August 31, 2020 12:24 PM UTC

Mitsch Bush Earns "Red to Blue" Status

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Ernest Luning reports for the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush has been elevated by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) to its “Red to Blue” list:

Diane Mitsch Bush, the Democratic nominee in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, has been added to the House Democrats’ program for top-tier challengers vying to flip competitive, Republican-held districts.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Monday that Mitsch Bush earned a spot in its “Red to Blue” candidate support program by demonstrating strength in fundraising, grassroots engagement, organization and local support…

…Just 34 candidates have been named to the national program this cycle by House Democrats, who picked up 43 seats in the last election and are mostly playing defense in November.

As we’ve noted in the past, the “Red to Blue” program is more than just an atta-boy (or atta-girl, as the case may be) — it serves as a kind of certification to Democratic donors that a candidate has a legitimate chance of flipping a Republican-held district. Recent polling data indicates that CO-3 is shaping up to be a neck-and-neck battle.

Mitsch Bush was the Democratic nominee in CO-3 in 2018, eventually losing to incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Cortez). Her campaign did NOT earn “Red to Blue” status in 2018, however — only Jason Crow carried that badge in Colorado —  so her addition to the list in 2020 signifies that national Democrats indeed consider CO-3 to be one of the top pickup opportunities in the country.