Colorado House District 44 Candidates 2026: Anthony Hartsook vs Richard Bowness

House District 44 already had its election this year, or the part of it that was in doubt. Anthony Hartsook, the House Republican caucus chair, survived a June primary against a challenger nominated from the floor of the county assembly, and now defends a seat he has won twice at 57 and 59 percent against Democrat Richard Bowness and Libertarian John H Sutton.

Which Douglas County votes here

On the redistricting commission's House map of Douglas County, District 44 is the block in the county's northeast: Parker and the area around it, from the Arapahoe County line south and east toward Elbert County. Highlands Ranch and Lone Tree are District 43, Castle Rock and Franktown are District 45, and the rural remainder is District 39. The legislature lists Douglas as the district's only county.

The county's own numbers

Hartsook won the open seat in 2022 with 23,362 votes, 57.2 percent, over Democrat Bob Henry at 16,333 and Sutton at 1,147. In 2024 he beat Alyssa Nilemo 30,957 to 21,833, 58.64 to 41.36, with 4,566 of the district's 57,356 ballots skipping the race.

The primary was the story of the year here, and we covered it in June. Bob Davis, a 31-year law enforcement veteran, was nominated from the floor at the March 22 county assembly, where delegates split 40 to 18 for Hartsook, enough to put both men on the ballot. On June 30 Hartsook won 6,081 to 4,541, 57.25 to 42.75 percent, out of 11,317 Republican ballots cast in the district. Bowness was alone on the Democratic ballot and drew 8,523 votes.

Money: TRACER's Oct. 3 quick-stats report lists Hartsook at $55,973.01 raised and $17,199.02 spent, Bowness (filed as Richard Egan Bowness) at $4,850.80 raised and $3,524.10 spent, and Sutton at zero.

Anthony Hartsook, Republican

Hartsook's site says he spent 26 years in the Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel after deployments to the first Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan; his decorations include the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star. After the Army he was business development director for a service-disabled-veteran-owned small business and legislative affairs assistant to U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman. He holds a biology degree from Northern Arizona and a master's in administration from Central Michigan. In the House he chairs the Republican caucus and sits on Education, Finance and Legislative Council. His campaign's mailing address is a Parker post office box.

Where Hartsook stands

His vision page: "Lower Taxes, Reducing Fees and Less Bureaucracy," energy development, "Parents Know Best," support law enforcement and "Protect Victims First," and cut healthcare "Fraud, Waste, And Abuse" and mandates. His record is more specific than his platform. The bill his site calls the Parker Wine Walk bill, HB24-1156, restored chamber of commerce special event permits after state regulators shut the Parker event down; the governor signed it in Parker. He carried HB25-1192, a financial literacy graduation requirement; HB24-1013, funding for victim programs in the new 23rd Judicial District; and HB24-1463, limits on special district tap fees. His signed 2026 bills make strangulation a second-degree felony (HB26-1290) and require police to check for military protection orders at domestic violence calls (SB26-085). District Attorney George Brauchler and the Colorado State Shooting Association endorse him; the Colorado Chamber backed him in the primary.

Richard Bowness, Democrat

Bowness's site says he is from Halifax, Nova Scotia, has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years and became a citizen on July 30, 2025, less than a year before winning the nomination; he jokes that it "may be a Colorado record." He writes that he is "proud to call Parker, Colorado home," works in marketing and communications after a decade in sports including the 2017 national champion Denver Pioneers hockey program, plays bass in the band The Lollygags, and helps organize cleanups along Double Angel Road.

Where Bowness stands

His priorities page is written almost entirely about Parker. It leads with a $192 million AI data center he says opens in Parker in January and will draw 22 megawatts around the clock, and with a Public Utilities Commission projection he cites of residential rates rising 55 percent by 2029. He would require large-load data centers "to pay proportional grid infrastructure costs," mandate water and energy disclosure, and demand "a public community impact assessment" before any similar facility in the district.

"Parker got a data center and a rate hike."

Then property taxes: expand the homestead exemption, make it portable for seniors who downsize, limit corporate bulk purchases of starter homes, ban AI rent-setting software. Schools: rewrite the K-12 formula for fast-growing suburban districts and raise teacher pay. He also lists wildfire funding, broadband, RTD accountability, a living minimum wage indexed to inflation, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ protections, and a Parker Film Festival under the state's small-festival tax credit.

John H Sutton, Libertarian

Sutton ran for this seat in 2022 and took 2.8 percent. Ballotpedia lists no biography, no website and no completed survey for him, and TRACER shows no money raised. We found nothing else to report.

What this means in Douglas County

The two major candidates are arguing about different things. Hartsook runs on a record of bills that touched Parker directly and on taxes, fees and public safety. Bowness runs on the next thing to arrive in Parker, a data center, and on the power and water bills he says it will bring. Neither site mentions the other.

More: every race and measure on your ballot and the county's November ballot guide. We do not endorse candidates. Campaigns can send corrections to hello@discoverdougco.com.