The Independent sent the same five questions to Rep. Jeff Crank and Jessica Killin on September 13, and told both campaigns their answers would be published in full. Both answered. This is the complete record, reproduced as received and unedited. The reporting built on these answers, including where the claims in them hold up against the underlying documents and where they do not, is in the accompanying article.
Crank’s answers arrived on September 25 from his campaign, over the signature “Team Crank.” Killin’s arrived on September 27 from her campaign’s communications director, Emily Dalgleish, as an attached document, after the campaign asked for and was granted a short extension.
Three of the five questions were identical for both candidates. Two differed, because they went to each candidate’s own record: Crank was asked about his war powers votes and the Medicaid law he voted for, Killin about a figure in her platform and about moving back to the district. The questions are reproduced here as they were asked.
How this record was made
Deadline given: September 25
Crank answered: September 25, by email from his campaign. His congressional office did not reply; the communications director’s address returned an automatic message directing press inquiries elsewhere
Killin answered: September 27, by email from her campaign, after asking for and being granted a short extension
Editing: none. Spelling, grammar and phrasing are the candidates’ own
One omission, disclosed: one sentence of Killin’s answer on Medicaid was supplied on background rather than for publication, and is not reproduced below
Space Command
Both were asked what a member of the House can still do about the relocation. Crank was asked what had come of the “roadblocks” he described to KOAA in October 2025. Killin was asked what specifically Crank should have done that he did not.
Jeff Crank (R)
Despite the decision to relocate Space Command, which I opposed with the entire Colorado delegation, I worked with the Air Force to secure new jobs and investments for the Pikes Peak Region that will far exceed any potential loss from the move of Space Command.
First, is the new $250 million Space Force Operations Facility coming to Schriever SFB that will support 2,500 civilian jobs. Second, the Space Force's Infrastructure Portfolio Acquisition Executive has now been relocated to Peterson Space Force Base, which brought with it a $4 billion acquisition portfolio, hundreds of jobs and solidifies the continued investment from the defense sector in El Paso County. Third, Space Force budget is going to double in the next few years, which includes tripling the number of 2nd Lieutenants coming to Peterson SFB to complete officer training.
El Paso County has been a strong partner of the Department of the Air Force for over eight decades, and with these new investments for our community, I'm confident that our best days are still ahead.
Jessica Killin (D)
While Crank has put his loyalty to Trump ahead of his constituents every time, I am not afraid to stand up to Donald Trump, and I’m also not afraid to stand up to leaders in my own party. Jeff Crank told us we would fight for Space Command and then, according to the Colorado Sun, “chose flight over fight.”
I would have fought for Space Command – signing onto a letter is not enough – I would have made a clear case for our national security, used my votes as leverage, and actually stood up to Trump to keep it here. Jeff Crank brags about being the deciding vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill. He should have told the President that he would vote for the OBBB only if Space Command stayed in Colorado.
Now that the decision has been made, in Congress, I will continue to fight for aerospace and defense investments in Colorado Springs
The Air Force Academy
Both were asked about civilian faculty staffing at the Academy after cuts in 2025 and the restoration of 26 positions in July. Crank was asked what is being done about the positions that were not restored; Killin what she would do differently or in addition.
Jeff Crank (R)
I am proud that the advocacy from myself and Sen. Hickenlooper resulted in the Air Force reinstating many faculty positions at the Academy. I am also pleased that this decision exempted academic faculty/training instructors from the hiring freeze. Further, as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, I was to include a provision that prevents the closure of the 70th Flight Training Squadron at the Academy.
As a Member of the Air Force Academy's Board of Visitors, I will continue to advocate that the Academy receive investments for appropriate staffing and programs, to modernize facilities, and to equip our future Airmen and Guardians with the resources to defend our country.
Jessica Killin (D)
As a veteran, I understand how critical the Air Force Academy is to our national security, our military readiness, and the Colorado Springs community, and why it must have the resources to prepare the next generation of American leaders.
I am glad those 26 civilian faculty positions were restored, and I give credit to everyone who worked across party lines to make that happen. I will also work across the aisle to protect our military installations. But having to fight to restore those positions shows why we need a member of Congress who will be vigilant about protecting the Academy.
As a member of Congress, I will work to ensure the Academy has the resources it needs to maintain its academic programs, recruit and retain world-class faculty, and provide cadets with the education and military training they deserve. The Air Force Academy is a national institution and a critical part of our community. It deserves a representative who will consistently fight for it.
This matters even more as Space Force continues to grow. Colorado Springs is already home to the infrastructure and talent driving our nation's space defense, and I will fight to keep it that way, including pushing for the military construction funding our installations need so Guardians aren't training in outdated, Air Force-era facilities, and making sure the Academy's pipeline into Space Force is fully resourced, not treated as an afterthought to its Air Force programs.
Water and the Denver Basin aquifer
Both were asked the same question, in the same words: whether there is a federal role in the Tri-Lakes’ move from the Denver Basin aquifer to renewable supply, and what they would do in it.
Jeff Crank (R)
Water is fundamentally a local and state issue, and I believe Colorado should remain in control of its water rights and allocation decisions. But there is a meaningful federal role in helping communities make the investments necessary to secure reliable water supplies.
There are great programs at the EPA and Bureau of Reclamation that can help finance through low-cost loans to help States and municipalities secure water supplies and build out necessary infrastructure to support drinking water. I've supported these programs through the appropriations process to ensure they receive adequate funding.
As Colorado continues to face long term drought, it will be important that local communities and the State work with federal partners to address water security and our office stands ready to help support project proposals at the federal level.
Jessica Killin (D)
The Denver Basin aquifer supplies much of the Tri-Lakes, and our local districts are spending heavily to move to renewable supply. Is there a federal role, and what would she do in it? This is the issue our readers raise most often and the one we see asked about least.
The Denver Basin aquifers have been a critical water source for the Tri-Lakes region, and I agree with our local water districts that we need to transition toward sustainable, renewable supplies. This is ultimately a matter of state and local water management, but the federal government still has an important role.
As a member of Congress, I will fight to bring federal resources home to help local water districts make that transition, particularly for infrastructure, water reuse, conservation, and improved groundwater monitoring.
The Bureau of Reclamation already has programs that provide grants and cost-sharing for water recycling, conservation, and water-supply infrastructure, and I will make sure Colorado communities are competing for every dollar available.
Most importantly, I will listen to the people who actually manage our water here. Local water districts and communities understand their systems and their needs.
War powers (Crank) and Medicaid (Killin)
Crank was asked how he reconciles saying the president should have sought congressional approval with voting against all four Iran war powers resolutions this year. Killin was asked for the basis of her platform’s claim that the Medicaid changes will cost “hundreds of thousands” of Coloradans their coverage.
Jeff Crank (R)
Congress retains ultimate authority over war powers, emergency declarations, budget control, and regulatory authority, and I take that responsibility seriously. The Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse and the final word on these matters, and I will never cede that authority to any administration, regardless of party. For Iran, our military leaders believed acting unannounced was the best course of action, but I will not pull the rug out from under our men and women in uniform performing their mission.
Jessica Killin (D)
Jeff Crank cast the deciding vote for the largest gutting of Medicaid in American history, a budget that is kicking more than hundreds of thousands of Coloradans off their health insurance, forcing more than 200,000 Coloradans to pay double for their monthly premiums, and putting hospitals and labor and delivery units at risk of closure. I will fight to repeal the most egregious cuts to Medicaid to lower healthcare costs for everyone, including Coloradans not on Medicaid.
Medicaid (Crank) and the district (Killin)
Crank was asked what effect he expects the Medicaid work requirements to have in a county with 163,982 members, and what he would tell a constituent who loses coverage. Killin was asked about moving back to the district in 2025 and where she lives now.
Jeff Crank (R)
H.R. 1 added work or community service requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents and more frequent eligibility verification checks to receive Medicaid, which are common-sense reforms to protect the program so it can serve the people it was designed for.
For individuals on Medicaid because they're disabled, elderly, or a caregiver, nothing about their coverage changes under this law. For able-bodied adults without dependents, the expectation is simple: engage in work, job training, or community service for 20 hours per week to keep the benefits, which is something most Coloradans support.
Jessica Killin (D)
I’m a fourth-generation Coloradan, born and raised in Southern Colorado. My mom was a public school teacher at Pikes Peak Elementary, and my dad was the principal at Falcon Middle School. This community instilled in me the values of patriotism and service, which is why I pursued an Army ROTC scholarship and served as a Military Police Officer overseas. I then worked at USAA for over a decade, improving the financial security of service members and veterans. I carried those values of patriotism and service throughout my career and got to achieve the American Dream, and I’m running for Congress because I want to serve the community that raised me and give others the same opportunity I had. I know El Paso County deserves more and better representation than Jeff Crank, who has focused solely on his loyalty to Donald Trump.
Jessica Killin returned to El Paso County permanently in the spring of 2025 and lives in Southwest Colorado Springs.
What was not answered
Publishing answers in full means also recording where a question had a part the answer did not reach. Crank was asked what had come of the efforts to slow the Space Command move that he described to KOAA in October 2025, whether there is a version of an Iran war powers resolution he would support, and what he would tell a constituent who loses Medicaid coverage. None of the three is addressed above. Killin was asked for the basis of the “hundreds of thousands” figure in her platform; the answer above does not supply one, and the sentence that addressed it was given on background.
A question-by-question account of what each answer covered runs in the accompanying article. It grades nothing, and every line of it can be checked against this page.
Neither candidate’s office was asked to review this page before publication, and neither has.
Sources & further reading
The Independent’s own coverage: The Fifth District race, and what the records show
The candidates: Rep. Crank’s congressional site · his campaign · Killin’s stated priorities
Methodology
The five questions were written before either campaign was contacted and were not shown to either side in advance of the other. Three were word-for-word identical; the two candidate-specific questions were matched for sharpness, each drawn from the candidate’s own record or platform. Both campaigns were given the same deadline. Killin’s campaign asked on September 24 for two additional days and was granted them; the answers arrived on September 27. Crank’s congressional office did not respond — the communications director’s address returned an automatic out-of-office reply directing press inquiries to a colleague, who also did not respond. The answers published here came from his campaign.
Answers are reproduced exactly as received, including a reference to the “70th Flight Training Squadron,” which is formally the 70th Flying Training Squadron. Killin’s answers were supplied as a three-page document and were extracted from it rather than retyped; Crank’s were supplied in the body of an email. Nothing has been shortened, reordered or paraphrased, and the one passage withheld is identified above.
Corrections and additions: [email protected].
