Two Army veterans, one a nonprofit leader and the other a Washington, D.C., insider, are vying in Tuesday’s primary for the chance to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank in November’s general election. 

During the Biden administration, Jessica Killin served as the chief of staff for Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff. Prior to her stint in the White House, she worked with numerous Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill. She moved back to town last spring. 

She was raised in Colorado Springs and went on to commission as an Army officer through ROTC and served as a military police officer in the Balkans and as a logistics and supply planner at the battalion level for missions in Kosovo. She served on active duty from 1995 to 1999 and then spent four years in the individual ready reserve.  

If elected to represent the 5th Congressional District, she expects to focus on reversing health care cuts and improving affordability by ending tariffs and pushing back on corporate consolidation of grocery store chains. She would also work to ban congressional public stock trading, end pay for members of Congress during government shutdowns and overturn the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The decision ended limits on independent business and labor union spending on elections.

“We need community-focused leaders who will be relentless in lowering costs and cleaning up Washington,” she said. 

Her opponent, Joe Reagan, a former Army intelligence officer, most recently worked for Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, helping veterans build their businesses. He previously worked for Wreaths Across America as the director of military and veterans outreach and as the senior director of development of Easterseals, a nonprofit that serves people with disabilities. He moved to Colorado Springs in 2020.

Reagan said he would focus on issues such as robust ethics reform for members of Congress, addressing affordability, high insurance costs and boosting support for wildfire mitigation and firefighting efforts. 

He is also concerned about the coming changes to Medicaid and the high cost of health insurance in general.

“We have to be able to do something to make sure people are not having to make health care decisions based on their financial situation,” he said. When people delay care because they can’t afford it, it can lead them to rely on emergency rooms, the most expensive form of care, he said. 

He said his work with nonprofits has helped him see how policy changes impact people and helps set him apart from his opponent, who has spent a significant number of years in Washington, D.C. 

“I have been out in the community working in organizations that are engaged in implementing these kinds of policies,” he said. 

Both candidates said they want to work on improving veterans’ mental health care and praised the work of Next Chapter, a program of Mt. Carmel and UCHealth, that focuses on preventive services to address veterans’ needs before they fall into a crisis. 

Reagan said every member of his platoon was injured at least once and suffered multiple injuries during a 2006 deployment to Afghanistan.

But what stands out to him are the losses that have followed.  

“I have lost more of those soldiers to suicide than actual combat,” he said. Reagan served two combat tours in Afghanistan. 

At a recent event, Killin said she also lost a soldier in her platoon to suicide and she would like to see the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs do more to try to solve the problem. 

Killin said in response to Gazette questions that her experience in Washington sets her apart.  

“I know and understand the good, the bad, and the ugly of D.C., and I want to work to fix it,” she said.

Killin has raised a substantial war chest with $1.37 million on hand as of June 10. Reagan had $32,555 on hand during the most recent reporting period.