About this race
One page, straight answers: what this election decides, the questions worth asking anyone who wants the job, and the facts behind the issues that have come up along the way.
What this race decides
The next Mayor presides over the four years in which much of Castle Rock's remaining land gets spoken for: the buildout votes, the renewable-water milestones, the shape of downtown, and the safety staffing that has to keep pace with all of it. Most of those decisions, once made, are permanent.
Every candidate in this race will tell you they love Castle Rock, and they all mean it. But love isn't a qualification — a record is. This page is where the Cavey campaign lays out its case, plainly, so you can compare candidates on what they've done rather than what they promise.
Six questions for anyone who wants this job
Ask them of every candidate — Laura included. Here are her answers.
1. Have they ever cast a vote on a Castle Rock budget?
Laura has six years of recorded votes on town budgets, utilities, roads, and staffing — elected twice by the voters, then chosen by her council colleagues to serve as Mayor Pro Tem. She is the only candidate in this race with a voting record on the decisions a Mayor makes.
Her five commitments →2. Have they ever had to find the water before saying yes?
Laura has spent six years at the forefront of water conservation on council, including securing the recommendation that every home in the Dawson Trails development be built with water-wise, xeriscaped front yards. Her standard is public and simple: no approval until the water is real, renewable, and accounted for.
Her water record →3. What have they actually delivered for parks and open space?
Laura led the charge on Lost Canyon Ranch — 681 acres, the largest one-time open space acquisition in the Town's history, with her name on the dedication plaque — and was one of the deciding voices for building Emerald Park on schedule instead of shelving it.
Her parks record →4. Do the people who answer 911 trust them?
The Castle Rock Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 4116, unanimously endorsed Laura for Mayor. She broke ground on Fire Station 156 this spring — capacity built before the need arrives, not after.
Read the endorsement →5. Who is paying for their campaign?
Laura's answer: her neighbors, and nobody else. No developer money, no corporate backing — her first term was self-funded and her second accepted only modest local support. Every campaign's finance reports are filed with the Castle Rock Town Clerk and posted publicly; look up all of them.
Why independence matters →6. When accountability was on the line, which side were they on?
Laura led the multi-year effort that moved approval of major downtown projects from an appointed board to the elected Town Council — a unanimous vote in February 2025 that took authority from insiders and handed it to voters.
The full story below ↓Issues that have come up
Campaigns generate noise. Here is this campaign's position on the issues raised so far — no names, just the record. This section grows as the race does.
Who should approve downtown development?
For years, major downtown projects could be approved by an appointed design review board — a body no voter could ever remove. Laura pushed to change that, through repeated attempts over multiple years, and in February 2025 the Town Council voted unanimously to put those decisions where they belong: with the elected councilmembers who answer to you. Giving up authority is never popular with the people who hold it, and not everyone in this race welcomed the change.
Experience, or on-the-job training?
The Mayor votes on the budget, sits through water-supply briefings, and rules on land-use hearings starting on day one. There is no ramp-up period, and Castle Rock is growing too fast to grant one. Laura has been doing all of it for six years — elected twice, then chosen by her council colleagues as Mayor Pro Tem. She is the only candidate in this race with a voting record on the decisions a Mayor actually makes.
Who funds the campaigns?
Laura self-funded her first council run and accepted only modest support from local residents in her second — no developer money, no corporate backing, no strings. Campaign finance is public record: every candidate committee files its contribution and expenditure reports with the Castle Rock Town Clerk under the Fair Campaign Practices Act, and the Town posts them online for anyone to read. We encourage you to look up every campaign in this race, including ours.
Campaign finance filings for every Castle Rock candidate are posted by the Town Clerk on the Town's website: Candidate Registrations and Financial Filings — CRgov.com
"I'm not asking anyone to vote against somebody. I'm asking Castle Rock to vote for a record you can verify."Laura Cavey