Meet Christian Seale | Democratic Candidate for El Paso County’s Fifth Commissioner District

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christian Seale and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christian, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I chose to run to be El Paso County’s next Commissioner because from a young age I could see the pain and trauma caused by the extreme levels of poverty that have plagued our communities across the nation for too long. As a child abuse survivor, I learned that the only way to put an end to the injustice and pain that is inflicted upon us all is to stand up together, not for ourselves but for each other. From the age of seven, I have known that no one was going to give our communities what we deserve unless we are willing to fight for it. Cesar Chavez once preached that “We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live” and he was right. From our under paid essential workers that keep our businesses operating every day to the over worked teachers who give everything they have to care for and educate our children, any working person or family today can tell you that we know despair. Our children have seen it on our quiet halls while their parents are working extra shifts to keep a roof over their heads. Our stomachs can feel it in the ache of an empty table because there was only enough food for someone we cared enough about to sacrifice for. We can feel it in our anxiety when the bills come due, and we have to choose what gets paid today and what we have to go without or make excuses to delay another week. We know despair. Our neighbors, families, and friends have known despair. Now I am running for office because it is time that the people in power who have forced us to live this way feel our strength. It is time our community shows these elite billionaires that power comes from people not money,

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a young person in politics, I believe what sets me apart the most is my ability to bring together otherwise unlikely allies in order to create positive change within The Democratic party, as well as within communities across Colorado. As the Vice Chair of Electoral Organizing for The Colorado Young Democrats and Chair of The El Paso County Young Democrats, I have long worked closely with the Colorado Young Democrats’ Chair, Chris Davis, to create spaces within The Democratic Party as a whole where young people know that we can have our voices heard. Together, alongside many other leaders around the state, we built The Colorado Young Democrats into a policy-driven, values oriented, electoral powerhouse that has chapters spanning over a dozen counties around the state and growing. I am incredibly proud of the work that our young organizers, activists, and leaders have been able to accomplish together and while I will be leaving my role on the Colorado Young Dem Board at the end of my term this April, I am even more excited to work with the initiative as a candidate and to see what we will be able to achieve together in the years to come!
I am not going to lie, getting to where I am today has not been easy. While I was politically involved a bit when I lived in Arizona, It was not until I met Chris Davis while working for The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition that I truly decided to make this work my life. Chris recruited me, has helped guide me, and mentored me since re-engaging in the political world. They inspired me to come back into the fray and choose to fight for our communities and our values once again. While that was not always easy and sometimes the hours are long and stressful, the work is always worth doing. At the end of the night, when you can go to bed knowing you helped fight to make sure our neighbors can keep their wages protected from falling even further or that you helped protect the retirement benefits of people across out communities, then you go to bed know that every ounce of sweat, blood, and tears you shed doing the work was worth it.
I was born in extreme poverty and destitution and after my parents left I was really faced with a choice. For as many generations as I have known, my family has struggled with alcoholism, drug addiction, and cycles of abuse. When they left me to my own devices I had a choice to make: I could have chosen to give up and turn toward a bottle or a needle like so many of my relatives before, lord knows it would have been easier, but I also knew I always had another choice. You see, I was taught by one of the first books I ever read a simple fact: The world around us, from the bricks in our roads to the castles on our hills, was all built by people and if people can build it, people can always choose to change it. That principal is one that I hold very dear. There is no law, no title, nor building, or power so strong that we as people can not choose to set aside or change for the betterment of our fellow neighbor, and to me there is nothing, but the one who stole my heart, more perfect and beautiful in the world than that.
I am a proud union member with the UFCW Local 7 and dedicated progressive organizer in Colorado Springs. El Paso County is my home and I am ready to continue to fight for our residents’ right to equitable access to healthcare services, a thriving economy, and safe communities as our next County Commissioner representing the Fifth District.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Living in Colorado Springs, there is so much to do that it may be difficult to fit everything in one trip. Our city is beautiful and filled with a wide variety of things for people to enjoy. I think I would want to start by getting coffee at Stompin Groundz before heading over to the westside to hike Garden of The God’s for a few hours. Nothing captures the Colorado Springs experience like coffee at a local shop owned by friendly, pillars of our community followed by some time taking in the breathtaking Colorado wilderness that surrounds and engulfs our communities.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am honored to be able to give a shoutout to my Foster Mother, Megan Anderson. At fourteen years old, my parents abandoned me in Phoenix, Arizona and after some couch surfing with good friends and the occasional family member, I ended up in the Arizona Foster Care System. When asked, Megan agreed to take me in and care for me. That decision changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to explain. She gave me stability, love, and the opportunity to make more out of my life. I would not be here today if it was not for her support, of that I have little doubt at all.

Website: https://christianforcolorado.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianseale/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christianmseale

Other: Threads: https://www.threads.net/@christianseale

Image Credits
Photos 1 & 2 taken by Talena Gipson