Issues

I am a retired military veteran with 32 years of service. I have always been devoted to the ideals of

this nation. When I was a young child, I remember watching nightly reports from the Vietnam War.

I remember the Apollo missions to the moon. I remember the civil unrest and violence of the

Weather Underground and the Symbionese Liberation Army – actions we would now easily classify

as domestic terrorism.

Those were formative memories for a young boy: war in foreign lands blended with fantastic

scientific achievements in space and the efforts of extremists to destroy this nation. When I

watched Ronald Reagan battle against Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter during our American

Bicentennial, I decided this nation was worth fighting for. I would join the military, and from 1984

thru 2017, I fought for it.

As we celebrate the 250 th Anniversary of our Declaration of Independence and the eight years our

founders fought to achieve it, I see serious threats to our nation and our way of life. I am 50 years

removed from those life-forming decisions in 1976, but I will not sit idly by and watch internal and

external threats attempt to destroy this nation once again.

When I retired from the military at the end of 2017, I spent a few years volunteering in the

Republican Party at the county level, and I was encouraged to run for state representative. I ran

and won in 2020 – and was immediately alarmed by the rampant election fraud that we witnessed

across the nation. My focus to put limits on the size of state government and to restore Second

Amendment rights taken by an unhinged faction of the Democrat Party quickly broadened to

secure our election systems.

The nation is being torn asunder by its well-founded distrust of the election systems. The corrupt

and tyrannical actions of the government we have witnessed since that day have confirmed our

deepest concerns.

When the nation has confidence their voice is heard and their vote is counted fairly, Americans

have historically demonstrated their tolerance and acceptance of outcomes that were not their

preference.

It is apparent to most citizens we have a broken federal government. It is radicalized, wasteful and

unresponsive to the will of the people. It is often weaponized against its own citizens. It siphons

tax-payer dollars into corrupt organizations that work to destroy the unity and fabric of our society –

and government officials receive kickbacks from those criminal groups in order to further entrench

and enrich themselves. They remain in office and steal more. Launder, rinse, repeat.

We can’t afford it. If they continue, and if power is further consolidated by the Deep State Crime

Syndicate, we won’t survive it as a nation or as free citizens.

It is worth reminding the voters, the US Government operates with a new slush fund of $7.5 Trillion

($7,500,000,000,000) EVERY YEAR. They are not like a drug cartel or any other syndicate, which

must amass money over time and protect it. Our Federal Government FLUSHES all of it – every

year – handing it to their friends and supporters, then gets a new, full bucket with another $7.5

Trillion. Launder, rinse, repeat. Never let a crisis go to waste.

Have the voters of CD3 had enough? Do we think the fraud and the theft is a criminal racket

comprised of enemies, foreign and domestic?

I do, and I will back it up with my 32 years of multi-disciplined intelligence experience. These are

existential threats to the fabric of our society.

The current “representative” to our district seems dismissive and unengaged. Meanwhile, he voted

to defend one of the most anti-American representatives in Congress, and voted to hide the sexual

misconduct charges of his fellow politicians. That’s a very bad look, and I would not have voted his

way. It hides the problem and empowers corruption.

He has also slowed the efforts of others trying to fight this destructive agenda – and he has even

sided with those entrenched bureaucrats and politicians to steal land and limit citizen control of

water and energy.

We have a very narrow window to defeat these threats. My enlisted oath and my commissioned

officer oath both demand I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all

enemies, foreign and domestic. They are here, and they are active.

That is why I am running.

As noted above, I served in the Colorado House and fought for conservative values.

Family businesses were being destroyed by COVID lockdowns. Our children’s school curriculum

was impacted, and standards weren’t being met. I fought against government mandates and for

small businesses to have a pathway for redress against the state government – the very entity

which was dictating their destruction.

I fought for education tax credits for parents looking for options for their children outside the

floundering public school system.

I fought for Constitutional Carry of firearms, fought to repeal the ammunition capacity limit on

weapons, and for the use of deadly force against intruders at places of business.

I fought for Election Integrity measures: Paper ballots, same day voting with valid identification,

elimination of election machines built in communist China with proprietary software, elimination of

mail-in balloting except for military and disabled citizens, and for cleaned, verified voter rolls.

The duties of a congressman require understanding in matters of national security. My 32-year

career provided important experience in international treaty compliance (nuclear and chemical),

combat operations, combat support, counterintelligence, counterdrug cooperation, signals

intelligence, and the art of war.

Question Continued:

a. Inflation

b. Health care

c. The U.S. budget deficit

d. The Iran war

e. ICE activities

f. Whether the Rule of Law is alive in the U.S.

Answer: Of those six issues you list and the three I should select to address, I believe a)inflation is what

most citizens in CD3 notice on a daily basis. The price of gasoline is jarring to see at the pumps

since the conflict with Iran began. On the daily campaign trail, I have paid $5.59 for diesel and

$4.59 for 85-octane gasoline. It is painful.

I believe it will also be short-lived. In January 2026, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics had

regular gasoline at $2.81 a gallon, and #2 Diesel at $3.52. I believe it should ultimately be lower

than that.

The current high prices will be short-term, and I expect them to decline as ship traffic through the

Strait of Hormuz begins to flow. We are being impacted by price speculation and a worldwide oil

shortfall. As bad as the prices are now, they will come down as transportation and refining

resumes.

We are fortunate that we are the number one oil and natural gas producing nation in the world, and

while our prices are impacted by the fungible nature of world oil demand, we will NOT be

embargoed or run out of fuel to get to work, to get grandma to the hospital, or to get food to

markets on semi-trucks. I wish it were better, but the remedy is in our hands, not in the hands of

an oil cartel or at the mercy of safe sea transportation. We simply need to wrap up the conflict with

Iran.

Which brings me to d) The Iran War. I have a unique perspective on this. I was an Arabic linguist

for the first 10 years of my career, and I worked across the table from Iranian (Farsi) linguists. We

coordinated efforts during the Iran-Iraq war, and I witnessed the behavior of the despotic Islamic

Republic of Iran, the brutality of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and their Basij sub-

elements, as well as their Quds Force operating in foreign countries along with their surrogates,

HAMAS and Hezbollah.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a terrorist organization that has killed many Americans throughout

the world. And it has killed many civilians, including children, in war torn regions in the Middle

East. It was gut-wrenching to learn of the murders of 40,000-80,000 Iranian citizens before this

conflict.

I believe it was necessary to conclude this chapter of terrorism in world history. Iran would have

developed nuclear weapons, and the doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran absolutely dictates

they would use it. This action had to happen. The Iranian people are pro-American, and the world

will change remarkably when they retake control of their nation. I am looking forward to their day,

especially after witnessing the pro-Khomeini protests in the United States in the 1970s.

I will state here I would like the United States’ battle damage assessments to be more accurate. I

would like our intelligence assessments to be better explained to the American people. We lose

confidence in the message when we are told in July 2025 that the mullahs’ nuclear program is

completely destroyed, and nine months later, we are engaged in combat operations to completely

destroy them again. Then we are told the IRGC is completely disabled, yet somehow, they

manage to mine the Strait of Hormuz. There may be some foreign activity ongoing that is not

releasable due to classification, but it adds to a level of impatience and “inflation anxiety” when we

get reports that do not hold up.

Finally, I would address b) Health Care. The rampant fraud throughout the nation’s government

health care is damaging the system. Colorado being a Sanctuary State is also damaging, and

rural regions are hit hard. During this campaign, we have listened to details from the patient point

of view, and from the hospital point of view. We need to audit this entire process and control costs

– which allows me to briefly touch on c) the US Budget deficit. I do not believe anyone knew how

rampant fraud was until DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) was formed, and even

then, we’ve uncovered only a portion of the fraud. The Somali daycares billing for hundreds of

millions, and the rampant diagnoses for autism/ADD for attending children have done the same.

And we will find hundreds of billions more in fraud in California alone.

We need to audit every federal department and agency. We need to use Zero-Base Budgeting:

start each of these agencies at $0, and then create a budget line by line. It is not glamorous. It is

not fun. But it is the duty of the US Congress. I have a sense if we enacted this process, a lot of

old-timers would not seek reelection, which would make this a win-win: Cost savings for the nation,

and old, corrupted politicians retired.

I believe the Big Beautiful Bill was an abdication of the duties of the US Congress, and that the US

Congress is fundamentally unwilling to fulfill its budgetary obligations. Frankly, I consider the US

Congress so moribund and incapable that President Trump could not hope for anything better from

them. I will not vote for another Big Beautiful Bill if something similar is brought forward.

Our elections are not secure in Colorado or throughout the nation. We use laptops built in

communist China using foreign workers with little oversight. The systems have proprietary

software that is not adequately evaluated. The computer systems have programs on them they

are not supposed to. The certification process is weak, and truly decades out of date. We should

clear out the voter rolls and start over. Too many residential addresses have former residents and

“ghost” voters still registered.

During my time in the Colorado House, I sponsored two significant Election Integrity Bills, HB 22-

1204 and HB 22-1085. Readers can find those easily on the internet, but here are a few

highlights:

Required votes to be cast in person on Election Day at the voter’s precinct polling place (with

limited exceptions for absentee ballots, e.g., out-of-state, hospitalized, visually impaired, or

military/overseas).

Limited or restricted electronic voting systems (mostly to accessibility needs for blind/visually

impaired voters).

Required hand-counting of all ballots, with counting and canvassing completed within 24 hours

after polls closed.

Mandated valid state-issued photo ID to vote.

Required precinct-based polling places (preferring schools/government buildings) with restrictions

on moving them.

Directed the Secretary of State to withdraw Colorado from the Electronic Registration Information

Center (ERIC).

Required anti-fraud paper for ballots and other security measures (e.g., optically variable ink,

holographic images, embedded/stealth numbering, or similar security features).

Mandated that ballot paper and records come from vendors with certain accreditations.

I was in Washington DC on Jan 6, 2021, and I attended the rally at the White House and at the

Capitol. It was a peaceful assembly of concerned Americans, and the Spirit of America was alive

and even resurgent on that date. We talked with hundreds of people in the course of that day. I

remember a young Somali woman from Minnesota who was a delight to talk to, and she mentioned

others from her community told her when she came to the United States that Republicans were

hateful and to stay away from them. She didn’t listen to them, and she said she had yet to have an

unpleasant encounter with conservative Americans. We met a group of Polish men holding a long

banner, who told us of their fears for the United States, based on their experiences in Poland under

communist General Jaruzelski, before the Iron Curtain collapsed.

Jan 6 th was a large gathering of Americans who wanted to be present during an important event.

Based on your social media postings and media evaluations of your organization’s objectivity, and

because your organization was founded at least in part on your interpretation of Jan 6, 2021, you

might well label me an insurrectionist. If so, that is your right.

I believe the 2020 election was fraudulent. I believe there is solid evidence Dominion Voting

Systems was used in Venezuela to get Hugo Chavez past a referendum vote in 2004. I believe

that success attracted the attention of communist China and Iran. I believe our elections have

been at risk for decades because of these systems. I believe the information Tina Peters backed

up before a “trusted build” would have erased it was a duty upon her as a clerk and given the

persecution of her, it became a powerful act in the face of weaponized government.

Because of my reading of those facts through my lens as an intelligence analyst, and your

assessment of me through your lens, you might use the standard mainstream media trope that I

am an election denier. If so, that is your right.

However the Restore the Balance committee appointed to “review and score” my answers to your

questionnaire ultimately grades my positions, I am grateful for the opportunity to present my

complete answers to the voters on your website, and I appreciate your interest.

Respectfully, Ron Hanks