Who is Kirstin Copeland?

The narrow recall of Montrose County Commissioner Scott Mijares on November 4 succeeded by just 659 votes (based on early unofficial counts showing a close margin of around 666). This razor-thin outcome installed Kirstin Copeland in his place, representing a disturbing shift that threatens the county's conservative foundation.

Kirstin Copeland's Troubling Pattern of Political Opportunism

While Copeland boasts a long career in public service with over 20 years as a Park Manager and Peace Officer with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, her voter registration and voting history expose a calculated pattern of non-committal and strategic maneuvering that reveals a profound lack of conviction on the stark policy divides separating Democrats and Conservatives over the past decade.

Copeland voted in the Republican June Primary in 2022, then in the Democratic Presidential Primary on March 5, 2024. She promptly returned to the Republican ballot in time for the June Primary in 2024. This is not mere indecision. It is a classic, well-worn tactic of the left used to sabotage conservative candidates by diluting their primary support and engineering more left-leaning outcomes. In an era when the ideological chasm between the two parties has never been wider on issues ranging from fiscal restraint, Second Amendment rights, border security, energy policy, and cultural priorities, such strategic cross-party voting demonstrates a complete absence of principled loyalty to conservative values.

Compounding this pattern, Copeland is a registered “unaffiliated” in Colorado's voter system. In a state where unaffiliated voters now form the majority of the electorate, this status is often touted as independence or freedom from party control. However, it serves as a glaring red flag for someone seeking office in a deeply conservative county like Montrose. Being unaffiliated provides a convenient "out", an escape hatch that allows avoidance of firm commitment to any party's platform. It permits flexibility to align with whichever side offers political advantage at the moment, rather than standing on a solid foundation of convictions. This lack of fixed allegiance raises serious doubts about whether Copeland will consistently defend core conservative principles when tough decisions arise.  Or if she will drift to the left under pressure from influences like "Saint Sue Hansen”?

Copeland's willingness to game the system by jumping back and forth raises serious questions about whose agenda she truly intends to serve. Voters deserve representatives with consistent convictions, not opportunists who treat party affiliation, or the lack thereof, as a convenient tool for personal or political advantage.

Alignment with "Saint Sue Hansen" and the Erosion of Conservative Values

Copeland now appears firmly under the influence of "Saint Sue Hansen", who exerts significant control over Montrose County government as “Chair” of the Board of County Commissioners. Hansen has drawn intense conservative criticism for her left-of-center leanings and her formal departure from the Republican Party in early 2025 after years of benefiting from GOP support. Her vision for Montrose to become a "lighter shade of red" signals a deliberate push to weaken the county's longstanding conservative identity.

Implications for Montrose County Governance

Montrose County remains a deeply conservative stronghold, as proven by the overwhelming rejection of left-leaning initiatives like LL and MM, the defeat of Library initiatives and City Charter Amendments, and the decisive victories of all four conservative school board members on November 4.

Yet the county's substantial 2026 budget of approximately $126 million requires relentless vigilance. With a population under 45,000 and many residents living on fixed or limited incomes, every tax dollar must be fiercely protected. Residents have every right to demand absolute accountability.

The elevation of Copeland, with her demonstrated history of shady partisan tactics, shifting priorities, phony unaffiliated status, and lack of ideological consistency, combined with Hansen's questionable fiscal track record and leadership in transferring tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer-owned real estate to Montrose Regional Health, raises grave concerns about the future direction of county governance. Strict fiscal conservatism, limited government, and unwavering loyalty to core conservative principles are now at risk of being sidelined in favor of increased spending, new revenue grabs through taxes or fees, and priorities that stray from what Montrose voters have repeatedly endorsed.

The irony is stark: a recall effort that condemned Mijares has instead placed in power someone whose voting behavior and registration choices show a clear willingness to undermine conservative principles when it suits her.

Montrose County deserves commissioners who exhibit rock-solid convictions, consistent loyalty to conservative values, and genuine fiscal discipline, not political chameleons who shift allegiances, or claim independence, to advance a more moderate, less principled agenda.



Michael J Badagliacco, “MJB”