Cole Buerger is the Democrat running for state Senate District 5. He lives in Glenwood Springs with his husband and runs a small business. With state Sen.
Perry Will’s intent to run for a Garfield County commissioner’s seat instead of seeking another term in the state legislature, voters in the recently-redrawn district will choose between two familiar faces. Glenwood Springs Democrat Cole Buerger and Montrose Republican Marc Catlin both will face off to represent Delta, Eagle, Garfield, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose and Pitkin counties in the Nov. 5 general election.
Buerger grew up on a ranch near Silt and says he can trace his family lineage in the Western Slope back five generations. After an East Coast education, he worked in nonprofits to promote democracy and strengthen democratic processes globally. He then gained a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.
After years away from home, Buerger returned to the Roaring Fork Valley with his husband to be closer to family and the beauty of the mountains. For the past 14 years, he’s run a small consulting company focusing on policy, design and communication. He ran against state Rep.
Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, in the 2022 primary for a seat in the state House (District 57), but lost. He said his interest in holding office sparked after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.
S. Capitol. “Having held up the example of the U.
S. when I was working abroad so often, January 6 broke my heart .