Diane Mitsch Bush

Diane E. Mitsch Bush (born February 17, 1950) is an American politician and retired sociology professor who served as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives. She is the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Colorado's 3rd congressional district.

Mitsch Bush attended public schools as a child in Minnesota, and cites her high school reading of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and Michael Harrington's The Other America as shaping her "life long passion for public service". Mitsch Bush graduated summa cum laude with a BA in sociology in 1975. She later earned a Master of Arts and PhD in sociology and social policy, both from the University of Minnesota.

Prior to 2012, Mitsch Bush served as a Commissioner of Routt County, Colorado. She then served as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives for District 26 from January 9, 2013 to November 2, 2017, after which she resigned to focus on her campaign for Congress.

In July 2017, Mitsch Bush announced her candidacy for the congressional seat held by Scott Tipton, and won the Democratic nomination in June 2018. She was defeated in the general election held in by Tipton. Mitsch Bush is again the nominee in the 2020 election after defeating seafood executive James Iacino. She will face Lauren Boebert, a restaurant owner from Rifle, Colorado who defeated Tipton in the Republican primary.

Agriculture

Mitsch Bush believes in supporting and preserving family agriculture. Mitsch Bush supports the continuation of loans for family farms, ranches, and small business, supports a Farm Bill that prioritizes family agriculture, and wants to repeal the Trump Tax provisions. Mitsch Bush wants to ensure that hemp farmers can use their water rights and to remove federal obstacles to a vital cannabis industry.

Mitsch Bush was awarded Legislator of the Year 2015 by the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and the conservative Colorado Livestock Association for her work on ranching and farming.

Mitsch Bush served as a member on the Colorado House Committee for Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources from 2013-2017, serving as the Vice Chair in 2017.

Campaign reform

Mitsch Bush supports overturning Citizens United v. FEC by constitutional amendment, as well as measures that support campaign disclosure and reporting requirements. Mitsch Bush supports measures that protect and expand voter access and registration, especially for minority communities, and wants to end voter suppression initiatives.

Mitsch Bush has taken the No Corporate PAC Pledge, the OFF Fossil Fuel Pledge, and the Colorado Democratic Party's Clean Campaign Pledge.

Economy

Mitsch Bush wants to invest in 21st Century infrastructure such as water, broadband, multimodal transportation, and renewable energy. Mitsch Bush supports raising the minimum wage and indexing it to the cost of living, while incentivizing small business expansion and living-wage job growth by supporting local communities. Mitsch Bush believes in equal pay for equal work, and supports collective bargaining. Mitsch Bush wants to disincentivize corporations from taking jobs overseas by implementing effective taxation policy.

Mitsch Bush also supports protecting net neutrality.

Education

Mitsch Bush has said she will "invest in public education, increase teacher pay, and reduce the student debt burden so our children receive the education and skills they need to succeed in today's economy". Mitsch Bush sponsored the bipartisan Debt-free Schools Act in Colorado in 2016, later signed by the governor, to increase public school funding in Colorado. In addition to supporting universal pre-K, she supports funding for vocational training and expanded apprenticeship opportunities. Mitsch Bush wants to regulate the for-profit college industry and protect students and families from predatory lending, while maintaining funding for Pell Grants for hardworking low-income students.

Environment

Mitsch Busch is committed to fighting climate change, including striving to uphold the goals of the Paris Climate Accord and ending fossil fuel subsidies.

In 2017, Mitsch Bush was Conservation Colorado's 2017 Legislator of the Year, and has a 100% lifetime environmental voting record rating from Conservation Colorado. Mitsch Bush has supported enacting science-based environmental protections and funding more effective waste disposal and recycling programs.

Foreign policy

Mitsch Bush is an advocate for congressional oversight of military force, and wants to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001 and insist that any act of hostilities, not in self-defense, must obtain authorization from Congress. In addition, Mitsch Bush wants to reform military contracts and spending in the Pentagon, and supports global denuclearization.

Mitsch Bush supports a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel.

Gun control

In 2013, Mitsch Bush voted for universal background checks and magazine limits in Colorado. Mitsch Bush continues to support universal background checks, long-term assault weapons ban, and a ban on purchasing bump stocks. Mitsch Bush also supports funding for national research for gun use, safety, and violence prevention through the Center for Disease Control. A number of violence prevention groups have recognized Mitsch Bush for her record on combating gun violence, including Colorado Ceasefire, Moms Demand Action, and LEAP Forward.

Healthcare

Mitsch Bush supports the goal of universal, single-payer healthcare. To improve current healthcare systems, Mitsch Bush supports measures to solve the 2-earner glitch and cliff effect in the Affordable Care Act while protecting funding for Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and rural health clinics. Mitsch Bush would allow the federal government to negotiate with prescription drug companies to lower costs. Mitsch Bush supports providing funding for behavioral health and drug prevention programs, including programs to combat the opioid crisis. In 2016, Mitsch Bush was given a 100% rating by the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.

NARAL has given Mitsch Bush a 100% rating for her legislative work. Mitsch Bush is committed to protecting a woman's access to reproductive healthcare and the right to choose abortion.

Human rights

Mitsch Bush supports measures that protect equal rights and protection of all people, prevent discrimination, and supports the rights of minority communities. Mitsch Bush wants to ban racial profiling, end arbitrary and infinite detention, and fight for the right to harassment-free workplace, school, and community. One Colorado has given Mitsch Bush a 100% rating for her support of LGBTQ issues.

Immigration

In 2013, Mitsch Bush cosponsored legislation to allow recipients of the DREAM act to receive in-state college tuition in Colorado, and currently supports a clean passage of the DREAM Act. Mitsch Bush wants to create a predictable path to citizenship, and end practices of family detention and separation.

Labor

Mitsch Bush supports collective bargaining and is for the repeal of the Taft–Hartley Act. Mitsch Bush supports the passage of a Full Employment Act, a Green New Deal, and major public investment in infrastructure jobs of at least $1 trillion over five years.

Women's rights

Mitsch Bush supports increasing access to birth control, and opposes any effort to reduce or restrict family planning funding in Title X or Medicaid. Mitsch Bush supports Roe v. Wade and opposes fetal personhood amendments.

Mitsch Bush has publicly supported the Equal Rights Amendment, Violence Against Women Act, Violence Against Women Veterans Act, and HR 4396 ME TOO Act. In 2016, Mitsch Bush co-sponsored and voted to require state contractors to comply with federal equal pay standards.

Mitsch Bush has lived in Steamboat Springs, Colorado since 1976. Mitsch Bush is married to Michael Paul.

• 2012 When Democratic Representative Andy Kerr ran for Colorado Senate and left the District 26 seat open, Mitsch Bush was unopposed for the June 26, 2012 Democratic Primary, winning with 1,738 votes; and won the November 6, 2012 General election with 18,470 votes (55.8%) against Republican nominee Charles McConnell.
• 2018 During the Democratic Primary for Colorado 3rd District that took place on June 26, 2018, Mitsch Busch defeated two Democratic opponents, Karl Hanlon and Arn Menconi, to win the primary with 42,048 votes (64.12%). Incumbent congressman Scott Tipton defeated her in the general election.