Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R) Elected 2002, 1st term
Born:	Jan. 27, 1949, Greeley
Home:	Ft. Morgan
Education:	CO St. U., B.A. 1972
Religion:	First Assembly of God
Marital Status:	married (Steve)
Elected  Office:	Ft. Morgan Schl. Bd., 1990-94; CO House of Reps., 1994-98; CO Senate, 1998-02.
Additional Info
Recent Articles · Offices · Committees · Election Results District Demographics
More On Colorado
At A Glance · State Profile District Map Redistricting · Almanac Home

The High Plains of eastern Colorado are dusty brown, gently rolling grasslands that seem flat but actually slope imperceptibly up toward the Rocky Mountains. The land is fertile, but dry: Rainfall is rare, the rivers are just a trickle most of the year, and in many places groundwater is equally scarce. It is fine wheat country when irrigated and one of the foremost beef cattle regions. But it has been squeezed in recent decades between declining prices for wheat and declining demand for beef and increased prices for water because of high demand in Denver and along the Front Range. Bitter confrontations continue over who gets access to the South Platte River. Local farmers are now finding that the value of their water rights to metro Denver far exceeds what they hope to gain by farming; their neighbors condemn them for selling out and betraying a way of life that seems destined to decline. The prairie lands and small towns of the High Plains have small reminders of their past: The Pawnee National Grasslands, where antelope, coyotes and prairie dogs still roam, and Burlington's 1905 carousel, one of the few with the original paint. But the free market that once peopled the High Plains with farmers and ranchers and made it the scene of farm protests and revolts is now causing it to empty out and revert to untamed land, ready again for now increasingly numerous buffalo. The 2.4 male-female ratio in Crowley County is the nation's highest and reminiscent of frontier days--the main reason is more than one-third of the residents are in prison.

The 4th Congressional District contains almost all of the High Plains plus the medium-sized and fast-growing area around Greeley, Fort Collins and Loveland--the northern end of the densely populated Front Range, off I-25 toward Cheyenne, Wyoming. It includes all of Larimer County (which grew by 35% in the 1990s), and reaches into Boulder County to pick up the city of Longmont. Fort Collins became a center for California transplants seeking a different lifestyle at start-up telecommunications firms, and appeared to survive the dot.com bust by spending its money on infrastructure instead of corporate incentives. Fort Collins also is home to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab that conducts cutting-edge research in the war against bio-terrorism. By heritage and usually by inclination, this is Republican territory: It was evenly split in 1992, but later gave solid margins to Bob Dole and George W. Bush. Redistricting removed Denver suburban areas and Hispanic Las Animas County on the New Mexico border. The result is a district whose population is based north of Denver, though its land is mostly to the east.

The congresswoman from the 4th District is Marilyn Musgrave, elected in 2002; she replaced Bob Schaffer, a fellow Republican who reluctantly abided by his pledge to limit himself to three terms. Musgrave grew up in rural Weld County, where she worked as a waitress, cleaned houses and cared for children. She first became interested in politics when a liberal teacher in her high school government class inspired her with his interest in issues. She pursued her interest in social studies at Colorado State, where she found herself increasingly disturbed by socialist ideas. She and her husband Steve, whom she married at college, started a hay-stacking business. Musgrave was first elected to public office in 1990 as a member of the Fort Morgan school board and in 1994, she was elected to the state House. In 1998, she successfully challenged a popular Democratic state senator. In the statehouse, she earned a reputation as an honest, but uncompromising social conservative. She was one of the legislature's strongest Second Amendment supporters, an advocate of tax cuts and a sponsor of bills opposing abortion, same-sex marriage and adoptions by same-sex parents.

When Schaffer announced in November 2001 he would honor his term limits pledge and retire, Musgrave became the immediate front-runner to replace him. In the Republican primary, she was challenged by Greeley lawyer and former Weld County Republican Chairman Jeff Bedingfield, who criticized her focus on cultural issues, pointed to her support from a splinter group of gun owners and to her ardent opposition to abortion and gay rights. Some Republicans feared a bitter conservative-versus-moderate clash. But Musgrave won Schaffer's backing, and easily won the primary 65%-35%. In the general, she faced state Senator Stan Matsunaka of Loveland who, after the Democrats won a one-seat majority in the Senate in 2000, thwarted many of her legislative initiatives. Matsunaka had considered running for governor, but decided not to take on popular incumbent Bill Owens; national Democrats recruited him because of history of winning over Republican voters in Larimer County. Matsunaka emphasized his fiscal conservatism and his support for gun ownership rights. At every opportunity, he depicted Musgrave as an ineffective extremist and as a zealot on cultural issues. But Musgrave raised more money, which enabled her to pick apart Matsunaka's record on tax issues. At the end of the campaign, voters could be excused for thinking that Matsunaka's name was "Stan Taxsunaka" or "Stan the Tax Man." Musgrave's 55%-42% victory was easier than many had expected--she won all 18 counties. In Larimer County, which cast about 45% of the vote, Musgrave won 50%-47%. In Weld and Morgan Counties, she led Matsunaka by 3-2 margins. In the eastern plains, she won overwhelmingly.

Recent News Coverage
Search the CongressDaily, Hotline, House Race Hotline, National Journal and Technology Daily archives using the form below:

DC Office
1208 LHOB 20515, 202-225-4676; Fax: 202-225-5870; Web site: www.house.gov/musgrave

State Offices
Greeley, 970-352-4037; Las Animas, 719-456-0925; Loveland, 970-663-3536; Sterling, 970-522-1788.

Committees

• Agriculture (25th of 27 R): General Farm Commodities & Risk Management; Livestock & Horticulture.
• Education & the Workforce (24th of 27 R): Education Reform; Employer-Employee Relations.
• Small Business (12th of 18 R): Rural Enterprises, Agriculture and Technology; Tax, Finance & Exports.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Marilyn Musgrave (R)	115,359	55%	$1,249,564
	Stan Matsunaka (D)	87,499	42%	$959,962
	Other	7,097	3%
2002 primary	Marilyn Musgrave (R)	28,683	65%
	Jeff Bedingfield (R)	15,743	35%
2000 general	Bob Schaffer (R)	209,078	79%	$248,736
	Dan Sewell Ward (NL)	19,721	7%	$4,444
	Kordon L. Baker (LIB)	19,713	7%
	Leslie J. Hanks (AC)	9,955	4%
	Other	4,539	2%

2000 presidential
	Bush (R)	145,056	57%
	Gore (D)	92,602	36%
	Other	16,271	6%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Fourth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R +11
• District Size: 31,048 square miles
• Population in 2000: 614,466; 75.1% urban; 24.9% rural
• Median Household Income: $43,389; 10.9% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 24.0% blue collar; 59.8% white collar; 16.2% gray collar; 12.3% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 79.4% White, 0.7% Black, 1.1% Asian, 0.5% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.2% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 17.0% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 20.3% German, 8.7% English, 8.4% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.