“As state treasurer, I want to make sure that our children have the Colorado future they deserve,” she said in an interview with The Denver Post. “We all have to tighten our belts sometimes, and we really have to start putting our money behind our future.”
Horn has long been involved in her community, working as an emergency medical technician and substitute teacher. Most recently, she’s been leading — after helping form — the Rock Creek Volunteer Fire Department, in addition to her county treasurer duties.
It’s the first statewide race, however, for Horn, who is vying to replace term-limited Treasurer Walker Stapleton, a Republican said to be mulling a run for governor. Horn said she wants to continue where Stapleton left off and help address funding problems with the state’s Public Employees’ Retirement Association, known as PERA.
“It’s just showing that same kind of public service, giving back to others,” Horn said of why she is interested in the job. “Giving back is something in my heart and soul.”
Horn says her work as Routt County’s treasurer since 2014, raising two daughters, being the wife of a rancher and managing her family’s finances give her the experience she needs for the post.
“It’s about the dream. It’s the people’s money,” she said. “When you start having that mindset that we are working for the greater good and the future, you can start tackling (the issues).”
Horn was a Republican delegate for the 2016 presidential election who initially pledged support for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas before backing Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
She also grabbed headlines in August 2016 when she rejected checks for roughly $1.8 million in overdue property taxes from bankrupt coal company Peabody Energy because they fell short — by about $91,000 — of the amount due. Ultimately, Horn and Peabody reached an accord for the full amount owed, she said, despite pressures that she accept the lesser payments to help her cash-strapped community.
“By law, if my office can’t offer a tax break to a single mom who worries about feeding her children,” she said in a statement at the time, “I’m not going to offer one to a multinational corporation that just asked the bankruptcy court to pay its executives $12 million in bonuses.”
Horn is the third person to join the race for treasurer. State Rep. Justin Everett, R-Littleton, and state Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Adams County, have filed for the contest. Several others are said to also be considering a run for the post.
