May 10, 2010 03:33 PM UTC

Well, We're Moving on Up…to the West Side…

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• by: Middle of the Road

House District 23 which includes Golden and Lakewood is considered one of the 22 most competitive House seats up for grabs this year. And lo and behold, the GOP found itself a Republican candidate to take on Representative Max Tyler, a Democrat appointed to fill out Gwyn Green’s term last year.

Or more accurately, a Republican named Edgar Johansson found his way into a district he’s never lived in before. Who knows? Perhaps he’ll even find his way home, as soon as he figures out where that is.

According to the Colorado Independent, until October 2009, Johansson lived on Humboldt Street in Denver for the last 6 years. According to state law, you must reside in the district for 12 months prior to election day. Talk about cutting it close–Edgar made it in just under the wire according to his landlords who “confirmed that Johansson had moved into the unit on October 27, 2009.” He now lives in a rented condo in Golden on 11th Street.

If you’re going to target a district to pick off, this is as good a choice as any. State Bill Colorado notes the official breakdown for registered voters: 36 percent of voters unaffiliated, 35 percent Democratic and 29 percent Republican as of August 2009.

Representative Tyler has raised over $25,000, more than 4 times as much as Johansson and even more impressive, managed to raise it within the district he represents.

According to reports filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, Johansson raised just under $6000 in the first quarter of 2010, with the vast majority of the money coming from outside of District 23.

[Bold emphasis mine]

Fancy that. I’m sure as soon as HD23 voters figure out that the GOP carpetbagger has arrived, their checkbooks will open and the honey will flow.

And perhaps the truest words spoken yet by GOP candidate Edgar Johansson…

May 3 at 8:30pm  Today was the first official day for me to start walking District 23!

Yes, I’ll bet it was. Thank you for your honesty, Edgar. It’s so refreshing.