Colorado’s 5th congressional district, which encompasses Colorado Springs and El Paso County, has never had a Democratic Representative. Historically, it’s been considered “ruby red,” however, growing frustrations with MAGA politics and failed campaign promises are diluting this district to a light pink.
Fourth-generation Coloradan Jessica Killin is aiming to turn CO-05 blue. She joined Tim to talk about the legacy of patriotism in her district, her public service expertise, and her efforts to make Colorado affordable for all.
Jessica Killin is the Democratic nominee running for Congress in Colorado’s 5th district. She formerly served as a Captain and paratrooper in the U.S. Army, and in leadership roles at USAA, on Capitol Hill, and in the White House.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Tim Dickinson
Hi, this is Tim Dickinson for The Contrarian. Our guest today is Jessica Killin, the Democratic nominee for Colorado’s 5th District. Jessica, welcome to The Contrarian.
Jessica Killin
Thanks, Tim! Happy to be here! Looking forward to the discussion.
Tim Dickinson
Well, what I always kick off these discussions with is asking candidates to tell us what makes their congressional district great.
Jessica Killin
What makes my congressional district great? First, it is truly, a patriotic district. I have 5 military installations, over 100,000 veterans in my district, the Air Force Academy is in my district, as well as Fort Carson, Shriever, Peterson, and NORAD, which, by the way, attracts Santa every year, and I’m sure everyone, everyone across the globe has watched NORAD’s Santa Tracker. And… but really, you know, there’s such a sense of service and patriotism in my district. If you didn’t serve, you definitely know or love someone who has everyone. has… knows somebody or is related to someone in my district who has raised the right hand, sworn an oath to protect and defend our Constitution, and that’s something that’s very special.
Tim Dickinson
You have that background yourself, do you want to tell us a bit about your biography?
Jessica Killin
Sure! You know, I was born and raised in southern… here in southern Colorado. I’m a fourth-generation native. I’m not from a military family, interestingly. I’m from a long line of public school teachers. My parents were both school teachers. We moved to the Springs, actually, when I was in elementary school. I was born just south of El Paso County. And, but this is truly the community that raised me. You know, my dad ended up becoming a middle school principal, my mom was an elementary school teacher. But when they came to me my junior year in high school and said, we don’t have any money for college, I realized, you know, having been surrounded by all these patriots and people who’ve served in the military, that the military would be a good option for me. And so I got a four-year Army ROTC scholarship. To pay for college, went on to serve as a military police officer, mostly overseas, serving, as a platoon leader, as part of… and working as part of Operation Joint Endeavor, Joint Guard, which is UN peacekeeping operations in the Balkans. And then did a decent amount of work when I was in Central Europe on NATO expansion. This is back when we expanded NATO to include Poland in 1999, and then, did a larger expansion project in 2004, Latvia, Slovakia, a bunch of other Eastern Bloc countries. So that’s… so that… this is truly the community that raised me. I then went on to… Go to law school. I worked for over a decade at USAA, which also has a large facility in Colorado Springs, shoring up the financial security of service members and veterans. And then, during the first Trump administration, decided to return to public service. I worked as a chief of staff in the House, so I’d like to say I know where the bathrooms are. And, then finally ended up doing a stint at the White House as Doug Emhoff’s Chief of Staff before coming back home. It’s great to be back home, it’s great to be able to have the opportunity to give to, honestly, to the community that gave me so much. And, you know, I grew up in a middle-class household on the east side of Colorado Springs, and I’ve gotten to live my version of the American dream, and that is ultimately why I’m running. Too many people across my community and across our country don’t feel that they can live the American dream, they don’t feel like they have the same tools in their toolbox that I had in mind. They feel like no matter how hard they work, they can’t get ahead. And they’re also frustrated and disaffected by politics and politicians, and, you know, my focus right now is making sure that I actually, I run and I win so I can actually deliver results, because that’s what people want and expect and deserve, and they’re not getting that right now from Jeff Crank, my incumbent.
Tim Dickinson
Well, yeah, he’s a first-term Congressman, and looking up this race and sort of doing some research, the first time I’d ever heard his name, but it sort of gives you a sense of him not having a very robust career so far. What is it that he isn’t doing that you think would… is doing your constituents, or your would-be constituents, a disservice?
Jessica Killin
Well, he’s shown himself to be focused on one thing and one thing only, which is, fealty to the current president. And, I think he’s forgotten that the job description is actually in the title, House of Representatives. Your job is to represent your community. And he’s failing on so many fronts there. He has yet to hold a single in-person town hall where he can listen to his constituents and hear their concerns. And, you know, I think we need people in these leadership positions in the House of Representatives who are willing to have those difficult conversations, who are willing to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. That is part of the job, and he’s not doing that. In addition to that, there are so many of these… of the policies of this administration that are setting my community back, rather than moving us forward. The tariffs are wreaking havoc on my… on local small businesses, on lower-income folks in particular. It’s ultimately a regressive tax. People are suffering, with respect to healthcare right now, and it’s only gonna get worse, but I hear… Every day, like, I got a promotion, I got a raise, but I didn’t feel it, because my premiums went up, my deductibles went up. He is not focusing on the bread and butter issues that are gonna move our community forward. And that is, you know, in essence, how he has failed us. And I think that’s ultimately just because he’s so focused on not making Donald Trump angry, rather than Focused on delivering for his constituents.
Tim Dickinson
That’s interesting. Your district, I think, has never been represented by a Democrat, right? So this is a place that is traditionally, and I think the Republican committee is calling it Ruby Red, although it doesn’t really look that way anymore. So talk to us a bit about the opportunity and how the district has changed a bit. that makes you someone who could conceivably, serve in this really kind of remarkably and historically Republican place.
Jessica Killin
Sure, yes, it is historically a conservative stronghold in Colorado, but I would describe it more as light pink, not ruby red. And, you know, basically we’ve had, about 250,000 new people move into El Paso County over the last decade, which has really changed the dynamics of the district. The district is still very much, you know, rooted, as I said, in its service members in the military community, but there’s also a bunch of people who’ve moved here who are just looking for an affordable place to live on the Front Range, and they’ve been priced out of Denver, they’ve been priced out of Boulder. And Colorado Springs is… and El Paso County is beautiful, and still, compared to the rest of the Front Range, relatively affordable. And that has just changed the dynamics of the district. And, you know, what I think… what I’m feeling is that, first of all, people are realizing now, also, people are frustrated. They are frustrated with the government not doing work. And, you know, I think that Jeff Crank is emblematic of that. He showed up, really, for the title, not to actually do the job. And in a district like this, that is truly light pink. People know that they deserve more and better from their member of Congress, from their representative, and that’s what I plan to do. You know, I call myself, people ask, are you moderate, are you progressive? I’d like to eschew all of those labels and just say, I’m team normal. And I just want stuff to work, and I am exhausted by the chaos, by the identity, you know, identity politics, culture wars that are happening in our politics right now, and that’s where most people in my district are. And also people in my district, I would say, I have a lot of more traditional conservatives in my district, and these are people who care about the debt. who care about rule of law, who care about federal government overreach, and this, and Jeff Crank has not put a check on any of that, and he’s added $4.7 trillion to an already completely out of control debt. And so these are things I talk about all the time, with Democrats, unaffiliated voters, and Republicans alike, and people know and understand that they deserve more and better from their government than what they’re getting right now.
Tim Dickinson
You have experience in congressional offices, including… I’m here in Oregon, right across the river from where Marie Perez serves, and I’ve spoken to her about And she sort of talks about the politics of place rather than… a loyalty to place rather than a loyalty to politics. I wonder if that informs your view at all, or what you learned about being a congressperson by serving in those congressional offices.
Jessica Killin
Yeah, I think, you know, I learned a lot from Marie. Obviously, won a really tough seat, and has kept it, and… but, you know, obviously every cycle for her is a fight, but I think that that’s right, and that you should, you know, part of… that’s the special thing about the House of Representatives, is it’s very much localized. And, and so when I think about my place, which is El Paso County. There are unique struggles that we have. It’s a really unique constituency in that we do have this huge military and veterans community, but, we have people who love the outdoors, and that is not a partisan thing. People who love the natural environment there, here, and love being out, Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak. hiking, engaging, and so when I think about the things that we care about in my community, those are the things we care about. We care about patriotism, we care about sense of service, we care about enjoying the great outdoors. And, Jeff Crank has not been representing the community in the way it deserves to represent, and I’m focused on that. I’m focused on actually delivering, and I think that’s a unique thing you mentioned about being a staffer. I think that’s an interesting part of my bio, in that I just know how to get stuff done. That’s what staffers do. And, I think we need more people in Congress, like I said, who are focused on actually delivering results, rather than partisan games. I think that’s what people want, and I know that… I know what my community needs. My community needs more housing that is actually affordable, so $200,000… $300,000 houses, not million-dollar houses. We need, you know, to get people… we need an economy that’s actually booming, so it’s creating economic opportunity for everyone. It needs to be a diversified economy. We need healthcare that actually is meeting the needs of everyone, no matter what your income bracket is. And an interesting issue in my community that Jeff Crank has done nothing to address is childcare. We live in a child care desert. You know, when I talk about those 250,000 new people who moved in, a lot of those are young, college-educated families. The other group is grandparents who’ve moved in to take care of their grandchildren because they… their kids, can’t find childcare. And that is a problem, a big problem that we need to address, and I’m focused on that. I’m focused on actually solving problems.
Tim Dickinson
One of the things that’s driving up costs for everyone is this war in Iran, and I imagine that impacts your community in a particular way. I wonder if you could just talk to us about your feelings and about your read on your district when it comes to that conflict.
Jessica Killin
Sure, yeah, that’s another really interesting thing about my district that’s different than so many… you know, of course, everyone is feeling the pain at the gas pump, but because so many people in my community have served or know someone who has. My constituents think more clearly and thoughtfully and strategically about these types of issues, and anyone who’s ever been briefed on the situation in the Middle East for a number of decades should have known that the Strait of Hormuz would be a problem with respect to the risk of asymmetric warfare. And I… the people… and so the people are baffled by the decision to go in. In addition, these are people who care. deeply about our alliances, who care deeply about national security and national security strategy, and so I hear from my constituents all the time about their frustration that this administration did not consult Congress, did not consult our allies. did not, really go through a really strategic, thoughtful process before entering into this conflict, and now they’ve put our troops in harm’s way, they’ve spent Approx… you know, there’s varying estimates out there, but at least $100 billion on this conflict. And it really hasn’t gotten us anywhere. And I think that’s the other, I guess the other thing I say, I hear from a lot of people who are smarter, very smart on these issues around everyone should have known that Iran wasn’t going to act as a rational actor in this. And it’s shocking to people that… that this administration seems surprised by that.
Tim Dickinson
Pete Hegseth has brought a lot of changes to the Pentagon, including… I just saw a headline about promotions of female officers, and it’s going down to sort of a new low in the modern era. I wonder what you make of his leadership, and what kind of oversight or… curb on the current management of the Pentagon you’d hope to be able to provide in Congress?
Jessica Killin
Yeah, you know, I actually have a couple female, senior flag officers in my district who were relieved or, or were forced to retire by, Secretary Hegseth. And I think it’s interesting you called it leadership. I think it’s a complete failure of leadership, his approach to the Department of Defense and the Pentagon. He, you know, has not… has proven himself to not be an honest broker. And, you know, one of my biggest frustrations about Jeff Crank, this administration, is they’re so focused on performance art rather than results. And I feel like a lot of what Secretary Hagseth does is performance art, and isn’t actually moving the needle and doing the work that needs to be done at the Pentagon. And, you know, I’ll just say as a woman.
Tim Dickinson
Say more about what performance art means, I’m sorry.
Jessica Killin
You know, I think, you know, talking… bringing all the flag officers to… Quantico, and talking to them about… physical fitness standards. That was performance art. Okay. Doing a whole thing on low T and testosterone, rather than actually focusing on true troop readiness and the degradation of our missile capabilities that we’re experiencing now because of the war I ran. There’s a lot, there’s a lot of work to be done at the Pentagon. to ensure our national security, and Hegseth, Hegseth seems to be focused on all the wrong things. You know, I know his whole thing is anti-woke, anti-DEI, but in the process of that, he has removed really capable officers, and, and, you know, what I hear from soldiers all the time, soldiers, servicemen, airmen that I talk to, guardians, Space Force guardians. Is that, the DOGEing of the department And… and some of these… some of this has, first of all, caused people to leave, the civilian sector, to leave, and has, unfortunately, left a… a… a brain drain. We’ve had, essentially, a brain drain in some of these… you know, my district is one of the two big homes to Space Force, us and Huntsville. And, the fact that we are seeing… we’re seeing people, civilian sector employees who are super smart, super engaged, leave. This isn’t because some of them have found better private sector jobs, but a lot of them are feeling demoralized. And feeling like they’re not getting to do the work, doing the work that they should be doing, and the specialized work that really moves the ball forward in terms of national security and strategy. And that is, you know, and they’re also just feeling disaffected by the antics. Honestly, it’s just antics, and everyone’s sick of it, and so, unfortunately, though, that has created this brain drain, and, we are… this is… we were gonna have to rebuild the department, and I’ll just… one more thing, just on Pete Hegseth’s attack on women in particular. You know, as someone who served in the military, women are an integral part of our warfighters. They always… they have been for a very, very, very long time, before it was even… before we were fully integrated into the force. And, To treat women like they are not the warfighters, the patriots that they are, and that they only got there because of their gender, not because of their capabilities, is one of the most frustrating and disappointing things I’ve ever seen from a Secretary of Defense, and we’ve… he should not be in this job. For that, and so many other reasons.
Tim Dickinson
I want to move back to your district and make sure that we hit just the issues that are really driving them. You’ve mentioned affordability, housing costs. the childcare deserts you’re referring to. What else is animating voters in your area?
Jessica Killin
Corruption. That, you know… people are talking to me constantly. For sure, cost of living is the biggest challenge, and in my district, and I’ll get to corruption, in my district, we have a problem where we have, you know, because we’ve had this huge growth in my district, you had builders come in and build a bunch of houses, but, they’re all about $500,000 plus, and incomes have not kept pace. So, we’ve got to work on, first of all, making sure we’re creating jobs that can have incomes that will allow people to live in those houses, but we also need to build… right-size our housing supply, and make sure the housing supply matches the income. So, a little bit of work to do on both sides, in terms of creating an economy where we have the jobs that are going to fill those empty houses, but also creating the housing structure and infrastructure that works for, mo… more of the… more of the community. As I already talked about healthcare and childcare, those are the two other big ones I hear about all the time. And then the other piece is corruption. You know, people… are frustrated. They feel like they’re working really hard, you know, they’re sort of doing what they know they’re supposed to… going to work every day, getting their kids off to school, and they’re not getting ahead. They’re not… they don’t have that extra fund to go on a vacation. They can’t afford any extras. They can’t afford to go out to eat on the weekends. And that’s immensely frustrating in itself, but then when you see this administration and the policies of Jeff Crank. Basically, allowing and encouraging extreme wealth to just… boil over, and, you know, the betting markets, all of it. And people then… you’re not only frustrated because you can’t get ahead, but because it seems like it’s a fixed system, a rigged system. And I always say, I’m a capitalist, but I’m not a crony capitalist, and what we’re seeing right now is essentially crony capitalism, that is, helping the lucky few. Who are, you know, the billionaires, if you will, but are… the rest of us are not feeling any, like, we can actually move the ball forward, and people who are really working hard, and they feel, like, set back, it’s incredibly frustrating. And I’m a big believer, as someone who grew up in the middle class. that the sign of a healthy society is one that lifts up and takes care of its most vulnerable, but also has a robust middle class. I think a robust middle class is the key to economic opportunity and the American dream. And this administration, Jeff Crank’s policies are gutting the middle class, it is exacerbating wealth and income inequality, and people feel that, not just in their pocketbooks, but in just an immense sense of frustration and anger. And that’s… I hear about it all the time. Just incredible frustration around the corruption piece.
Tim Dickinson
Well, I’m mindful of our time, do you have any final thoughts for our viewers and our listeners that you want to make sure they come away with?
Jessica Killin
Well, I’d love to have people go to my website, Killinforcolorado.com, K-I-L-L-I-N for Colorado.com. We’re gonna make history here in Colorado’s 5th, flip this seat for the first time in history, and actually start delivering for the people of El Paso County, but also for the American people, because that’s what… that’s what the job is, and that’s what the American people deserve.
Tim Dickinson
Well, thank you so much for your time. Great to talk to you.
Jessica Killin
Thank you, thanks for having me, I appreciate it.
