Sherrie Gibson has raised the most money of all candidates in the 2016 El Paso County commissioner race, but a DUI conviction and troubled financial history could get her the most attention, too.

Gibson, a 41-year-old political newcomer, is one of three candidates for the District 2 commissioner seat. With the primary election months away, Gibson has faced questions about her record.

She says the DUI and debt from a bad real estate deal have taught her hard lessons.

Her campaign finances also have drawn scrutiny. Of the $33,138 she raised as of November, $30,000 came from a friend.

Gibson’s background has raised concerns for one opponent, former state House Minority Leader Mark Waller, who left the Legislature in 2015 after six years in Denver.

“It sounds like she is still recovering from her financial issues,” Waller said. “It seems to me that her best play would be to get her financial health in order before she asks the citizens of El Paso County to trust her with their tax dollars. … I think right now, the only thing that the citizens have to look at to determine how she handles finances is her past history, since she has never been in office before.”

Gibson said she wouldn’t be the first local elected official caught driving under the influence – a list that includes state Senate President Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, former Colorado Springs Mayor Mary Lou Makepeace and current City Councilman Bill Murray.

As for her financial woes, Gibson is proud of having paid back tens of thousands of dollars of debt without declaring bankruptcy.

“I think people can appreciate someone who learned a hefty lesson in business,” Gibson said in December. “And we need to know that there are creative and innovative ways to get out debt instead of raising taxes, like most people are concerned about.”

Gibson, Waller and Tim Geitner are running for the seat being vacated by Amy Lathen in District 2, which encompasses eastern Colorado Springs and the plains. The race for three open commissioner seats has drawn more than a dozen candidates – one of whom, Marsha Brewer, dropped out after her husband was arrested on suspicion of sex assault against a child. Besides Gibson, none of the other 12 candidates has a criminal record.

The campaign season is about to kick into high gear, with a candidates’ forum Jan. 12 and the state party caucuses on March 1. As of November, the most recent filing deadline, most candidates have brought in only a few thousand dollars, according to reports filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

Gibson’s $30,000 edge came from T.J. O’Doan, a longtime family friend in California, and she expects to get more money from him before June, the next campaign filing deadline.

O’Doan did not return The Gazette’s calls requesting comment.

Gibson said her DUI was a painful personal experience, one she talks about openly but with difficulty. On Thanksgiving 2011, she said, she was entertaining guests at home when her sister called and said she had been sexually assaulted. Gibson said she was so upset that she left home, crashed into her neighbor’s fence down the block and left the scene.

Her blood-alcohol level was 0.205, court records show.

“You know, it was regretful, and I certainly accept 100 percent responsibility. But I think people know that that’s not anything that’s inside of my character,” Gibson said.

She pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in a plea deal. She was sentenced to 14 months of unsupervised probation but failed to complete the alcohol education and 52 hours of therapy. She was then sentenced to 12 months of supervised probation, which she completed successfully.

“I ran out of time, and so I think that is the crux of what happened with that,” Gibson said about failing her first probation.

Gibson also has grappled with a failed real estate deal and credit card debt.

Records show that since 1997, she has had to pay debts from other failed businesses. Gibson blamed the financial woes on her efforts to later build a 139-home subdivision and then a retail center in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

In 2006, she and her husband adversely possessed that land, meaning they took property belonging to someone else. When the subdivision plan failed, they decided to build a retail center – which failed after the 2008 recession hit. Instead of declaring bankruptcy, she said, they took classes on how to absolve their debts.

“We had nothing to lose, so we were really aggressive going after our American dream,” Gibson said. “I know that some folks have filed bankruptcy, but that wasn’t for my husband and I. … We … made a commitment to pay every penny back, and we have.”

Their federal property tax lien of $87,616 was released in September 2014, and a $2,200 credit card debt linked to the project was paid off Dec. 7. But Gibson still has $5,288 in credit card debt and $6,676 owed to California’s Franchise Tax Board, which she is disputing.

She said her financial history does not preclude her from managing public money. The county budget for 2016 is larger than ever, at $300 million.

“When it’s yours and yours alone and you only have to consider your finances, I think that paints a different picture than when you have to consider the multitude of everyone else’s finances combined,” Gibson said, adding that she has since earned an MBA and has learned to be more conservative with money.

Gibson asks that voters trust that she has learned from the mistakes.

“The only thing I can hope is that the voters will show me grace,” she said.

Sherrie Gibson has raised the most money of all candidates in the 2016 El Paso County commissioner race, but a DUI conviction and troubled financial history could get her the most attention, too.