Naomi Riess has been a proud resident of Southwest Colorado for more than 35 years, raising her family here and serving in business and volunteer roles with integrity and principle. She believes healthy communities are built with economic vitality, family well-being, individual empowerment, initiative and responsibility, flourishing local agriculture, and common sense regulations. Supporting rural families, farms, and small businesses is central to these values. Together, they create opportunity, stability, and optimism—ensuring our community thrives today and for future generations.
A healthy community begins with a strong local economy. Naomi will work to expand housing opportunities by reducing red tape, legalizing buildable lots, and streamlining development timelines for affordable housing. She will fight to remove unnecessary county regulations that drive up costs and discourage investment, while ensuring that land use codes are fair, measurable, and transparent. By reducing government waste and cutting redundant programs, Naomi is committed to making it easier for families, farmers, ranchers, and small businesses to thrive.
Education must prepare our children for success while respecting families’ values. Naomi will champion higher standards and stronger accountability in schools, while supporting charter schools and skilled workforce training that equip young people to earn and build a future here at home. She will defend parental rights, protect Title IX, and safeguard children from harmful social engineering. At the same time, she will ensure students in need have access to essential supports like free meals, after-school programs, and professional mental health care, so that every child can learn, grow, and succeed.
Naomi believes a healthy community requires a balanced, commonsense approach to land, water, and energy. She will protect Colorado’s water rights, expand storage, and incentivize regenerative agriculture and homesteading. She supports innovative solutions like constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment to restore the land and energy production through agrivoltaics, mini hydro-electric systems, and small modular nuclear reactors that deliver clean energy without sacrificing our lands. Naomi will encourage responsible stewardship already practiced by Colorado’s farmers and ranchers so that local families and communities can thrive while protecting the resources we all depend on.
Access to quality healthcare is essential for every community. Naomi will fight to retain rural healthcare services within driving distance for all residents and ensure accessibility for at-risk populations like veterans, disabled persons and seniors. She will promote local food initiatives and healthier lifestyles, while also working to end policies that allow repeat offenders and drug traffickers to threaten the safety of our community. By combining prevention, access, and accountability, Naomi will strengthen both the physical and social health of Southwest Colorado.
At the heart of Naomi’s vision are strong, healthy families. She will expand access to affordable childcare, early childhood programs, breastfeeding and lactation support, and nutrition programs like WIC. Naomi is committed to supporting parents with co-parenting mentorship, reducing barriers to healthy food, and improving opportunities for families to thrive together. With a focus on prevention, access, and education, she will help build communities where children are supported, parents are empowered, and families have every opportunity to succeed.

