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Old political rivalries were rekindled this month as community member Claudette Konola declared her intent to run for Senate District 7, pitting her against incumbent Steve King.
Registered Democrat Konola faced off against Republican King and Libertarian Gilbert Fuller in 2010, where King swept up 67 percent of the vote, transferring him from his previous position in the House to the Senate floor.
“I was unknown,” Konola said, “a face and name that people didn’t know, but I think that will be different this time.”
Konola came to the Grand Valley at the end of 1993 from an extended stay in Mexico, where she had gone to escape what she calls the “post burn-out” phase of the banking industry. As an executive in the banking industry on 7th street in Denver, Konola recounted several years of “merger madness” where banks would purchase or be purchased and “wring the costs out of the institution.”
“There was never enough staff to do the job,” Konola said. “I just didn’t want to work for the bank anymore.”
After returning from Mexico Konola headed back to Denver where she ran the loan fund at what is now known as the Incubator Center.
“We sold a bunch of loans to a company in Minnesota called Community Reinvestment, who gather up loans that benefit local communities,” Konola said.
Konola soon found herself working for Community Reinvestment, and that’s how she landed in Grand Junction.
“I went from the loan fund to working for Community Reinvestment fund until the market crashed in 2008,” Konola said.
Since then, Konola has retired but has involved herself in numerous political issues that have surfaced in the Valley.
“There needs to be a balance between the well-established agriculture business, the tourism it brings and the extractive industries that really have lots of conflict,” Konola said.
As a former board member of Western Colorado Congress, Konola worked extensively on various projects involving clean energy and water, which has become a cornerstone of her campaign.
“I’m a realist,” Konola said. “We can’t just go cold turkey and not use fossil fuels, but we certainly can start looking to the future by developing and encouraging clean energy in the valley.”
Konola is also advocating a breadth of social issues, particularly women’s rights and accessibility to healthcare.
“Our campaign is still in the organizational mode, but one issue in particular that comes to mind is women’s healthcare,” Konola said, “particularly young women and ensuring they have resources available, including affordable healthcare.”
Konola has also involved herself with CMU organizations, including the Gay Straight Alliance and Sustainability Council.
Konola is particualry concerned with students’ ability to finance their way through college.
“From my perspective, and mine is usually always based on finance, I don’t see how kids do it,” Konola said. “I think we need to start asking what we can do to make sure tuition doesn’t constantly go up and what can we do to ensure that students have access to grants and loans that are actually affordable and don’t leave them in a vulnerable position.”
Despite defeat in 2010, Konola remains optimistic this year.
“I have been ‘gobsmocked,’” Konola said. “The people that we have planning the campaign have a breadth of experience that is more that I could have hoped for.”
Konola encouraged students to consider running for office in the future.
“The opportunities that are presented to you are so varied and incredible,” Konola said. “I met people that I might not have ever met that had a lot of expertise they were willing to share.”
As the political season advances, Konola looks forward to delivering her message to a wide audience whom she hopes won’t vote solely on partisan lines.
“In the end, the voter in the middle is the one that’s going to elect us, and I think that’s a good description of where I am politically,” Konola said.
cferganc@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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