Mike O'Donnell
Republican | Colorado
Candidate Profile
Conservative (Conditional)
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Mike O'Donnell
Party
Republican
Election Year
2022
Election
Primary
Race
Secretary of State
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, B.Commerce, 1976
Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney, Australia, MBA, 1986
WORK & MILITARY
Candidate did not provide
AFFILIATIONS
StartUp Colorado, Board Chair
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Candidate did not provide
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Candidate did not provide
Race
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
The recently enacted Texas Heartbeat Law provides the appropriate guidelines
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Agree
Non governmental organizations (NGOs) and designated charitable 501C3 entities are intended to operate independently of government support, raising funds need to support operations from either fees-charged-for-service or philanthropic private sector sources, not taxpayers.
I support 'aid in dying' laws which legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Strongly Disagree
ECONOMY
What changes, if any, should be made to the tax code?
The tax code should be simplified to the extent that every American household is capable of both understanding their obligations and preparing their own returns.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
No one in the federal government, past or present, has seemed interested in balancing the budget so I presume this is a hypothetical question. It is certainly possible for the nation to save a lot of wasteful expenditures by reducing the size of the government bureaucracy.
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Disagree
The college experience varies wildly from institution to institution. Some don't offer anything to their students and taxpayers shouldn't be asked to subsidize inefficient and ineffective institutions of higher learning that seeming only exist to make money for themselves.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
When consumers purchase goods or services, they make choices as to which brand to buy or which service provider to shop with. Other than in very rare monopoly situations, no one is forcing consumers to buy from one company over another. So too with businesses. If a business chooses not to serve or sell to someone because, for example, they aren't wearing a shirt or shoes, or are obviously intoxicated, they certainly have that right.
Under what circumstances can government close churches?
None.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D)Tax-payer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be de-funded.
America spend more per capita on heath care than the citizens of any other nation YET the U.S. life expectancy at birth of 78.7 years (2020 study) ranked the U.S at #28 out of the 37 OECD countries, falling between the Czech Republic (79.1 years, #27) and Estonia (78.4 years, #29) - C
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
None.
NATIONAL SECURITY
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of Islamic terrorism?
Policing the southern U.S. border and preventing un-vetted immigrants from flooding into the nation, would be a good start.
I support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the separation barrier in the West Bank, allow full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Choose not to answer
I'm in no position to direct or opine on policy positions for a foreign nation. The Ukrainian situation and the genocide currently underway in Ethiopia's Tigray region, are two more pressing international concerns impacting America's national security interests at this time.
IMMIGRATION
The U.S. should do more to physically secure the southern border.
Strongly Agree
The U.S. isn't doing anything currently to physically secure the southern border. Something would be better than nothing.
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
The U.S. currently allows for the in-migration of up to two million individuals each year based on a well-developed visa application coupled with a lottery process administered through U.S. consulate and embassies around the world.
EDUCATION
I support school choice, including voucher programs, tax credits, charter schools, private schools, and home schools.
Strongly Agree
More options encourages more competition and better educational opportunities for future generations of Americans.
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
Of course, we don't quite have a system of limited government any more.
I support adding gender identity as a specially protected class in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Disagree
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition
Strongly Agree
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a practicing Catholic.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Choose not to answer
They already do so in Colorado with mail-in ballots. For the purposes of registering to vote, photo identification, proof of residency and, in the case of foreign born residents, proof of citizenship should be a minimum requirement. If voting in person, yes, photo identification ought to be required.
What laws would you propose to change present voting practices?
Without clean voter rolls, there will never be election integrity. In Colorado, I would repeal the automatic voter registration law which works to suppress and marginalize the votes of eligible Colorado citizens.
EQUALITY
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
No.
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
From 1907 through to the early 1970's, governments and doctors were actively "following the science" of eugenics and forcibly sterilizing hundreds of thousands of "feeble minded" Americans to prevent them reproducing. If there are any survivors of these families, they are certainly due reparations.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Which comes closest to your view? A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. B) Stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost.
Neither
I support the use of hydraulic fracking to extract oil and natural gas resources.
Agree
If the U.S. uses oil and natural gas products and if it is expedient and cost effective to do so, it is better from both a national security and economic perspective to pay American companies employing American workers to provide those needed resources rather than purchase oil and gas from hostile foreign nations.
ABOUT YOU
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
The purpose of the government of the United States of America is enshrined in the constitution.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
I have a wide range of view on a wide range of issues.
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
Feel free to enter my name in a web browser's search engine.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No
What else would you like voters to know about you, including your legislative priorities?
Without clean voter rolls, there will never be election integrity in Colorado. I estimate that we have more than 400,000 "extra" voters on the Colorado voter roll that need to be removed.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Police officers should be personally immune from prosecution for conduct consistent with departmental policy (qualified immunity) while on duty.
Neutral
I support redirecting funds from police departments to mental health and community programs.
Strongly Disagree
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
None
Victims of gun violence should be able to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers.
Strongly Disagree
Following that line of reason, people who drink diet soft drinks should be able to sue soft drink manufacturers when they, the diet soft drink drinkers, gets diabetes, Caveat emptor,
