The Republican candidate for Douglas County Commissioner called residents who have moved into the county from nearby cities “locusts” who “bring the policies with them that destroy the community they’re leaving.”
Reached for comment, Jake Bockenfeld says he used “a figure of speech” that “maybe came off wrong.”
Bockenfeld, who made the comparison during a radio interview with Jeff Hunt on the KNUS morning show, says his intent was to point out that people are attracted to Douglas County because of its policies, but then they want to change those policies to be like the place they left behind.
“My biggest thing is, says Bockenfeld. “you want to come to Douglas County because of the way of living and how it’s been led. That’s great, but then don’t come in and bring policies that made where you’re leaving the way they are, and why you’re leaving.”
Jeff Hunt: Do you think people that are leaving tougher places, Lakewood, Aurora, and wanting to come to Douglas County, they genuinely understand that it was the conservative leadership that set up such a successful county?
Jake Bockenfeld: “You know, I don’t think people do realize that, because when they do come to this community, they bring the policies with them that destroy the community they’re leaving. They’re like locusts, in a way, and I don’t think it’s intentional. But if you look at the national level, at the more macro level, when you compare the states that are more Republican versus the states are more liberal, which states are better off right now?”
Asked which specific policies he was referencing, Bockenfeld cited tax increases and high-density housing:
“Increase taxes, increase government, wanting to increase the development that’ll bring in more high density housing, which inherently does increase crime rates when you do bring that into a community, of course, says Bockenfeld. “We’ve seen that with Aurora and surrounding areas that are more densely populated- the more urbanized areas.”
Hunt’s on-air question followed a discussion of the county’s shifting demographics, with Hunt noting that the partisan split has moved about 20 percentage points to the left over the last decade. He pointed to progressives’ recent flipping of the school board as an example. Bockenfeld attributed that loss to low turnout among conservative voters, blaming apathetic Republicans for not wanting to get involved. “You’re going to wake up one morning and you’re not going to recognize the community that you live in,” Bockenfeld warned. “And that’s what we’re seeing here.”
Douglas County has seen a 10% increase in its population from 2020 to 2024, adding about 36,000 new residents. According to the most recently available state demographer data, which covers 2016-2020, the top three counties from which people moved to Douglas County are Arapahoe, Denver, and Jefferson. Arapahoe County has been the top source of new arrivals to Douglas County for the past two decades, consistently sending about 5,000 residents every five years.
Bockenfeld himself was raised in Arapahoe County, where his father Rod served as County Commissioner from 2004 – 2016, then won a statehouse seat. After college, Jake Bockenfeld moved his own family to Dougco in 2013. Asked why his migration was different than those Coloradans moving into the county more recently, Bockenfeld noted that Arapahoe County was also more conservative when he was growing up there.
“I grew up in Arapahoe County,” says Bockenfeld. “Definitely more as a child growing up, it was more of a conservative county that has since shifted over the last, let’s say 15 to 20 years. They’re more left-leaning, of course, more Democratic. You’ve seen that leadership change over the years, obviously, not just the state as a whole, but also that county. The reason why my family moved to Douglas County because it still represented the Colorado that I knew growing up. “
“Obviously we’re starting to see a shift again here in Douglas County, similar what happened to Jeffco and Arapahoe over the last 20 years, where you’re seeing that shift, which I understand. If that’s what the people want, the 3 to 5 [ballot proposal to increase the number of commissioners by two], obviously it’s up to the voters to decide in November, but my stance on is more government is never a good thing. It’s never helped us. Being a limited government conservative, I don’t believe that adding more government is going to solve our problems. It’s just going to increase our taxes.”
