Longmont Journey: From veterinary medicine to the statehouse, service is in her nature

Service is more than just a sense of obligation for Dr. Karen McCormick, it’s a necessity. As the representative in the Colorado House for District 11, McCormick said she’s where she needs to be now to serve her community and help solve problems.

“Without my upbringing, I never would have considered running for office,” McCormick said.

McCormick was born into a Navy family. Her father was a test pilot, peers with the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. McCormick spent most of her childhood moving every year or two, her father gone eight to nine months at a time on tours of service in the Navy. McCormick’s mother carried the baton for the family, working hard to give her children a sense of normalcy through countless moves before McCormick graduated high school.

“All of that was in service to our country, our system of government, our democracy… all that rah rah patriotic stuff, it kind of got in me even if I wasn’t conscious of it,” McCormick said. 

McCormick said her interest in math and science started young, particularly with animal medicine. She worked cleaning cages at a veterinary hospital in high school, with plans to study veterinary medicine. Knowing her end goal was to pursue a veterinary school for post-grad, McCormick majored in Agriculture with a specialty in dairy science at the University of Florida to broaden her understanding of agricultural science and the veterinary profession as a whole.

McCormick applied to veterinary school several times during undergrad and after before she was finally admitted. In 1979 there were only 27 veterinary schools in the country, McCormick said, so the competition was fierce but she was persistent. The third time was the charm and McCormick earned her doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Florida in 1984.

“I felt really very fortunate to get out with that degree at a time when the profession was really taking off,” McCormick said.

While working at a veterinary practice in Florida, McCormick met her husband Gregg while he worked in commercial real estate. The pair got married in Florida just before the commercial real estate market crashed in the late 80s, she said. The pair settled in Longmont in the early 90s and McCormick continued practicing as a veterinarian part time while raising their three children.

McCormick and one of her best friends bought a veterinary practice in Boulder, running it together for 10 years before McCormick became the sole owner. McCormick found a new building with help of her husband and built a new veterinary hospital, which she ran for another 6 years before she found a buyer for the practice. 

“That was my passion, my career for 34 years of practicing veterinary medicine,” McCormick said. “It was a special feeling being a small business owner.”

McCormick said that small businesses are important to both democracy and the economy. That love of community and small business would become a driving force for her eventual political career. Her career gave an outlet for her need to serve, combining her passion for business, animal welfare and people. Selling the practice and the hospital freed her, she said, but she still needed purpose.

“I’m very good at being a slacker. I know how to relax and I love vacations,” McCormick said. “So it's not that I’m a workaholic, it's more that I need to have something I’m doing that feels beneficial to someone else.”

McCormick took a sabbatical after selling the practice, immersing herself in Italy for a few months. In the lead up to the 2016 election, McCormick said she felt concerned over the state of political discourse and national media. McCormick said she was never a straight-ticket voter, supporting a two-party system that could address issues from a myriad of perspectives. McCormick said that the 2016 Republican candidates and how the party had changed since her parents’ voting days in the 60s was frustrating.

“I’d always been a good voter, always did my homework but I never put a sign in my yard or went and knocked on doors,” McCormick said.

McCormick felt that part of the problem was the Republican Congressman in Colorado’s 4th District, so she went to the Boulder County Democrats to see how she could help on a campaign for anyone running against Ken Buck in the 2018 election. Finally, not seeing anyone stepping up, McCormick decided to run against him herself. Though she lost in the 4th District, McCormick said it opened up her eyes to the entrenched nature of politics at the federal level and considered getting 40% of the vote against Buck to be a win.

The loss opened her up to new possibilities and while she recovered from the ordeal of her first U.S. Congressional campaign, McCormick said that she started to hear from community members encouraging her to run at the state level. The representative for the 11th District in the Colorado House of Representatives, Jonathan Singer, had reached his term limit and McCormick made the call to run for the open seat.

With more bipartisanship in the statehouse, more cooperation and collaboration across party lines and a more direct effect on the community, McCormick felt it would be less frustrating than a congressional race. McCormick said she shadowed Singer around the Capitol to learn from him and truly understand what she was getting herself into. McCormick gives credit to Singer and the foundation he built to help her take the seat.

McCormick won the 2020 General Election and took office on January 13, 2021. All the work she did to run against Buck in 2018 helped her establish a network and the connections she needed to take the seat, though she laughed that it was the reverse of the usual political trajectory. The 2021 session during the COVID pandemic was unusual, McCormick said, but the sense of camaraderie was still there and she had an opportunity to learn.

Now McCormick is the chair of the Agriculture, Livestock and Water Committee, along with the Health and Insurance Committee, two positions she was particularly interested in for her state seat. McCormick is also an advocate for LGBTQ rights, women’s health and reproductive rights, economic opportunity and environmental issues. McCormick attends marches, rallies and parades in Longmont and Boulder County to support her community and issues that matter to it.

“This is my town, I’ve lived (in Longmont) for 28 years, longer than anywhere else,” McCormick said. “I’ve raised my kids here, the St. Vrain Valley School District means a tremendous amount to me. We’ve watched this town double in size and it still has that small town feel and I really like that.”

McCormick said she can’t help but compare Longmont to every other place she’s lived and can’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be. That responsibility to her community in Longmont and Colorado is what drives her to be present in her community and engage with the constituents every day. McCormick said that even through COVID and campaigning in a digital arena gave her a sense of connection she didn’t see during her congressional campaign. 

A critical part of her job is engaging with her community, McCormick said, hearing their ideas and concerns and really listening to their needs. McCormick has already filed for her 2022 campaign, eager to run again for District 11. With a four term limit, McCormick wants to take it as far as she can in Colorado’s House of Representatives but said she wasn’t necessarily interested in following it up with a State Senate seat.

McCormick is working on ways to help education in the St. Vrain Valley School District and around the state, as well as aid to keep Colorado’s nonprofit viable after COVID impacted fundraising opportunities. McCormick is also working on a bill to support Colorado’s LGBTQ community, she said.

“I have quite a bit of work to do, but I’m excited to do it,” McCormick said. “I like to stay busy and now that I have an idea of how the process works, I’m going to be so much better prepared this January to get in there and go.”

McCormick said that being a mother was a driving factor for her political run, not just her past history and her definitions of American values but her children's future. 

"The mom in you really comes out strong when you consider what's on the line for your kids," McCormick said. "That's another reason I can't stop. I had my life, but they're just getting going."