An Interview with Republican Candidate Valdamar Archuleta

A born and raised Denverite, republican candidate Valdamar Archuleta hopes to win the Colorado’s District 1 congressional seat for Washington this November. With a unique background as a gay, Indigenous man, he not only challenges the status quo of a blue district, but he also challenges the assumptions held over the modern GOP.

If I understand correctly, you are a Log Cabin Republican. What is the difference between Log Cabin Republicans and the current GOP?

I am the president of the Colorado chapter of Log Cabin Republicans. I’ve been in that position for about five years. We technically are not part of the actual (republican) party. We are a separate organization, but our mission statement and our goals are to work with them. And we work together a lot. So, even though we are technically not a subset of the party, we work with the party. It usually works out pretty good that way. I think not being connected to them gives us more freedom and be a part of things without having to ask permission. We kind of just do what we want.

The national Log Cabin Republicans have been around since the late 70s. Currently there are about 80 chapters throughout the country. We’re all kind of under the umbrella of the national organization. The national organization deals with federal issues and candidates. You have your region where you work with the GOP in that area. And it’s a two-fold thing. You work representing the GOP within the LGBT community, and then vice versa: representing the LGBT community within the GOP.

Many in our community might see being gay and being a conservative as a contradiction. What is your response?

Yeah, and a lot of people say that. I actually would have agreed with that years ago when I was working with (the Colorado Springs Pride Organization) at that time. I did not have a favorable view of republicans, and for the most part, at that time I really knew nothing about politics. I didn’t know what was right, left, conservative, liberal, whatever. All those terms meant nothing to me. I was just dealing with them and the issues we were working on. You had that mentality or that picture of what a republican was. I basically had been told, “These guys are bad; those guys are good.” I never questioned it. I just went along with it. And then the more I started getting involved and looking into politics, the more I realized, “well, I actually agree with them a lot more than I agree with the other side.”

I feel like who I am physically attracted to does not have that big a part in my life in the big picture. When it comes to everyday things like the cost of living, security, and work, those are bigger issues that affect who I am, and politically, what I am going to be aligned with. The republican party, you know, back (in the) 90s, early 2000s, wasn’t the best when it came to LGBT rights. But there still were a lot of republicans who were gay and who were working with the party to fight against a lot of things. If you look at the history of the Log Cabin Republicans, they have done a lot within the party to make improvements. Even recently, the most current GOP platform removed any language that was considered homophobic—I don’t really think it was, but what people would use to say ‘This is homophobic’—that was taken out. And I know Donald Trump wanted to take it out in 2020, but because of COVID, they didn’t have an actual convention. So, the platform has been the 2016 platform for eight years. It was overdue to take that out, and a lot of other things, and simplify the platform.

Like I said, Log Cabin Republicans have worked a lot with that, as has Richard Grenell in recent times—who was the actual first openly gay cabinet member to serve under Donald Trump. He was the Ambassador to Germany for a while. But he is really close to Trump, and so he has been able to work within the party and through him to get a lot of that done. So, ultimately, now, I feel like I can be who I am and be a republican. I go to republican events all the time. I’ll wear my little rainbow button, and nobody cares. If anyone does, they say nothing because I think we’re at a point in our culture where they just kind of know. This is the way it is now. We’re accepted. I have no problem with that, but should issues ever come up, I am 100% willing to speak out against it, when homophobia does rear its head, but I find that to be rarer now.

Right now, we live in a country struck by divisive policy, name calling, and strict party lines. If elected, how will you work within and without your party in order to support Coloradans and Americans as a whole?

If I’m elected, my goal is to represent the people of Denver, not my political party. I feel like I have a history, even just in this race, of doing that already. If you’ve researched my name, you’ve seen articles about what happened in June. Unfortunately, we have a state party who is not the best communicator. I have talked to all those people individually, and I’m not going to defend them. They say stupid things. In June, our state chair put out a terrible email, and it just had a lot of terrible comments in there. So, I rejected our state party’s endorsement. I told them I don’t want to be endorsed by them. I stand by that as being the right thing to do because I’m always going to put principles above the party.

I don’t blame the entire party for what he did. I actually think that was a good thing, in a way, because it gave our party the opportunity to answer that question: What are you going to do when someone says something like this? I think overwhelmingly, the elected officials in our state, the candidates, rejected what he said and stood up for what is right. They came together; they threw him out. He’s fighting that. We’ll see what happens with that, if the court accepts the rejection of him. I feel like everything they did was legal according to the bylaws, so hopefully he’s out. I think that makes a good statement to the people of Colorado especially, to show that when someone does something like that, we don’t tolerate it within the party.

But like I said, I feel like I have a history of putting principles above my party. I want to represent the people of Denver. Not the party, not a political ideal, not any lobbyists or donors or whatever. With this campaign, I’ve been going out to festivals. I’ve been going to parks. I’ve been going and talking to people. I work here. I live here. My neighbors are here. I know the people. But I still feel like in the past several months, my understanding and knowledge of Denver has at least doubled. I’ve gone to different parts of the city that I don’t go to as often because I was born and raised on the west side; I still live on the west side, so that is kind of my spot. I feel like I know the city a lot better now. I think we have a great city, and it has the potential to be even better. The people have the potential to just have more opportunities given to them and burdens lifted from them. Hopefully, I can help do that.

As a left-leaning person myself, I actually agree with several of your policies, especially when it comes to your efforts with ending “Government Corruption.” Why should voters look at policy over party when considering who they vote for?

I think that we’ve become way too partisan. When you look at the way things are voted on in Washington, and even here at the state level, it is far too often everyone votes on party lines. All the republicans said yes; all the democrats said no, or vice versa. It shouldn’t be that way because even within a party, those republicans represent various parts of the country, as do the democrats. They should think about, “What’s best for my community?”

What’s gonna be best for democrats living in Los Angeles is gonna be very different than what’s best for democrats in Massachusetts. The fact that they’re constantly voting on party lines is a little concerning. It makes you ask the question, “Are they doing just what their party wants, or are they doing what’s best for the people?” I would like there to be more working together. That’s not happening right now, and there’s a lot of reasons for that.

Politics has always been divisive. You go back to the feuds between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, it got pretty dirty. I think George Washington was probably the only president that there was no problem. And even by the time his second term came around, there were people who didn’t like him anymore. It’s the nature of politics, but we can be more willing to work together. If you look back, just not that long ago, Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton were able to work together to put a balanced budget into the works. They were obviously in different parties but were willing to work together to do that. I credit both of them for getting that done. If it happened then, we can make it happen again.

It’s gonna start with having people go to Washington who are actually willing to do it. But then they get caught up in politics and don’t do it. I am quite comfortable with making people on both sides of the aisle unhappy with me. I have made multiple people unhappy with me (laughs). Like in June, where I had people in my party telling me I was ruining my (political) career. It’s not that big a threat; I have another job. I do politics in my spare time. But that hasn’t been the case (for most politicians).

Conversely, there are many of your policies that progressive voters might disagree with. You want to end illegal immigration into the U.S., but Denver is a sanctuary city. How do you reconcile your emphasis on local and state rights to determination with these federal policies that would impede local decision-making?

I fully do believe there are a lot of things that are up to the states. Really, it’s most things. Our federal government is too big and is doing a lot of things that should be left to the states. However, when it comes to this, that is the federal government’s job. Securing the national border and providing an environment where people can feel safe and protected, that’s their job. The federal government needs to step up the game.

Here in Colorado and in the City of Denver, there are policies that make us a “Sanctuary state and city,” although our elected officials do not like that term, as I think most people don’t. It has a negative feel to it in recent times. I’ve heard the governor and mayor say we are not a sanctuary state; we are not a sanctuary city. But there are policies that make us one. They limit the ability of law enforcement to work with the federal agencies, if not outright telling them not to. Law enforcement, their hands are tied. It creates a situation where people are incentivized to migrate here. If they are in the country illegally, if they feel like they are gonna be safer here than in other places, if there are less chances of being sent back home.

You strongly encourage voters to get involved in local politics, saying that as a congressman, it is not your job to enforce the law. You also want to make federal bills transparent and on a singular subject so that congresspeople and voters will have time to understand what is being voted on. With this in mind, what does it mean to be a “good voter,” and how does one become a good voter?

Be informed. I understand most people are not involved in politics to the level I am. I am a weirdo. I actually kind of like the drama of politics. So, I’m very aware of that. I know the people on the ballot, on both sides. I’ve met with them. I’ve talked to them. Most people can’t do that and aren’t going to do that. I get it. You have a family. You have work. You have a house. Who has time to go to all these things or look these things up? But it is good to educate yourself on the policies, the bills.

We’re gonna have in Colorado, this year, the biggest ballot we’ve ever had. It’s gonna be huge, depending on which area you’re in. I heard that each one of these ballots is gonna cost the state five dollars. That’s a lot of information. It’s important as voters to make an educated choice and don’t just do what a certain party tells you to do or someone else. Actually find out what these ballot measures are and make a decision.

I’ve even told people before, if you know nothing about a ballot measure, if you don’t have time to inform yourself, you can leave that one blank. I, multiple times, left spots blank. Sometimes because I just don’t have a strong enough view. Let other people decide that. That’s OK! I feel like being uneducated and uniformed can be a dangerous thing. We end up being pressured by money. “Oh, I saw a commercial about this and (it) said this was bad.” That’s usually just because someone had the money to tell that (it) was bad. Go find out if what they’re saying is true.

Many queer people today are speaking out about the events in Palestine and Israel. What do you say to that, and how would you like to see the conflict resolved?

I would love to see a two-state solution. They’ve tried that many, many times now. I think Hamas doesn’t want that. I don’t like blaming Palestine—It’s Hamas. I view them as two separate entities. Palestine being the people there as a whole. Hamas being the governing entity of them right now. You can’t force them into that. The Middle East is a conflict that goes back thousands of years. Right now, to think we’re gonna solve it in the next few years is arrogant on our part. I wish we could. I would love to see more of a diplomatic ending to these conflicts in this world.

I think a lot of people look at it in this mentality of the oppressor and the oppressed. We view a lot of conflicts that way in the world. Sometimes, I think that’s an oversimplification, and I think that’s the case in Israel and Palestine. People look at Israel, being the bigger nation, as the bully. They have more power. They have more money. They have more ammunition. All that is true, but it doesn’t mean they’re wrong—and I’m not saying they’re right, either. Just because you’re the bigger country doesn’t mean you are always the oppressor or wrong. Or that it even is an oppressor-oppressed situation. I do think Israel does have the right to defend itself. Because if (October 7) happened to any other nation, how would they respond?

War is horrible. I understand people are dying, women and children. I hate that, but a lot of the blame also goes back Hamas. The fact that they are storing weapons and hiding in schools and hospitals*. They’re putting their own people at risk. I think the people of Palestine would be better without Hamas, if they had a better leadership that cared about them as people more.

Looking at it as a gay man—I don’t know if this if fair because maybe it’s selfish—I know in Israel, I can go to a gay Pride festival and walk around in my underwear, holding hands with another gay man. I would be free to do that in Israel. In Palestine, I would probably be killed for being gay. I probably shouldn’t even bring that into the consideration, but I can’t help but know that in the back of my head. This country, I would be free. That one, I would not. I don’t blame the Palestinian people for that; I blame Hamas for that. I would like to see the Palestinian people have leadership who want to be part of the entire world community, part of the world economy, and do things that are good for the people there, rather than build tunnels and ammunition. Build water systems to give them water. Build green houses to supply food for them. And, work with Israel. I get that they don’t like them that much, and they probably have reason to not like Israel. It’s one of those, “I wish everyone could just get along,” but I know the world’s not that simple.

Project 2025 sets out to target transgender healthcare and instate policies which would enforce a hetero-normative nuclear family. If elected under a Trump Presidency, when Project 2025 would likely be enacted, how would you protect LGBTQ+ Coloradans from these policies?

Well, Project 2025 is not part of the GOP platform. It’s not Trump’s Platform. It’s done by a Washington think-tank. I have not read it because I don’t feel like it’s worth my time to read. Nobody who’s behind it actually has the power to enforce it. To me, it’s a non-issue. I don’t care what Project 2025 says.

Denver is one of, if not the most, progressive places in Colorado, and it might seem farfetched for a Republican to win. Why should voters cast their ballots for you over incumbent Diana DeGette (D)?

I am a Denverite. This is my home. I will represent this city. I am not going to represent a party. I have nothing against Diana DeGette, but she’s been in office for 30 years. I think if we want to have a government that’s going to represent the people, we need to replace people in office once in a while. Being a politician is not supposed to be a career path. It’s supposed to be something you serve your country for a while and then go back home and go back to what you were doing.

The longer you’re in Washington, no matter who you are, you end up being influenced by other politicians, lobbyists, big-money donors. That’s natural. It’s not saying you’re a bad person. After a while, when you just live in the Washington bubble, you become Washington. We need people in the House of Representatives who represent the people. That’s what I want to do. I want to represent this city. Not a party, not a PAC, or anything. I live here. I work here. I know what it’s like to struggle. I know what the people in Denver are going through. I’m here with them. I’m one of them. And we need to send someone like that to Washington.

*Amnesty International reported in 2009 and 2014 there is no evidence that Hamas uses human shields. However, they have given no reports in the last year of war. 

Photo courtesy of Valdamar Archuleta