Ken Biles
Ken Biles (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Colorado's 7th Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Biles completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Ken Biles was born in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Westminster High School in 1982. His professional experience includes working in information technology in the financial industry. As of 2020, he was training drivers for Amazon.[1][1]
Elections
2020
See also: Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2020
Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 30 Democratic primary)
Colorado's 7th Congressional District election, 2020 (June 30 Republican primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Incumbent Ed Perlmutter defeated Casper Stockham, Ken Biles, David Olszta, and Steve Zorn in the general election for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ed Perlmutter (D) | 59.1 | 250,525 |
 | Casper Stockham (R) | 37.6 | 159,301 | |
 | Ken Biles (L)  | 2.7 | 11,510 | |
 | David Olszta (Unity Party) | 0.6 | 2,355 | |
 | Steve Zorn (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Total votes: 423,691 | |||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Anthony Malgieri (Independent)
- James Treibert (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Incumbent Ed Perlmutter advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 30, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ed Perlmutter | 100.0 | 125,880 |
| Total votes: 125,880 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Nathan Clay (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Casper Stockham advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on June 30, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Casper Stockham | 100.0 | 52,488 |
| Total votes: 52,488 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7
Ken Biles advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on April 13, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Ken Biles (L) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Unity Party convention
Unity Party convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7
David Olszta advanced from the Unity Party convention for U.S. House Colorado District 7 on April 4, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | David Olszta (Unity Party) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
General election
General election for Colorado House of Representatives District 35
Shannon Bird defeated Bruce Baker and Ken Biles in the general election for Colorado House of Representatives District 35 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Shannon Bird (D) | 59.3 | 20,272 |
 | Bruce Baker (R) | 37.0 | 12,645 | |
| Ken Biles (L) | 3.7 | 1,251 | |
| Total votes: 34,168 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 35
Shannon Bird advanced from the Democratic primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 35 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Shannon Bird | 100.0 | 8,042 |
| Total votes: 8,042 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 35
Bruce Baker advanced from the Republican primary for Colorado House of Representatives District 35 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bruce Baker | 100.0 | 4,585 |
| Total votes: 4,585 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ken Biles completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Biles' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I'm just an average guy, who realized that the politicians in Washington don't know any more about the world than any of us. I got tired of watching people who know less about the Financial System than I do, spew forth a word salad that made no sense. I got tired of listening to people tell me what is best for me. I got tired of Politicians thinking that I work for them, instead of the other way around.
I got tired of watching the American voter do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.
If you really want change, you have to do things differently. Simple as that.
- The Economy: The Government thinks it can control everything, including the Free Market. That is what has brought us to where we are now. We are at the beginning of not just a Recession, but a Depression, deeper than the 1930's. I know that's not what you want to hear, nor is it something you say to get elected, but it IS the truth. The Government is printing the dollar into worthlessness, and giving it to ANY corporation, whether they ask for it or not. What are you getting? $1200 and The Shaft.
- The Police State: With this Pandemic, we have seen (and the Government has realized) that the Government can shut down the entire country for months at a time, for any reason, as long as that reason scares enough people. We cannot gather in crowds, even though that contradicts the very foundations of our country. The Government is deciding what businesses will survive, and which won't, instead of letting the Free Market decide. The Government has decided that you need a parent, to be responsible for you, because you are not capable of being responsible for yourself. Worst of all, there are Americans who actually want this to happen! The Government wants to control everything. That is what all Governments do, given the chance.
- Healthcare: As long as the Insurance company is the customer, not the patient, prices will go up! Insurance is for catastrophic events, not scraped knees. Get insurance out of medicine by posting prices for services up front. That way everyone (including the competition) can see what any doctor charges for any service offered.
Tell me, when did throwing money at a problem EVER solve it? That is what the Government is doing now. They are printing $1 million every second, to give away to the large corporations. That is enough money to give every American - man, woman and child, $1 million every 6 minutes. Worse, your Government is giving this money to Corporations that have already shown that they aren't capable of running a business. After all, if they were, they wouldn't need to be bailed out, would they?
Last time, it was the Big Banks. Too Big To Fail was the mantra. This time it's Banks, Airlines and any other corporation that learned the lesson that it doesn't matter how badly you run your business, if you're big enough, the Government will be there to bail you out!
That is NOT the function of Government! They have the absolute worst record for picking winners and losers. Remember Solindra? Let the Free Market determine which businesses survive, and which don't. That's the only path to prosperity.
The Soviet Union thought they could decide which businesses should thrive and look what happened to them! China still believes this, as does Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea. When did we decide that North Korea was the best model for running our Government?
Thomas Jefferson. He understood that Government could not be all things to all people, and therefore shouldn't try. Government has two functions, according to the Constitution; Protect the People from threats, both internal and external and to be a framework for justice. Those are the two things discussed in the US Constitution. Everything else has been glommed on as an afterthought.
President Kennedy, when hosting a dinner for Nobel Laureates stated, "We have here tonight, the greatest gathering of intelligence, except for when Jefferson dined alone."
If the American People read Jefferson's letters and treatises, they would understand that the gigantic amorphous blob that our Government has become, is nothing close to what the Founders envisioned. As Ben Franklin noted to a lady who asked what form of Government we had decided on, we have "A Republic, if you can keep it."
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, tells you everything you need to know about my philosophy.
Anyone who is lucky enough to be elected to whatever office, owes that position of power to the people who elected them. Therefore they should always keep the people, both those who elected them, and those who did not, in mind when creating law. The Elected Official is not above the people or the law. Unfortunately, that seems to be how they see themselves.
The current office holder from my District has been in office for 14 years. I haven't heard anything from him in all that time. He simply went to Washington and disappeared. As soon as this Pandemic became news, suddenly he's calling me several times a week, asking me to attend some town hall he's doing. Where was he the last 14 years? What has he done for me? More importantly, what has he done for you?
Suddenly trying to look busy during a crisis, does not make up for being an Absentee Congressman.
Those who are in office, should be there for the people of their district (and anyone else), explaining what they are doing and why and asking what the people want.
I'm not a Politician. I may be running for office, but that doesn't make me a Politician.
I look at the people currently in office, and realize that they have no clue about what they are doing. I can't say that I have any more of a clue, but I at least know how to research and am willing to educate myself about the issues, instead of having some staffer feed me facts they believe are relevant. If you have ever watched a Congressional Committee talk about anything you understand, you quickly realize these people know nothing.
I firmly believe that no one should legislate on anything they do not actually understand. This is how we get nonsensical gun laws that make criminals out of law abiding citizens. This is how we get laws that criminalize farmers, because beavers have dammed a stream on their property. I plan to spend as little time in Washington D.C. as I possibly can. Only getting out to see the real people, can I hope to understand their needs and desires.
The one quality I possess, that I believe is relevant, is a desire to help this country and its people.
Simple. Do what's right for the people who elected you, and those who did not. It's not about you, it's about them!
I'm not worried about legacy. That's not why I'm running for office. I'll leave legacy, if any, for history to decide.
It's not about me. It's about the People.
You know, everyone else puts some classic literary work here. I'm different. As a published author, I could put my own books here, but I won't. That's not fair, even though of course my own writing would be my favorite.
I also won't put a single book. Instead I'll put a series.I would love to say The Expanse, but I haven't read the books. I've only watched the series. There is however, and older science fiction series that has just as much political intrigue, and drama. That would be the Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffery. If you want to understand what motivates people to do what they do, both for themselves and for others, that series of books is fantastic. I believe I have read every book in the series, though I may not have gotten all the later books.
The one thing these books do, like all good science fiction, is hold a mirror up to society. They show the good, the bad and the ugly. You must deal with and address all three, if you are to be successful at anything.
Harry Potter, because MAGIC!
Tell me you don't agree.
Classical Gas
YouTube is a wonderful thing (when they aren't censoring content) I was able to show my housemate who the Smothers Brothers were, and there was a clip of Mason Williams playing Classical Gas.
Unlike seemingly everyone else running for office, I wasn't born rich. I didn't acquire wealth to spend on campaigns. I work for a living just like you do. I pay bills, I do my taxes, I do my best to make ends mean. Have I been successful? Sure, I made a good living in a career I enjoyed. Then it all went away. The owner of the company was diagnosed with cancer, and none of his kids were interested in the business, so he sold to a much larger competitor. I and everyone else was told that our jobs were gone.
That's business.
I spent a year trying to start my own business online. It cost more than it made, but it was worth the experience. I don't yet have the money to retire, but I expect to in the next few years. I could just give up, especially with the current financial crisis. I'm sure that I could find a way to have the Government pay me while I do nothing, but that's not me.
Instead, I want to do something important. I want to represent my neighbors in Washington. It solves all my problems and I get to do something worthwhile. By the way, did you notice that Congress gave themselves a raise in that Stimulus Bill they passed. The CARES ACT is standard Washington BS. Make the title sound nice, then give out money to yourself and all your friends. Never let a crisis go to waste!
Fixing that, now there's a struggle for you.
The House holds the purse strings of the Nation. All finance goes through the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, not a since Congress person seems to know anything about finance. I spent 30 years in the Financial Industry. Watching the House Banking and Finance Committee ask Facebook the same question over and over again, because they simply didn't understand the answer, is unacceptable.
The House of Representatives has so far, in the first half of this year, ordered $6 Trillion to be created out of thin air. Not to help the people of the country, but to bail out the Corporations who weren't smart enough to realize that they needed to save for a rainy day. Worse, these Corporations weren't spending money of research or development, trying to improve or create better products, they were buying back their own stock, in an attempt to raise the price of that stock.
I hope you enjoyed your $1200 slice of their $6 Trillion Stimulus.
The problem with having experience in politics, is that it teaches you how to back stab and lie.
I understand how politics is supposed to work. I can't do anything on my own. I will need help. As someone who is not on either the Left or the Right, I believe that I can help bring those sides together, in order to help the American people. I also have no problem exposing those whose greed does not benefit the American people.
Everything is connected. A small change here, creates an imbalance over there. That is what has been happening to our country throughout the 20th Century. The challenge is how to put it all back to a system that gives freedom and equality to all, without causing a disaster along the way.
I don't have all the answers, but I do know that things must change. If we continue on the Path we are currently on, it's not a matter of if, but when the disaster happens. We are starting to see this now, when something that we would have simply worked our way through just 100 years ago, now shuts down not just our entire country, but the entire world.
Has the American Experiment failed to such an extent, that we can no longer be an example to the world?
America should be at the forefront of showing the rest of the world how to combat this virus. That means keeping people working and not shutting down the entire economy out of unfounded fear. It means creating and maintaining strong trading partners around the world. You don't go to war with people you depend on for products. It means no longer being the world's Police Force and bringing our troops home to protect us from any threat that comes our way. It means fighting only if attacked. It means no longer spying on our own Citizens. Why do we have 17 separate Intelligence Agencies anyway?
America, and the rest of the world, can be a better place, if we choose to make it that way.
As boring as it is, I would want to be on the Bank and Finance Committee. At least ONE member should know something about Banking and Finance.
I would also like to be on the Intelligence Committee. Having watched the Impeachment Fiasco, I see the need for more intelligence on that committee as well. Just because you have the votes, does not mean that it is the right thing to do.
I believe there is also a Defense Committee that works on the Defense budget. I would love to cut spending there! We currently out spend the next 10 countries combined. Why? Because someone (everyone?) on the committee has some defense industry in their district. It's time to make those dollars available to other things.
I believe that two years is enough time to do damage. If I do a good job for the people in my district and they know it, I believe they will re-elect me to another term.
I would not accept more than three terms. Six years in more than enough time away from home and I think of the term "Career Politician" as the worse insult you can give.
See above.
I would not run for more than three terms in the House, nor more than two terms in the Senate. I think that gives anyone more than enough time to make the changes they want, without taking the time to become a millionaire off the wages of the People.
If I am elected, I WILL be the party leadership. There is currently one other Libertarian in Congress, if he can get re-elected in November.
Ron Paul was a Senator, not a Representative, but I believe he did a good job and opened more than a few eyes along the way.
Everyone has a story. Some are sad, others are inspirational. The object, I believe, is to take those personal stories with you into office and remember them as you work. Ask yourself how would this bill affect these people, if it were to become law? I believe this is how you create just and fair laws.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2018
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
I would like to make the lives of the people of Colorado better. Is there anything you would like to add? Voters in Colorado, who are not affiliated with either Major Party, out number members of both those Parties. All we have to do, is come together behind a single 3rd Party candidate, and that candidate will win.[2] |
” |
| —Ken Biles[1] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on July 8, 2018 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "bio" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
