PVA/Election-Candidate Information/2002/State

A Colorado
non-profit organization
advocating for animals
in the political arena

PVA 2002 Candidate Information
~ State House District 54 ~

This page contains candidate information about the candidates for State House District 54.

Highlights from this race:

The "Pro-Animal Pick" for this race is Eric Rechel (Green Party) because of his questionnaire response score of 100%. To volunteer to help with his campaign, please call (970) 242-4863.
The Republican candidate in this race - Matt Smith - served as a state representative during the 2002 state legislative session. His 2002 scorecard, which also contains his pre-2002 animal-related voting scores, is now available. As you can see, he has had an anti-animal voting record, and so he gets a "Paws Down" from PVA.
All candidates in this race are listed below, along with their responses or a notation that they did not respond.

Notes:

Responses are given exactly as they were written. Spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors were not corrected.
PVA imposed a 25-word limit on comments because of space limitations; however, if a candidate exceeded this limit we did not cut the text off in mid-sentence. In any case where a candidate's comment is not shown in full, we have included a note to contact us for the full comment.
Each candidate's party affiliation is indicated in parentheses immediately following his or her name below. Party abbreviations are as follows. "ACP" - American Constitution Party; "COPI" - Concerns of People, Inc. Party; "CRP" - Colorado Reform Party; "D" - Democratic Party; "G" - Green Party; "L" - Libertarian Party; "N" - Natural Law Party; "R" - Republican Party; "U" - Unaffiliated.

Candidate questionnaire scores

1a. Did you grow up with animals? Yes/No
1b. If so, what kind?

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes - dog, cats, snakes, horned lizard, toads, birds, fish
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

2a. Does your family have animals? Yes/No
2b. If so, what kind?

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes - turtle, cats
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

3. Are you in favor of the spaying/neutering of dogs and cats to reduce overpopulation? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

4. Would you be likely to support state legislation to require that animals raised for slaughter be protected from inhumane forms of slaughter, housing, and transportation? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

5. Would you be likely to support state legislation to require that educational institutions at all levels provide (and advertise to students) an alternative to animal dissection? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes - With todays technology of plastics there is no need to use any live animals for dissection at any grade level except maybe in graduate school.
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

6. Do you believe that aggravated cruelty/violence to animals should be a felony? (Choose Y, N, U, or C.)
(Y) yes; (N) no; (U) undecided; (C) yes, in certain cases (e.g., extreme cases only, or after the first offense)

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	(Y)
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

7. Would you be likely to support state legislation prohibiting the use of elephants in traveling acts, such as circuses? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

8. Of the two following value statements, to which are you likely to give higher priority?
(a) Wildlife and their environment are to be protected and preserved.
(b) Wildlife and their environment are to be managed.

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	(a)
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

9. Section 33-1-101 (1), Colorado Revised Statutes, states, "It is the policy of the state of Colorado that the wildlife and their environment are to be protected, preserved, enhanced, and managed for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the people of this state and its visitors."
Do you believe that all Colorado residents should have a voice in wildlife policy? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes - Protection of wildlife habitat should be seen as a responsibility of human kind, not a benefit.
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

10. Do you believe that there are forms of hunting that are unethical and that wildlife should be protected from them? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

11. Do you believe that Amendment 14, the anti-trapping initiative passed by Colorado voters in 1996, should be overturned or weakened in any way? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	No
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

12. Would you be likely to support state legislation to (1) require counties to allow county-level ballot initiatives and (2) establish consistent procedures and criteria for such initiatives? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

13. Do you think that initiating a state ballot issue should be (a) easier; (b) harder; or (c) as it is now?

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	(a)
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

14. Would you be willing to consider factual documentation from PVA on a given issue? Yes/No/Undecided

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Yes
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

Please add any other comments ...

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Our culture treats animals as objects. When treated this way we become callous to their suffering. Animals are sentient.
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

Candidate questionnaire scores

SHD54	Eric Rechel (G)	Overall Questionnaire Response Score = 100%
SHD54	Matt Smith (R)	Did not respond

Return to top of page
CHVL home page
How to contact CHVL

(C)opyright Colorado Humane Voters League
Printouts of this web page may be reproduced on condition that neither the appearance nor the content is changed.