Speaker 1: If we're going to be able to pull Colorado back
Speaker 1: from the brink of single party rule, we've got to
Speaker 1: get some common sense Republicans elected. And joining me now
Speaker 1: is Sam Bandamre. He wants to be your representative from
Speaker 1: the nineteenth district in the Colorado Senate.
Speaker 2: Sam, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Mandy, good to be with you today.
Speaker 1: Well, I want to start the interview by addressing your
Speaker 1: very well known last name Vandmere has a long reputation here.
Speaker 1: What is your connection, if any, to the Speedway.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I'm a first cousin to Johnny. His dad
Speaker 3: and my dad were brother so we're first cousins and
Speaker 3: it's all family. What can I say?
Speaker 2: Excellent? Excellent.
Speaker 1: Now, the nineteenth Senate district that covers a big old
Speaker 1: chunk of Jefferson County. Is it all in Jefferson County?
Speaker 1: I can't quite figure out if it's all in Jefferson County.
Speaker 3: It looks like it though, Yes it is. That basically
Speaker 3: covers all of our bad about half a Westminster and
Speaker 3: all of Leiden or Leyden. However you want to.
Speaker 1: From Oset All right, what made you want to run
Speaker 1: for the state Senate at this point in your life.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, as a native Colorado, I grew up
Speaker 3: when the American dream was alive, and so it's my
Speaker 3: desire and purpose to return those values for our future
Speaker 3: generations here in Colorado. So you know, I enlisted in
Speaker 3: the Navy when I was seventeen, did two tours in Vietnam.
Speaker 3: So I am proud to say I'm a veteran and
Speaker 3: looking out for our veterans as one of my goals.
Speaker 3: I've started three companies over my career and established another
Speaker 3: ten around the world. So I'm running to restore physical
Speaker 3: responsibility and limited the government to Colorado, and specifically, some
Speaker 3: of my priorities are to I want to repeal that
Speaker 3: Colorado bag law. And you know that a lot of
Speaker 3: people say, well, that's you know, there's bigger fish to
Speaker 3: fride than that, but it's really symbolic of really what
Speaker 3: I want to accomplish, and that's to eliminate these state
Speaker 3: taxes that are masquerading as fees. And then of course
Speaker 3: I want to reduce and control property taxes. I want
Speaker 3: to declare Colorado a non sanctuary state, and then these
Speaker 3: sanctuary cities in Colorado. So I want to repeal these
Speaker 3: laws that are blocking state agencies to cooperate with ICE
Speaker 3: and detain and deport these criminal illegal immigrants. I want
Speaker 3: to encourage the development and adoption of a net zero
Speaker 3: energy program that will reduce our common emissions and current
Speaker 3: loads on our electrical grid. My home is in that zero,
Speaker 3: so we know how to do that. I want to
Speaker 3: repeal the laws and regulations that are hindering the development
Speaker 3: of Colorado's match and natural gas and oil production. So,
Speaker 3: you know, got a lot to accomplish, and as of
Speaker 3: right now, my opponent does not support any of these
Speaker 3: and has actively voted to block most of them as
Speaker 3: a member of the State House. So yeah, I've got
Speaker 3: great aspirations. It's going to be fun, but a serious one.
Speaker 2: I've thought, well, and here's the thing.
Speaker 1: All of the things that you just talked about, preserving TABOR,
Speaker 1: lowering taxes and making fees subject to TABOR again, all.
Speaker 2: Of this stuff.
Speaker 1: This is the Colorado that I moved into ten years ago.
Speaker 1: And I tell people all the time the changes that
Speaker 1: have occurred, especially since twenty nineteen, when well twenty thirteen
Speaker 1: really when Democrats really took hold of Colorado, have been significant,
Speaker 1: and they've been the kind of changes that are foundationally changing, right,
Speaker 1: like the attacks on Tabor, which are are not going
Speaker 1: to stop. So when people in your district, when you
Speaker 1: are going and knocking doors and you're talking to people,
Speaker 1: what are the number one issues that people talk about, Sam.
Speaker 3: Well, obviously the first one, and I've knocked on a
Speaker 3: lot of doors, including all the businesses in downtown are
Speaker 3: Vada and so forth. The economy, without a doubt, is
Speaker 3: number one. You know these You know, one of the
Speaker 3: things I try to explain to people when it comes
Speaker 3: to inflation at the state level, our hands are kind
Speaker 3: of tied because that's really a federal issue. They keep
Speaker 3: printing all this money. You know, we can't print money
Speaker 3: as a state, so we've got to balance our budget
Speaker 3: with what we have. But I do believe that we
Speaker 3: can make Colorado's economy strong enough to overcome a lot
Speaker 3: of these issues and give our people a strong economy
Speaker 3: to work with here in Colorado.
Speaker 1: Well, Sam, I'm glad you're running. Republicans are so hopelessly
Speaker 1: out outnumbered in the House and the Senate.
Speaker 2: That we've got to get some good people.
Speaker 1: Back in the in the House in the Senate to
Speaker 1: sort of bring some balance. Back to Colorado, how do
Speaker 1: you if you find yourself in the house where you
Speaker 1: are part of a small much smaller minority, how do
Speaker 1: you get things done when you are in the minority.
Speaker 2: What's your plan?
Speaker 3: Well, my her plan is through collaboration. And of course
Speaker 3: there's nothing wrong with collaborator collaboration, but collaboration that produces
Speaker 3: a bad result is worse than no collaboration at all. Right,
Speaker 3: Uh So yeah, I intend to work with those across
Speaker 3: the aisle. Uh. I think there's a lot of things
Speaker 3: that we agree on, but a lot of things we
Speaker 3: disagree on, and some of them we have to agree
Speaker 3: to disagree. But uh, it's a matter who has the
Speaker 3: most votes at the bottom line. Right, So we're gonna
Speaker 3: we're gonna work with that, and and we've got to,
Speaker 3: you know, try to get an economy that supports our
Speaker 3: small businesses and which is really the backbone of our
Speaker 3: economy and and nearly half of our citizens. So, uh,
Speaker 3: getting our economy up and going. And one of the
Speaker 3: way ways I want to kick start that is through
Speaker 3: our oil and gas and streets. I think if we
Speaker 3: can get you know, the regulations top of them, get
Speaker 3: them going, and then Obviously, I do have a net
Speaker 3: zero energy program that long term, well well work into that,
Speaker 3: but we need to kickstart right now, and I believe
Speaker 3: the oil and gas industry is the way to do that.
Speaker 1: I agree, But I think as long as Jared Poulis's governor,
Speaker 1: he hates the oil.
Speaker 2: And gas industry.
Speaker 1: I really say, when they when they fracked across from
Speaker 1: his vacation home, that was too much for him and
Speaker 1: he and he just has decided oil and gas must
Speaker 1: die in the state. So I admire you for going
Speaker 1: to back for oil and gas, and I hope the
Speaker 1: voters take that into consideration.
Speaker 2: Sam.
Speaker 1: Why should people vote for Sam VanderMeer in House District
Speaker 1: number nineteen Senate District number nineteen.
Speaker 3: Well, obviously, I'm I really have two things that I'm
Speaker 3: working on. One is saving you money by lowering your taxes,
Speaker 3: and the other is keeping you safe by getting tough
Speaker 3: on crime. And so those are the two things that
Speaker 3: I really want to focus on. But the third one
Speaker 3: of it, of course, is is the net zero energy program,
Speaker 3: where we're going to be able to save you save
Speaker 3: seventy five percent of our eliminate seventy five percent of
Speaker 3: our carbon output. Uh, and those are real numbers. I mean,
Speaker 3: we're out here doing it. It's it's they're they're you know,
Speaker 3: my home to net zero. We've got all the numbers
Speaker 3: to work with. So, you know, for those that are
Speaker 3: kind of on the left and concerned about our environment,
Speaker 3: we've got the answers for that. So uh, you know,
Speaker 3: between between the environment, between taxes and all these issues
Speaker 3: that we're facing. That by the way, the Democrats own
Speaker 3: all of these issues that we're at. They've been in
Speaker 3: power for the last twelve years, so they on it.
Speaker 3: And all we got to do is just ask the
Speaker 3: the voter public out there. You know, if you like
Speaker 3: what's the way things are, vote, you know, vote my opponent.
Speaker 3: But uh, but if you want to see a real change,
Speaker 3: give us Republicans a chance.
Speaker 1: Sam Bandomir, yep, Sam Bandamir. You can find his website
Speaker 1: Sam for Colorado dot Com. I linked it on my blog,
Speaker 1: but it's pretty easy to remember Sam for Colorado dot Com.
Speaker 2: Sam, best of luck to you. I just got a
Speaker 2: text that said, please tell Sam good luck.
Speaker 1: I will encourage all my friends on social media in
Speaker 1: his district to vote for him.
Speaker 2: So you got one, all right, all right?
Speaker 3: Sam, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2: I appreciate your time today.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, that's.
Speaker 1: Sam Vandimir for the nineteenth Senate District here in Colorado.
Speaker 2: Give him a look. Sam for colorado dot Com.