Get to Know Gabriel!
The Choice We Have
Growing up in Thornton, I would wake up before the sun came up and go to school, work and practice multiple times a day and wouldn’t get home until after the sun had already gone down. Neither would my siblings, neither would my dad, and neither would my neighbors. We would get home too late, eat too much food my mom made, and fight over a bowl of sweet cherry tomatoes that my family grew from our garden. We would all go to sleep too late and with too little sleep, wake up and do it all over again.
I’m proud to know that I come from a community like that, filled with people who made sure my family didn’t end up on the street after my dad lost both his jobs. I come from a community filled with people who above all, make sure that their families have food in their bellies and clothes on their backs and have held their communities together back then through now.
Now we have a choice. We can choose a future where families old and young can buy and sell housing without being crushed by taxes, a future where families can breathe clean air and drink clean water, a future where it doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment complex or a mobile home, you deserve to have clean water coming out of your faucets, not sewage.
Rooted in Community
The son of a cabinet maker and youngest of six, after I graduated from Thornton High School, I attended the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business and financed my own education over 7 years. During my time there, I co-founded a non-profit with my older brothers to provide scholarships and mentorship programs to students at Thornton High School.
After graduating, I continued to dive into community- I was appointed to the Thornton Arts, Sciences, and Humanities Council (TASHCO) in 2024, where I a serve as the chair of Thornton’s Dia de los Muertos planning committee, as well was the RTD Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) of District K, representing our community of Thornton. I was elected as the Vice-Chair of the Adams County Young Democrats (ACYD), where I specialized in increasing engagement and was honored to take that experience to the state level as a Vice-Chair for the Colorado Young Dems (CYD).
I currently serve as a mentor for Spirit of the Sun, CU Boulder’s Young Alumni group, and for young leaders in and around Thornton and Adams County. I am a firm believer that there is immense power in people. When we work together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.
A Life of Service
My left thumb has lost feeling from a deep slicer accident from when I was 19 and my forearms are covered with fryer burns; my left ear has early hearing loss due to wearing a headset year after year, I’m not ashamed of these things at all- I’m proud of them.
I spent almost a decade in the food service industry, where I took what I earned from these jobs to finance my own education. After I graduated, I moved out of the restaurant industry and into the financial services industry- One where I still choose to serve people saving and preparing for a better future.
These experiences shaped my perspective on leadership and policy. I understand the struggles of the working class because I am the working class. I know what it’s like to work twice as hard for half the reward, and to wonder where that extra $100 for groceries went. That’s why I’m committed to building a future where our elected officials have a history of serving others, and I do.