An Independent Path for Colorado and the Lessons of the Founding

On Tuesday, June 9, 2026, Kim Monson asks whether an Independent ticket can win Colorado as the nation nears its 250th birthday. Former Congressman Greg Lopez and running mate Taralyn Romero explain their Independent campaign for governor, constitutional scholar Rob Natelson walks through his six-part series on the Declaration of Independence, headmaster Priscilla Rahn updates listeners on Excalibur Classical Academy’s fall opening, and attorney Jon Boesen breaks down a viable personal injury claim.

An Independent Bid for the Governor’s Office

Start listening at 03:30 – Hour 1

Greg Lopez, a former congressman now running for governor as an Independent, told Kim Monson that voters across income levels and party lines share the same frustration. He argued that both major parties have stopped focusing on the daily struggles of Coloradans, from rising electric and gas bills to property taxes, and that the system no longer works for the people it claims to serve.

Lopez pointed to Colorado’s voter rolls to explain his strategy. With roughly 52 percent of active voters registered as unaffiliated, 25 percent as Democrats, and 23 percent as Republicans, he contends the two major parties have become minor parties that no longer decide statewide races. His campaign projects winning 40 percent of Independents, 30 percent of Democrats, and 20 percent of Republicans, a margin of about 90,000 votes. He and Romero are gathering petition signatures to reach the November ballot, a route Lopez used in 2022 to bypass a primary.

He also rejected the eminent domain authority the Public Utilities Commission granted Xcel Energy for an industrial transmission line in Elbert County, calling it wrong for government to hand a private company the power to take private land. Lopez urged voters to look past party loyalty and weigh the character of the candidates.

“The major parties now here in Colorado are minor parties. They don’t decide who wins. It’s the independent voters.”

Greg Lopez, Independent candidate for governor

Affordability and a Nation Indivisible

Start listening at 03:57 – Hour 1

Taralyn Romero, Lopez’s running mate for lieutenant governor, said she once vowed never to enter politics but changed course after Jefferson County sued her in what she described as an unconstitutional attempt to take her property. She prayed for a way to help people facing government overreach at scale, and now campaigns on affordability as Colorado’s central problem.

Romero described a state where runaway costs pile up every year with no plan to pay for them. Homeowners watch property taxes climb, renters watch rents rise, and the price of groceries and gas keeps growing. She placed Colorado among the most expensive states in the country and rejected the claim that natural beauty justifies the cost of living. Drawing on 25 years of experience rising to an executive role in health care, she said leadership means making hard trade-offs while putting people first.

Closing her segment, Romero warned against the spirit of party and urged Coloradans to remember that the country was meant to be governed by the people. She framed the Independent ticket as a return to freedom of choice for Colorado voters.

“In George Washington’s farewell address, he warned of the spirit of party. When we say the Pledge of Allegiance, we say a nation indivisible.”

Taralyn Romero, Independent candidate for lieutenant governor

A Classical Academy Opens With Full Scholarships

Start listening at 14:27 – Hour 1

Priscilla Rahn, headmaster of Excalibur Classical Academy, called in with the latest on the classical Christian school’s opening this fall in Centennial for children in kindergarten through third grade. The school aims to enroll 50 students and is offering full scholarships funded through partnerships with Daniel’s Fund, ACE Scholarships, and the education tax credits in recent federal legislation.

Rahn said the academy will keep classroom technology to a minimum. Students will not use iPads or cell phones; the only devices in the classroom will be the teachers’ computers and document cameras. In their place, children will read, write in cursive, and study phonics, grammar, math, music, and art alongside the classic books that have shaped generations, in the classical Christian tradition. Drawing on 32 years in public education, Rahn said handing young children devices too early lets them slip past firewalls onto sites they should not see and pulls them away from real learning.

She emphasized transparency with parents, promising no hidden agenda, and invited families to information sessions running through the start of school. Rahn also mentioned a free Father’s Day event at Top Golf on June 21 and encouraged parents and grandparents to learn more at the academy’s website.

“Our school is going to have no to very low technology. Our students will not be on iPads and cell phones. They’ll have books and they’ll be writing.”

Priscilla Rahn, Headmaster, Excalibur Classical Academy

What Makes a Viable Personal Injury Claim

Start listening at 61:38 – Hour 2

Jon Boesen of Boesen Law explained the three things a personal injury claim requires. The first is liability, meaning someone did or failed to do something that caused harm. Boesen explained that a driver who runs a stop sign, follows too closely, or changes lanes into another car is at fault, and that a person who causes his own accident has no claim to pursue.

The second element is damages. Boesen said that if a caller was not injured, there is nothing to pursue, no matter how upsetting the incident felt. The third is causation, the link between the accident and the injury. He noted that pre-existing injuries that were not made worse by the accident do not support a claim, because the harm came from something other than the event in question.

Boesen offered the segment as a short educational piece, observing that most people understand these basics but that he still fields calls over situations that do not meet them. He urged anyone who believes they have a valid claim to act promptly.

“If you don’t have injuries, you don’t have damages, you don’t have a claim to pursue.”

Jon Boesen, Boesen Law

The Road to the Declaration of Independence

Start listening at 68:55 – Hour 2

Rob Natelson, a constitutional scholar with the Independence Institute and a former law professor of 25 years, wrote a six-part series on the Declaration of Independence for its 250th anniversary, published in The Epoch Times and the Mountain States Policy Center. He explained that North American colonists were content British subjects until about 1763, proud of the rights of Englishmen and largely self-governing under a British Empire that functioned as a federation.

That arrangement soured when the British ministry began restricting western migration, imposing new taxes, regulating manufacturing, and meddling with colonial currency. Natelson drew a direct parallel to the present, describing a federation whose central authority keeps grabbing for more power. He recounted the July 1, 1776 debate between John Adams and John Dickinson, noting that Dickinson believed independence was premature yet enlisted to fight once the vote was lost.

Natelson, author of The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant, called the American Revolution a conservative one that preserved Anglo-American law while the French swept theirs away. He ranked the Declaration among the four most important secular political documents in Western history, alongside Magna Carta, the Code of Justinian, and the United States Constitution.

“The same sort of thing we have going on today. A federation where the central authority is growing relentlessly and always grabbing for more power.”

Rob Natelson, Constitutional scholar, Independence Institute