Candidate Interviews

Laura Martin: House District 17 Candidate Interview

Laura Martin discusses constitutional freedoms, affordability, and families in our inaugural issue’s HD17 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 17 • Candidate in the printed issue

Campaign website · Campaign donation link

The interview

Who is Laura beyond the campaign?

I’m a woman of faith in Jesus, a community servant, an event professional, author, and someone who has never been afraid of hard work or an unconventional path. I have spent my career bringing people together, solving problems, leading teams, and helping organizations ser others.

Colorado Springs has been my home for more than a decade, and service is central to my life, from leading at my church to supporting nonprofits and community organizations. I believe our lives are measured less by the titles we hold than by how we use what we’ve been given to serve others.

Why are you running?

I never dreamed of becoming a career politician. I decided to run because I could no longer watch from the sidelines. I saw firsthand my representative vote to spend taxpayer dollars irresponsibly, even when our state was facing difficult budget decisions and should have been looking for ways to cut unnecessary spending. At the same time, I became increasingly concerned that our laws and priorities were failing to protect children and respect parents.

My life has been built around service, problem-solving, and bringing people together. I’ve led teams, worked with hundreds of organizations, managed complex budgets and events, and served extensively in my church and community. I’m running now because I believe complaining without being willing to serve accomplishes nothing. I’m willing to step up and do the work.

What makes your district unique?

What I love most about this district is its people. They are hardworking, resilient neighbors with good values who want what most Americans want: to provide for their families, live in a safe neighborhood, pay their bills on time, and watch their children grow up healthy and pursue their dreams. They aren’t asking government to solve every problem. They want the opportunity to build a good life.

What I hear most is concern about affordability, public safety, protecting children, and whether their voices are truly being heard. Families are working hard but watching housing, groceries, utilities, taxes, and fees consume more of their paychecks. I believe this community deserves representation that sees its potential, listens to its people, and fights to make that good life more attainable by reaping the rewards of their efforts and not because the government supplies all of their needs.

What would be your three highest legislative priorities?

My first priority is protecting constitutional freedoms. I don’t believe success in the legislature should be measured by how many new laws we create. I would review existing laws that unnecessarily restrict constitutional rights and work to repeal or reform those that infringe upon individual liberty.

Second, I would fight for affordability and fiscal responsibility by protecting TABOR, opposing unnecessary taxes and fees, scrutinizing spending, and reducing regulatory burdens that make housing and doing business more expensive. Third, I would prioritize protecting children and strengthening families. That means defending parental rights, supporting educational choice, addressing trafficking and sexual crimes against children, and ensuring parents, not government, remain the primary decision-makers in raising their children.

My goal is not bigger government. It is accountable government that protects our rights, spends responsibly, and serves the people.

How would you address Colorado’s affordability challenges?

Government cannot control the price of everything, but it can stop making everything more expensive. I would start by examining the taxes, fees, regulations and mandates state government adds to housing, energy, insurance, healthcare and small businesses and scrutinize if each one provides enough value to justify what it costs Colorado families.

I would protect TABOR, oppose unnecessary taxes and fees, reduce barriers to building housing and starting or growing a business, and demand greater accountability for state spending. I also want Colorado to evaluate the cumulative cost of legislation before imposing another mandate on families or employers.

Affordability isn’t one bill. It requires a governing philosophy: before asking Coloradans for another dollar, government should demonstrate that it is responsibly using the dollars it already receives.

Laura Martin speaking to guests and members of the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition at Caddie’s Valley Hi in Colorado Springs, August 2026. Photo by Juliann McPadden.

What is your approach to education?

I believe parents (not government) have the primary responsibility and authority for their children’s education. Teachers should be empowered to teach, local school boards should be accountable to the families they serve, and the state should focus on academic standards, transparency and ensuring education dollars are used effectively. They should not be dictating values to families.

I support expanding school choice and moving toward a model where education funding follows the child. Families should have greater freedom to choose the public, charter, private, homeschool or other educational option that best meets their child’s needs.

I would also examine how much of our education spending actually reaches teachers and classrooms versus administration and bureaucracy. Colorado should fund students, reward excellent education and give parents meaningful choices. No child should be trapped in a school that is failing them simply because of their ZIP code.

How would you approach public safety and individual liberty?

Public safety and individual liberty should never be treated as opposing goals. Government’s responsibility is to protect people from those who harm others while vigorously protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.

I would support law enforcement with the resources and training necessary to pursue violent offenders, traffickers, repeat criminals and those who prey on children. I also believe consequences should matter, particularly for repeat and violent offenders, while respecting due process and equal protection under the law.

At the same time, I will scrutinize laws that restrict the freedoms of people who have done nothing wrong. We should not respond to criminal behavior by continually placing new restrictions on responsible citizens. My standard is simple: pursue criminals, protect victims, support law enforcement, uphold due process and defend the Constitution.

What does conservative government mean to you?

To me, conservative government is not about resisting progress or returning to the past. It is about conserving the principles that allow free people to flourish: individual liberty, personal responsibility, strong families, equal justice, limited government and the belief that our fundamental rights do not come from government.

My values are grounded in my Judeo-Christian faith and my commitment to the Constitution. Colorado government should do better at its essential responsibilities, protecting public safety, maintaining infrastructure, educating children and responsibly managing taxpayer dollars.

It should do less regulating, taxing and interfering in decisions better made by individuals, families, businesses and local communities. And it should stop treating constitutional freedoms as privileges government can continually redefine or restrict.

Good government should protect our rights, perform its legitimate responsibilities well, and otherwise trust free people to build good lives.

How will you turn your principles into results?

My principles establish the boundaries: protecting life and liberty, upholding the Constitution, respecting individual rights and responsibly stewarding taxpayer dollars. Within those boundaries, I am willing to negotiate the details, consider better ideas and build coalitions around shared goals.

I would rather find 80% agreement and accomplish something meaningful than demand 100% and accomplish nothing. But when a proposal requires me to violate a constitutional right or a fundamental conviction, my responsibility is to respectfully say no.

I can compromise on the path. I will not compromise on the principles that determine the destination.

Why should voters place their trust in you?

Voters should trust me because this is not a job I wanted. I am not seeking a title. There is a need in my district for a representative that puts people first and what I do best is serve. I have spent my life stepping up when something needs to be done. I am not interested in becoming a career politician, and I will never forget that this seat belongs to the people of House District 17, not to me.

My commitment is to listen, be accessible, do my homework, tell the truth even when it is uncomfortable, protect our constitutional freedoms and treat every taxpayer dollar as money entrusted to me by hardworking families.

If voters remember one thing about me, I hope it is this: I have not been over-educated in the university system, trained in what to think, not how to think. You will not find prestigious credentials after my name that make me look more important. I will measure my success not by the position I hold, but by whether the people I represent are safer, freer, stronger and better served because I was there.

District notes from the magazine

In 1930 Jimmie Donahue set a world altitude record by parachuting from 21,171 above the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. The daredevil’s record remained for 7 years until 1937.

Peterson Army Base is named after First Lt. Edward J. Peterson, a Colorado native, who died in 1942 after his aircraft crashed during takeoff.

Some of the original buildings from the original airport are still in existence. The 1928 City Hangar is the oldest surviving structure and is now part of the Peterson’s Air and Space Museum.

HD17 lies entirely within El Paso County. It is located in southeast Colorado Springs toward the Colorado Springs Airport and Peterson Space Force Base, then south toward Stratmoor.

The first person to represent the district was Republican, Palmer L. Burch (1965 – 1971.)

El Pomar Youth Sports Park is one of the region’s major youth-sports complexes. It opened in 2000 and covers 58 acres, containing nine baseball fields and several soccer fields. More than 130,000 youth participate in sports at the park annually.