Taking the path less traveled is never easy.

There's a reason why it's less traveled, and rugged terrain makes it easy to stick to the smooth road.

But that's not Kathleen Curry's style. The path less traveled is the ideal path for this Gunnison rancher and citizen legislator.

Last week, Curry made the bold, and politically treacherous, decision to switch from Democrat to unaffiliated as she enters the final year of her third term as the District 61 state representative.

In today's turbulent political waters, standing firm on the party line is the way not to rock the boat. Having the support and backing of the party equals political strength.

Whether it's the Republican or Democratic party, the polarization of today's two-party system has basically become nasty and ugly at times.

This is another reason why Kathleen Curry has elected to take a different direction. Her decision is led by her passion to follow her heart and do what she believes is right and best for her constituents. For her, the right thing is removing herself from party politics. And we applaud her for this risky move.

In a political world filled with daily sound bites, Curry's honest statement “I just don't fit into either party,” should resonate with so many.

In a district where the voter breakdown is around 15,000 unaffiliated, 13,000 Democrats and 10,000 Republicans, Curry's political philosophy is not unpopular. Most unaffiliated voters will lean toward the Democrat or Republican side. Curry is no different, admitting that she will continue to lean toward the Democratic party.

Over her three terms she has worked the aisle like an independent, not letting the “D” by her name hinder her mission of doing what is best for District 61.

Kathleen Curry is honest, hardworking and genuinely concerned with issues facing the people of this district. The fact that she's run unopposed in the last two elections demonstrates how respected she is.

But Curry needed to follow her heart and slam the door shut on party politics. If a lawmaker doesn't fit comfortably into either party, then they should be unaffiliated.

Curry's work in the House has been impressive. As a first year lawmaker, she was named chair of the House Agriculture Committee, an unusual appointment for a freshman. Her decision to change party affiliation cost her the House speaker pro tem and chairwoman of the House Agriculture Committee positions; however, she will remain on the agriculture and appropriation committees.

She could have simply elected not to rock the boat and remained in the calm political waters of her secure position as a popular and successful Democrat representative of District 61.

Simply put, that's just not her. First and foremost, she needed to be honest with herself, and that meant changing her party affiliation.

She was willing to let the chips fall where they may, and move on.

Moving forward, Curry will face a mammoth obstacle to get re-elected. First, there must be a change in the law to even get her on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate. We hope the law will be changed. If it's not, Curry will have to run as a write-in candidate.

Political suicide? Curry's decision may turn out to be just that. But she felt the need to be true to herself and who she is.

And isn't that the type of person we should want in today's political arena?

Kathleen Curry, we applaud and support your decision.