Ross Metler

Ross Metler (Libertarian Party) is running for election to the Colorado House of Representatives to represent District 23. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026.[source]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a software developer and data analyst who builds civic data tools, and I have spent years reading Colorado legislation line by line. That is unusual for a candidate, and it is the point. Most people do not have time to track what the legislature actually does. I do, and I want to bring that habit to the job.

I live in Wheat Ridge and I am running for the open seat in House District 23 because the people who represent us should read the contract before they sign it, and should tell us plainly how it will affect Coloradans and what it will cost us.

As legislative director for the Libertarian Party of Colorado, I follow bills at the Capitol from introduction to signature. I have watched good ideas die quietly and bad ideas pass without a recorded vote. Voters deserve someone who will show up, do the homework, and explain the tradeoffs instead of performing for a party.

My rule is simple: nothing about you without asking you. Whether it is your money, your data, or your neighborhood, government should ask first and be honest about the cost.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I do the homework. I have spent years reading Colorado bills line by line, and as a data analyst I build tools that make government records usable. Voters keep getting representatives who vote on legislation they have not read and cannot explain. I will not. Before I vote, I will tell you in plain language what a bill does, what it costs, and who it affects. That is the whole job, and too many people in office treat it as an afterthought.Colorado is too expensive, and much of that traces back to choices made at the Capitol and the utilities commission. Housing costs stay high because it is hard to build. Your electric bill climbs as mandates, grid and wildfire costs, and now data centers all get passed through to ratepayers, and the utility can cut your power on its own judgment about fire or storm risk while you get little say. Health care prices stay hidden until the bill arrives. My approach: build more housing, but let communities help write the rules. Whatever drives up your bill, you should see the price tag before you pay it, and no one should put the cost of a private data center on your neighbors. Affordability is a competence problem, not a slogan.Nothing about you without asking you. Whether it is your money or your data, government should ask first and be honest. The state should not keep raising revenue through fees that grow every year without a vote, and should say plainly what those fees pay for. Surveillance tools like automated license plate readers need real limits and a warrant to pull your location history. Read the contract before you sign it. I will.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about a government that holds itself to its own rules: budgets that say plainly where the money goes, major bills that get a recorded vote instead of passing in the dark, and decisions voters made at the ballot box that get respected rather than quietly undone. I care about privacy in an age of cheap surveillance, and about clear limits before the government tracks ordinary people. I want Colorado cared for over the long term, which means not sending our National Guard into combat without a declaration of war, and treating clean water, wildfire readiness, and open space as real responsibilities. Underneath all of it is the craft of the job: reading legislation closely and explaining what it does before I vote.