6th Congressional District race: Miklosi says common sense needed

Joe Miklosi, a Democrat from Aurora, has spent the past four years as the state legislator representing House District 9, which serves southeastern Denver.

A Michigan native, Miklosi earned his B.A. in political science and religion in 1992 from Hope College. He also possesses a master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado at Denver, which he earned in 2004.

Miklosi has worked in the private sector as a business development manager for a software company, worked for the Centennial nonprofit Project C.U.R.E. and is a former Rotarian, serving four of his eight years in Highlands Ranch. He is married to Jennifer, with whom he attends the United Methodist Church in Washington Park. He just moved to the district seven months ago.

Colorado Community Media asked the following questions of the candidates in the race for District 6 of the U.S. House of Representatives. Below are Miklosi's answers.

What makes you the best candidate for this office?

I'm the most qualified candidate because of my pragmatic approach to problem-solving, my diverse professional experience and my strong desire to bring both a servant-leadership style and Colorado common-sense solutions to Washington.

I'm committed to finding bipartisan solutions like the proposals I have worked on with Republicans and Democrats in the Colorado state legislature. Along with other state legislators, I cut my take-home pay 2 percent and I was on an audit committee that found over $70 million in savings for state government to help balance the budget. I want to take that same pragmatic approach to Washington.

If elected, what would you do to promote job growth?

There are common-sense proposals that we can implement, like “Buy American” legislation that would give American companies the first crack at federal contracts. I want to make Colorado the renewable energy capital of the country. We already have nearly 72,000 jobs associated with renewable energy and clean tech industries and I want to help double that number over the next 10 years.

What is the best way to meet the nation's growing energy demands?

We need an all-of-the-above approach that relies on both renewable energy and traditional fuels. Investing in the renewable energy sector here in Colorado benefits us both economically and in terms of reducing our dependency on foreign oil. We should continue to emphasize natural gas and other domestic forms of energy as well.