Dwayne Romero

Romero was raised by a single mother and, according to his campaign website, began working at age 12 folding laundry at his family's apartment complex.[2][1] He earned a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1987, where his campaign says he was recruited to play baseball, and a graduate degree from Harvard Business School in 1997.[1][2]

Romero served in the U.S. Army from 1984 to 1994, according to Ballotpedia. His campaign says he served seven years in the Army Corps of Engineers, graduated from Ranger School, and earned a Bronze Star as a Combat Engineer Executive Officer during the Persian Gulf War, with a posting at Fort Carson, Colorado.[1][2] He later served in then-Gov. John Hickenlooper's administration as Colorado's Director of Economic Development.[2][1]

Romero's campaign says he has held local offices including city council member, board member of his Fire Protection District and the Roaring Fork Transit Authority, and school district board member, serving as board president from 2020 to 2021.[2] He currently serves as an elected board director of the Snowmass Village Water and Sanitation District, according to his campaign website, and coached the local high school baseball team for nine years.[2] He owns and operates a property management company on the Western Slope that his campaign says employs 120 people.[2] According to his campaign, he lives with his wife, Margaret, a longtime kindergarten teacher, and they have three daughters; his campaign address is in Woody Creek.[2][1] He received 47.4% of the vote to Jeff Hurd's 49.3%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[3]