Mark Baisley is the kind of U.S. senator Colorado needs

By C. J. Garbo | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Mark Baisley was my choice for governor of Colorado.

I supported him because he possesses a combination increasingly rare in American politics: private-sector accomplishment, technical competence, constitutional conviction, legislative experience and the ability to work with people who do not share his politics.

So, when Baisley left the gubernatorial race for the United States Senate, I was initially disappointed.

I am not anymore.

The more I consider the challenges facing our country, the more convinced I become that the Senate may be the office best suited to his talents.

Before politics, Baisley spent roughly four decades in information technology, aerospace, defense, education and financial services. His career included work with Martin Marietta, Hughes Aircraft, Raytheon and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He became a technology executive and entrepreneur. He chaired the Colorado Space Business Roundtable and helped found the STEM School and Academy in Highlands Ranch.

That résumé matters because the next United States Senate will confront questions involving artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum computing, semiconductors, aerospace, energy, national defense and America’s technological competition with China.

Most senators will require someone else to explain those subjects to them.

Baisley has spent much of his life working in that world.

More importantly, his career was built in institutions where results matter. Engineers must make systems work. Businesses must create value. Cybersecurity programs must withstand actual adversaries. Aerospace systems cannot survive on good intentions.

Reality eventually audits all of them.

Washington could use more people who understand that.

Baisley’s legislative record reinforces the point. Since entering the Colorado House in 2019 and the Senate in 2023, he has remained a committed conservative while demonstrating an ability to govern in a legislature controlled by Democrats.

He helped advance Colorado’s semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing incentives. He worked on legislation supporting the state’s quantum industry. He helped reauthorize the Advanced Industries Investment Tax Credit and supported employee-owned businesses. His economic-development work earned him the Economic Development Council of Colorado’s 2025 Legislator Lifetime Achievement Award.

His cybersecurity work is particularly compelling to me.

In 2026, Baisley joined legislators from both parties on significant information-security legislation strengthening oversight, security auditing and technology-risk accountability in Colorado government. It passed the Senate 34-0 and the House 64-1.

That tells us something important.

Baisley knows how to say no when principle requires it. He also knows how to say yes when cooperation can accomplish something worthwhile.

Those are not contradictory qualities.

Conviction without judgment produces obstruction. Cooperation without conviction produces capitulation. Statesmanship requires knowing the difference.

Character matters too.

Baisley’s life did not begin when he filed for office. He had a profession before politics. He built businesses. He served educational and civic institutions. He and his wife, Maryann, have been married for more than four decades and raised a family.

Public office should be something a person brings a lifetime of experience into, not something around which an entire life is constructed.

This is also why I believe the Senate may fit Baisley even better than the governorship.

A United States senator operates at the intersection of constitutional authority, commerce, technology, national security, energy, regulation and international competition. Those subjects align remarkably well with Baisley’s professional life.

And that brings us to John Hickenlooper.

Hickenlooper deserves a fair campaign. He has served Colorado as mayor, governor and senator. I do not support Baisley because I despise Hickenlooper.

I support Baisley because I prefer Baisley.

That distinction matters.

Colorado Republicans cannot win statewide elections simply by explaining why voters should dislike Democrats. They must give unaffiliated voters and thoughtful Democrats an affirmative reason to vote Republican.

Baisley can make that case.

He can speak to entrepreneurs because he has been one. He can speak intelligently about technology because he understands it. He can discuss aerospace and national defense from experience. He can defend conservative principles while pointing to a legislative record demonstrating that disagreement need not become dysfunction.

Defeating Hickenlooper will not be easy. Colorado’s political landscape makes any Republican statewide victory difficult.

But difficult is not impossible.

The path is not for Baisley to become louder than Hickenlooper. It is for him to become more compelling.

Make this election about competence. Make it about Colorado’s economic future, technology, security, liberty, energy and opportunity. Make Hickenlooper defend his record and let Baisley present his.

Then trust Coloradans to compare them.

I supported Mark Baisley for governor because I believed he possessed the experience, intellect and character to lead Colorado.

I am now convinced his decision to run for the United States Senate may place those talents where our state and country need them most.

The office changed.

My reasons for supporting the man did not.

Mark Baisley was my choice for governor.

He is now my choice for the United States Senate.

Garbo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Metropolitan State University of Denver and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Regis University. He has also managed political campaigns at the local, county, state, and federal levels. His experience at the intersection of land use, elections, public safety, legislative policy, and political strategy gives him a practical understanding of how governmental structures shape accountability, representation, and public policy.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.