like condominiums.
“If you make these developments that are actually affordable for working families, for teachers, for nurses, for seniors, for first responders and young families, you’re going to see people want to live in the county,” Bouquet said.
Thomas echoed that, hoping for “some small bungalow-style homes that are designed for a single person or a young couple to start out in.”
She’d like to see more low-income apartments in the county while also acknowledging families with children who need more than an apartment.
“We need to have places for people to live who work here,” Thomas said. “Because people working in our hospitality industry here, they aren’t making 80, 90, $100,000 a year. They’re making $50,000 or less.”
Cheaper, or “starter,” homes for families allow them to begin building their own wealth, “and I think we need to get back to that in some way,” Thomas said.
“I want people to recognize that not everybody in this county is affluent, and probably more people than they’d like to imagine aren’t affluent,” Thomas said. “They’re just struggling to get by.”
Looking at ‘RWR’ plan
The Democrats also talked about what’s known as the Renewable Water Resources plan, an idea that has drawn controversy in county politics.
That’s a proposal to pump about 22,000 acre-feet of water per year to the county from the San Luis Valley in the south part of the state.
An acre-foot is the equivalent of a one-foot-deep pool about the size of a football field. Renewable Water Resources, often called RWR, is the private company that proposed the project.
In 2022, Commissioner Abe Laydon joined Lora Thomas in deciding not to move forward with the project, and Teal continued to support it.
Angela Thomas does not support the RWR project.
“The San Luis Valley already struggles for water,” Thomas said. “No one should be taking it from them.”
Bouquet said the project “just doesn’t seem right.”
“It’s not right for us as a growing suburb and community” to pump water from that area, he added.
The balance of how Douglas County allows development is tied to the issue of water supply, Bouquet noted.
“Are we building infrastructure that is quality growth and looking into using the best amount of water as possible?” Bouquet said. “I think that’s what we need to encourage as a county commissioner.”
