Larimer County election: Q&A with candidate Ken Forsythe
Ken Forsythe is one of two candidates running for Larimer County clerk and recorder.
The county clerk and recorder oversees many key administrative functions of the county, issuing marriage licenses and administering elections.
Forsythe, a Democrat, is running against incumbent Republican Tina Harris .
The Coloradoan sent identical questionnaires to candidates in this race whose names will be printed on the ballot. Candidate responses were reviewed and, in some cases, lightly edited to adhere to Coloradoan style guidelines.
Below are Forsythe's responses.
What is your campaign website (or if you don't have one, social media account for campaign purposes)?
List your current occupation and relevant experiences.
I retired after a 32-year career as an economist with USDA Veterinary Services and hold a doctorate in economics. As an experienced supervisor, I worked to ensure systems operated efficiently, transparently and free from the interference of political agendas. It was similar to the clerk's office, which is an inherently nonpartisan public service led by elected officials.
What made you want to run for this position?
I'm concerned about threats from the Trump administration and the future of free and fair elections. There have been attempts to federalize mail-in voting . Colorado has specifically been targeted for its initial refusal to honor Donald Trump's pardon of convicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters for her role in trying to help Trump overturn the 2020 election results . I expect this kind of pressure to continue through the midterms and into the 2028 presidential election. I will ensure Larimer County has a strong voice standing up to the pressure coming from the Trump Republican Party.
What are the top priorities that you will act on if you are elected?
As a nonpartisan office, the clerk's office should be held to a high standard of ethics and transparency. I will eliminate the practice of placing a (clerk and recorder) candidate's name on the envelope voters receive with their ballots. In the primary election, my opponent's name appeared on ballot envelopes because my opponent is the current incumbent county clerk and recorder. While this practice may be permissible under current Colorado election rules, it can influence the outcome because people tend to vote for names they recognize. I've also heard from voters who, despite repeated applications, have not been accepted as election judges. This suggests a need for more transparency about those decisions and the process. I would also evaluate how precinct election results are provided to the public for more visibility into the data. The Larimer County Clerk and Recorder's Office has been held by one political party for at least 60 years and has repeatedly been passed from clerk to deputy within that same party since at least 2002. It is time for a fresh set of eyes to review what is working well and what could be improved.
How will you approach the office differently from your opponent(s) if elected?
To quote my opponent , "As soon as somebody says, 'That's the way we've always done it,' then we have to change it." The Larimer County Clerk and Recorder's Office is long overdue for change. I will bring a fresh perspective, but also an experienced one. My 32 years of public service, extensive experience in personnel supervision and doctorate in economics make me uniquely qualified to take a fresh look at how the office operates. I look forward to collaborating with the dedicated career staff to assess and improve how services from this office are delivered to Larimer County residents.
How will you work with people you disagree with? Give an example of a time when you were successful doing this.
Decisions throughout my 32-year career had substantial impacts on the livelihoods of livestock and poultry producers. I take a community-based approach to disagreement by being as transparent as possible about the issue and gathering input from those affected by the outcome. I define the methods and criteria I use to make evaluations and the information those methods rely on. Reaching upfront agreement on methods and information makes it much harder for people to dispute the outcome. I applied this approach during my work on the 1999 Veterinary Equivalence Agreement between the United States and the European Union. I led the risk assessment team that provided evaluations to our USDA undersecretary of marketing and regulatory programs and to technical representatives of the European Commission. There was enormous political pressure around this agreement. I successfully held the line by clearly presenting our evaluation methods and gathering the information USDA representatives needed from our foreign trading partners to move negotiations forward.
What do you think voters or the public have misunderstood or might misunderstand about you? What is your message to them?
The biggest issue I face with voters right now is that many do not yet know who I am or what I accomplished during my 32-year career in public service. While I have substantial experience with the kind of work required of the Larimer County clerk and recorder, this is my first time running for elected office. I was not a politician before this race, but once people get to know me, they see how qualified I am for this office. My message is simple: I am by far the best-qualified candidate in this election for Larimer County clerk and recorder.
What is an issue relevant to your office that you've changed your mind on and why?
After I became the Democratic candidate for Larimer County clerk and recorder, I learned of an unusual pattern in elections for this office in Larimer County. The last time a new clerk was elected without first being appointed to the office was 24 years ago, when Scott Doyle was elected in 2002. Since then, incumbent clerks have resigned before the end of their elected terms, their deputies have been appointed rather than elected, and those appointed clerks have then run in the next election as incumbents. An incumbent clerk has run in every Larimer County election for this office since then. Incumbent clerks have substantial advantages, including having their names appear on the envelopes voters receive with their ballots. Prior to running for office, this is a practice I did not question. However, it is unnecessary and can influence election outcomes, and I would change it immediately upon taking office. For at least 60 years, a single political party has held our county's Clerk and Recorder's Office at the local level, and the pattern that emerged after 2002 has contributed to that. I intend to break this cycle in the interest of free and fair elections in Larimer County.
Say you've been away from Colorado for several weeks. What is the restaurant or meal you are most looking forward to upon your return?
There are many good restaurants in Fort Collins, but I most look forward to sitting on an outdoor patio in Old Town Square facing the fountains. I usually enjoy beef or chicken, perhaps because of my career in livestock and poultry health.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Larimer County election: Q&A with candidate Ken Forsythe
