Candidate Interviews

Carlos Barron: House District 48 Candidate Interview

Carlos Barron discusses rural communities, industry, affordability, and parental rights in our inaugural issue’s HD48 interview.

From the September 11, 2026 inaugural issue of The Colorado Conservative. Candidate status and campaign links reflect the printed issue.

Colorado House of Representatives • House District 48 • Incumbent in the printed issue

Campaign website · Campaign donation link

The interview

Who is Carlos beyond the campaign?

I have been involved heavily with my family, job and community most of my life. I have worked my way up through the chain in my father’s oil & gas company throughout my life. I started as a crew hand and now am his general manager overlooking the crews and payroll.

I have also been involved in the community by volunteering my time to coach various youth sports teams in my town from tackle football, soccer and baseball.

Also volunteering to be on my town’s planning commission was the beginning of my public service journey that landed me in my current position in the State House of Representatives. I am also heavily involved in my Catholic parish in Fort Lupton as a 3rd degree Knight of Columbus.

Why are you running?

Throughout my life I have had plenty of jobs and life experience that helped me understand the impact local, county, state and federal government have in my daily life. I took the time to ask questions to people in my local government to better understand the differences between governments.

I found I didn’t always agree with the decisions being made so I decided to get involved and try and convince voters and other elected how we can help the people in a better way. I am glad I started at the local level, which helped me understand how important it is to have local control to better serve the local communities, especially in rural Colorado.

Along with my business background, manual labor background and my fiscal conservatism have helped me serve effectively.

What makes your district unique?

My district is heavily blue collar in Oil & Gas and Agriculture industry. I love that fact and way of life we have built in this district.

We will live in communities with the old school style of everyone knows everyone in one way or another. Those are the communities that I believe are very close and have each other’s back. Being raised here and now me having the opportunity to raise my children in this lifestyle is a true honor. I intend to keep it that way while growing in a responsible manner that better serves the people.

My constituents have two main concerns that I hear about over and over again, cost of living concerns and the over regulation in the two main industries in my district that affect their jobs. Oil & Gas and Agriculture has been overregulated in the state and has made a negative impact on my constituents’ way of life. I intend to roll back the burdensome regulations while keeping worker and property safety in place.

What would be your three highest legislative priorities?

Over regulation in Oil & Gas and Agriculture industry. I would find the burdensome over regulation and get rid of it to make it easier to do business in the state and in district. Keep I mind I would keep worker and property safety in place.

Cost of living is also a very high priority for me. This would attach in many ways to the overregulation in the two main industries in my area. So, in lowering the over emulation that would help in some way to lower cost of living. If utilities and how they can be used regulations are lowered, then energy becomes cheaper thus lowering cost of living in that aspect. Also, by lowering regulations in the building industry while keeping safety intact will also lower cost of building a home, in turn will lower the sale price of the home.

Protecting parental rights is also high on my priorities. Colorado has become negligent in recent years on having the parents of children make important decisions for their children. As a parent myself, I believe it is our right and responsibility to raise our children in the way we see fit until they are old enough and wise enough legally to make those decisions themselves. Even then our children will still rely on advice of the parents as I do still with mine.

How would you address Colorado’s affordability challenges?

This is one of my main priorities and have explained briefly in the previous question. To address the housing affordability, I would like to get rid of over regulation at the state level to lower the overhead of builders which they trickle down the cost to the consumer. There are many other factors that we cannot control at the state level like raw materials cost.

Taxes are something our Taxpayers Bill of rights covers as we as citizens have the constitutional right to vote on increases. However, the state fees the legislature as implemented in the past years is a problem. It circumvents TABOR and is basically a tax without the voters’ approval. I would stop that and get rid of many fees.Energy cost is also a big issue; the state has overregulated our most affordable and main energy industry to a point of unaffordability all in the name of clean energy goals. Clean energy goals that have not been clear and keep moving.

Businesses in the state have been strained for years to a breaking point. They have been hoping to have a small profit, but some break even. Many close and others have shut down and moved out of the state because they can no longer take the regulations and red tape which cost them overhead money which they must trickle down to the consumer. So, what does the consumer do? They prefer to spend their money outside the state.

Carlos Barron at a community event, as pictured in the magazine — Community photograph from the original magazine.

What is your approach to education?

Parents should have the most important role in a child’s education. Parents should have access to connection with a child’s teacher in a respectful way to find the best way to educate their respected child. Parents should have all the final decisions when it comes to this.

I have been in local government, and I am a firm believer in local school board’s control over the education of the community’s children. It is much easier for parents and the community to attend a local school board meeting to help affect decisions made for their respected communities.

The States involvement should be a guidelines and recommendations in certain aspects for local school boards to follow or not to. Not all communities in the state are the same and we have a diverse state from mountain communities, rural suburban and metro.

How would you approach public safety and individual liberty?

I fully support our men and women in blue, and that will never change. Colorado has become increasingly soft on crime which has become a problem. When criminals see they will not be punished for their crime they will continue to nut to commit crimes and hurt residents. I would increase punishments in line with the crime committed.

What does conservative government mean to you?

The state government is here to protect your rights as citizens, manage the people’s money in a responsible way, and for uses that the population can share while also staying out of the way of industry.

The state government should keep people safe in public and in work areas, and nothing more. Let free market run and, in turn, employees of those companies will be paid more for their work and time and spend more.

The state should also stop attacking our constitutional rights altogether, ie. the 2nd amendment.

How will you turn your principles into results?

I will never abandoned a core principle. Given the makeup of the state legislature, there must be some compromise, but never on a core principle.

Why should voters place their trust in you?

I have proven at the local level and in my first two years in the state legislature that I will never quit in reaching an agreement for the people. I have had the honor to be voted by my peers in the House Republican caucus as the Minority Whip because I can bring people together for a cordial and respectful conversation.

I have committed to continue to work for less government and let people run their own lives and stop relying on government for their every needs.

I will commit every year to be fiscally responsible with the people’s money.

And the single most important thing I want to be remembered for is being the calm voice of reason in every conversation.

District notes from the magazine

Illustration from the original magazine.

Barr Lake is home to more than 371 bird species, including bald eagles, pelicans, cormorants, herons and grebes.

Construction of the Great Western Sugar factory began in 1916 in Brighton. Although several historic structures still survive, the plant closed in 1977, and its main factory and smokestack were demolished in 2017.

Lancaster Lupton established an adobe fur-trading post in 1836 that traded with Cheyenne, Arapaho, and mountain men. Valley Historic Park preserves several early settlement buildings along the river in addition to a reconstruction of Lupton’s trading fort.

In 1881, William Winbourn established a railroad-centered town about a mile south of the trading post after it was abandoned.

Fort Lupton’s city museum is also a local historic building, having received its designation in 1996.