August 17, 2012 04:43 PM UTC

Coram vs. Coram in HD-58?

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• by: Colorado Pols

This fascinating possibility comes to us via the Grand Junction Sentinel’s Charles Ashby:

Democrats are trying to recruit the gay son of a Republican lawmaker who was a swing vote against a civil unions bill to challenge his father in his re-election bid this fall.

The son, 45-year-old Dee Coram, made international news in May when his father, state Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, cast the swing vote in a Colorado House committee against creating civil unions for gay and lesbian couples…

Dee Coram, who operates a coffee shop in Montrose, later spoke to several national media outlets about the controversial issue, saying he was disappointed in his father’s vote.

Now, Democrats in the heavily Republican House District 58, which stretches from Montrose County to the Four Corners, are trying to talk Dee Coram into replacing its nominated candidate, Gregory Thornton, who chose late last month to drop out after he decided to take a job in Aurora.

“It would be an interesting race if Dee Coram were to jump in,” Montrose County Democratic Party Chairwoman Jayne Bilberry said…

The first thing we would remind readers of is Rep. Don Coram and his son Dee Coram, by all accounts, have a good relationship that wasn’t endangered by the younger Coram’s criticism of the elder Coram’s vote last spring against the civil unions bill. We’ve heard nothing to suggest that’s changed. As heated as the debate over this issue often becomes, that’s pretty cool.

House District 58 leans heavily Republican, so any challenger to Rep. Coram faces an uphill battle. Certainly a father-vs.-son election battle over a hot issue would raise the profile of what might otherwise be an uninteresting race, but despite the news camera appeal of such a race, we can’t say with confidence either way how the actual voters of HD-58 would receive this. We think the answer to that question would depend heavily on the tenor of the campaign.

If they can keep it amicable, it could be a lot of fun to watch whatever the outcome.