November 15, 2011 07:45 PM UTC
With CD-6 Blown Wide Open...
93 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
UPDATE: Miklosi is working hard on trying to discourage a primary, though no amount of endorsements will likely be enough to deter potential opponents until he proves he can raise enough money himself. In a press release sent out today, Miklosi’s campaign says he has the support of “every Democrat serving in the Colorado State House of Representatives.” Full release after the jump.
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As FOX 31’s Eli Stokols reports:
Congressman Mike Coffman issued a long statement Monday expressing both disappointment about a judge’s decision last week to re-draw his district and excitement about a tougher reelection fight next year…
“Aurora Democrats mostly come from hard working class families and they are not at all like the Nancy Pelosi liberal Democrats of Denver and Boulder. With the legacy of Fitzsimons, Lowry and Buckley, many of them are veterans, and my Army and Marine Corps background will be a big plus.”
Coffman, who was elected in 2008 and easily reelected in 2010, is expected to face a stronger-than-expected Democratic challenge…
Right now, state Rep. Joe Miklosi is the only declared Democratic candidate running in the 6th, but rumors are running rampant that other candidates — Andrew Romanoff and state Sen. Morgan Carroll, among others — could also be looking at a run.
Miklosi, who has already filled top campaign staff positions, is holding a fundraiser Monday night in Aurora and, overall, looking to demonstrate his viability in an effort to head off a potential primary challenger.
Carroll, D-Aurora, is among the hosts for Miklosi’s fundraiser — state Reps. Rhonda Fields and Nancy Todd are two other prominent Aurora Democrats already on board — and is not giving any indication that she’s considering a run.
What we understand is that Sen. Morgan Carroll of Aurora is not interested in running–hosting last night’s fundraiser for CD-6 candidate Rep. Joe Miklosi is about as strong a message as she can send. With that said, the new CD-6 is quickly elevating to national prominence, perhaps one of the very best pickup opportunities available to Democrats in the nation. That being the case, national Democrats have a strong interest in taking no chances on victory.
Sources tell us that former U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff is much more interested in Mike Coffman’s seat than press reports heretofore have indicated, and is considered a very strong contender if he gets into the race. Romanoff’s high profile as a Senate candidate and history as Speaker of the Colorado House make him one of the most formidable contenders for Coffman’s seat available. The problem as we understand it is Romanoff’s trademark cautious style: he may be under the impression that he can wait to declare his candidacy, kind of like he waited to do so in his challenge against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
That would be most unwise. Romanoff’s failure to get into the 2010 Senate race for months while Bennet burnished his credentials and won over allies was a major factor in his defeat in the primary. If Romanoff thinks that delaying his entry into the race won’t strengthen Miklosi–or lure others with competitive stature into the race–he could be making another career-jeopardizing mistake. We’ll be honest with you: not many people get as many chances as Romanoff may get again here, especially after the kind of nasty insurgent campaign he ran against Bennet. The window for Romanoff to make up his mind is quite small.
On the other side of this race, we’ve heard some interesting things–despite Coffman’s bravado above, it’s an academic fact that an arch-conservative like himself will face huge, possibly intractable problems holding on to this seat. Remember also that Coffman is far from universally loved by the Colorado Republican establishment: that’s part of the reason why you’re not seeing the outrage from Ryan Call over Coffman’s redrawn district you might otherwise expect. With all this in mind, it has been suggested to us–suggested, mind you, not necessarily predicted–that a Republican challenger could emerge to attempt to better hold the seat.
As hard as we’ve (deservedly) been on Ryan Frazier, could he beat Coffman in a GOP primary in the new CD-6? That’s just one name, there are a few others we’re not quite yet ready to mention–but we’re pretty confident that Coffman knows who they are.
That’s the fluid state of things right now. Obviously we’ll be updating as we learn more.
Press release from Miklosi campaign:
COLORADO 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE JOE MIKLOSI SHORES UP PARTY SUPPORT WITH STATE HOUSE ENDORSEMENTS
Colorado State Representatives Unanimously Endorse Miklosi for Congressional Race
Greenwood Village, CO – November 15, 2011 – Today, the Joe Miklosi Congressional Campaign announced it has earned the support of every Democrat serving in the Colorado State House of Representatives.
The endorsement demonstrates the strong support for State Representative Miklosi’s campaign to defeat Republican congressman Mike Coffman. Joe has earned the respect and support of his fellow legislators through hard work and effective leadership.
For the past three years, Mr. Miklosi has served in the Colorado State House of Representatives on behalf of House District 9, which encompasses portions of Arapahoe County that will be included in the newly formed 6th congressional district.
The Miklosi Campaign reports endorsements from distinguished members of the Colorado State House of Representatives including: Ed Casso, Lois Court, Crisanta Duran, Mark Ferrandino, Rhonda Fields, Randy Fischer, Deb Gardner, Millie Hamner, Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, Matt Jones, Daniel Kagan, John Kefalas, Andy Kerr, Jeanne Labuda, Pete Lee, Claire Levy, Beth McCann, Wes McKinley, Dan Pabon, Sal Pace, Cherylin Peniston, Su Ryden, Sue Schafer, Judy Solano, John Soper, Nancy Todd, Max Tyler, Ed Vigil, Angela Williams, Roger Wilson, and Dave Young.
“I’m grateful for the solid support of my colleagues in the State House,” said Representative Miklosi. “Our campaign is laser-focused on getting the U.S. economy on the fast-track to recovery. We believe mainstream voters will reject my opponents’ do-nothing approach and join us as we take decisive action to get this county back on its feet and make Colorado the Renewable Energy Capital of the country.”
State Representative Miklosi has worked to balance the Colorado budget every year he has been in office. He worked on the Audit Committee, which conducted 52 audits in 2010 and saved Colorado taxpayers approximately 47 million dollars. As a member of the state legislature, Representative Miklosi has cut his own salary. Last year, Mr. Miklosi sponsored two job fairs to help people find employment.
“I’m running for Congress to create jobs and to restore economic growth. We’re facing one of the most challenging times this country has experienced in generations,” said Miklosi, “and we are going to win this election by focusing on the issues that impact the pocketbooks of families.”
Current Representative Mike Coffman is extremely vulnerable. Across his term, he has voted twice to destroy Medicare, has declared Social Security a Ponzi scheme, and has failed to offer leadership during a severe economic crisis.
Without sponsoring any significant legislation to create jobs and restore the U.S. economy, Mr. Coffman has instead pursued a radical social agenda outside the mainstream. The few original legislative proposals he has offered have found little support among Republicans or Democrats in Congress.
About Joe Miklosi
Joe Miklosi brings a well-rounded business and civic background to the race. In addition to three years of legislative experience working across party lines to get things done in the Colorado House of Representatives, included his service on the audit committee, his career includes six years of business development experience, where he helped start an Internet software company, nearly four years working at Project C.U.R.E. in Centennial, Colorado, which provides life-saving medical supplies to hospitals in 120 developing nations, and 12 years of public policy experience.
To Learn More about Representative Miklosi, visit his website, www.JoeMiklosi.com, or his Facebook page, www.facebook.com/JoeMiklosi
he waits too long to express interest thereby appearing to be trying to take something from someone else. I wish he’d have announced prior to Miklosi.
Andrew, how about running for SOS? You could actually begin now by leading a recall effort that I think you could succeed at and make lots of folks very grateful for your effort.
A little disclaimer: I was never on board the Romanoff bandwagon during last year’s primaries, so maybe I’m slightly biased. It doesn’t seem to me that him getting in this late would be taking something from someone else, but it would look really opportunistic to wait longer to jump in the race.
It’s a little hard to imagine a guy being that devoted to the district when he waits to see if redistricting worked out well and then waited until after he had talked to all of his potential donors and consultants to make a decision. Maybe Romanoff does want the seat, but it would look like he only wanted it if it was easy.
Romanoff has no interest in this seat and will not run. Whoever pols “sources” are — they are misinformed and out of the loop. Can’t believe this was even published.
Down here:
http://www.coloradopols.com/sh…
You demonstrated that I shouldn’t pay much attention to you up here. Next!
I just got the below e-mail from the Romanoff camp. Draft Romanoff. Yeah right. This came from his campaign as I was on his campaign donor and volunteer list for US Senate.
Romanoff is in.
After the Mayor, City Council and School Board races, there’s not much else to do. Maybe they teamed up and decided to draft Andrew. But I know it is not his whole team…
I talked to someone yesterday who was a hard-core Romanoff supporter and worked on his campaign. He told me he didn’t think Andrew should jump in late again — last year was tough on all of his supporters.
I am very curious to see a Press Release from Andrew himself.
Romanoff wasn’t interested in that seat back when Ritter appointed Buescher.
As reported in the link http://www.denverpost.com/brea…
The CSC has rejected the state legislative map because too many counties were cut up. Certainly the abortion of a map drawn by judge Hyatt for congressional seats could be seen as having also missed the mark.
For instance, the CD1/6/7 carve up of Ken Caryl (sp?), the CD4/6 carve up of highlands ranch/Douglas county and the CD 2/4 Longmont curve up are but a few of the errors that will raise the ire of local communities of interest/traditional county boundaries.
Anyone with some positive opinions as to this being a market signal from the CSC is appreciated.
one district. It was split up before, which was detrimental to the third largest city in the state. Ken Caryl is just a neighborhood.
when dealing with you Libby is a major challenge for most of the rabble around here but you seem more tranquil this time around so here goes.
I’m positive that Douglas County will survive being forced to interact with the rest of the state.
I’m positive that Coffman will rediscover that there is a whole group of people in his district that don’t belong to the United States of Republicans and he would be remiss not to represent them.
I’m positive that the State Supreme Court striking down the state maps will push the Repubs to challenge the Congressional map.
I’m positive Republicans will scream activist judges if the decision doesn’t go their way.
I haven’t heard any major gripes from JeffCo about their split. They were split before and are split in the Republican map I believe – there isn’t the same reason to go back to the drawing board as with the legislative map.
Likewise the CO-02/04 breakout of Longmont is better than or as good as the current map, and arguably putting the suburb communities of Douglas in with CO-06 while taking the more rural parts into CO-04 is better than having Aurora split.
I’ve already made it known that I think the Ken Caryl folks will be unhappy living in CO-01, but since this is a court-ordered map you’re going to have a few screwy boundaries to achieve exact population splits.
Since the other maps didn’t do any better at meeting the geopolitical line criteria, I don’t think the Congressional map is in the same danger.
There are three counties that don’t have to be split up split under the Congressional map (Douglas, Park and Eagle). Of the eleven largest counties (some of which have to be split) only 5 are split (Douglas, Arapahoe (which has to be split because of the enclaves in Denver), Jefferson, Boulder and Adams – Mesa, Pueblo, El Paso, Denver, Larimer and Weld are all in one district). In addition, at least under this map the majority of the population in each of Arapahoe, Jefferson, Boulder and Adams County ended up in one District. This is the best map for splitting counties ever. In addition, all cities are in tact, something that has never happened since Colorado Colorado had more than two congressional districts. So, you’re back to your political disagreement with the map’s split of Douglas County. What a surprise.
And positive too.
but if Romanoff gets in, there’s just no way Miklosi will be able to compete.
And I disagree with Pols on the timing. Sure, it helps AR to get in earlier, but I don’t think it’s quite the same as his huge mistake in 2009-2010. Romanoff waited a full seven months, between Bennet being sworn in and announcing his own candidacy. There’s simply not that much time left now, with caucuses just four months away. Romanoff doesn’t have the option of waiting, because he needs to start building that campaign structure and organizing people immediately.
Time is of the essence, but there’s absolutely no way that Miklosi can compete with Romanoff in terms of pure party loyalty. It would be one thing if Miklosi had supported Bennet, but the guy was a staffer in Romanoff’s office. Frankly, I’d be shocked if Joe decided to continue to run a primary bid against his old boss.
to jump in, considering the history between these two. Their relationship goes much farther back with Miklosi as Romanoff’s former Director of the Democratic State House Caucus and then becoming Chief of Staff for the entire State House Dem Caucus back in 2004. Here’s a guy (Romanoff) who you literally worked for and with to win the House back and he decides to primary you.
The toughest part of this one is that Romanoff would have a much better shot of winning this seat than Miklosi because of his higher name profile and after his Senate primary bid, I think he’s a bit wiser about how to run and NOT run a campaign. If he’s in, he needs to get in now before this gets ugly.
if he came out swinging hard for his friend Joe Miklosi.
give a crap about Miklosi?
All Romanoff supporters.
If Romanoff wants to run, he’s well within his rights, as is Joe Miklosi if he decides to continue through to a primary battle. But this isn’t about “Bennet Dems”. And Miklosi certainly isn’t entitled to an uncontested run at CD-6. Joe’s a great guy, I agree, but I can think of more than a few other people, including Romanoff, who have a better shot at taking down Coffman–which, (don’t forget!) is what it will be about.
I was surrounded by people who did not know, or never met Andrew Romanoff. I was frequently defending him to them (I know you may find that hard to believe). Remember, many Bennet campaign volunteers (and there were tens of thousands of them across the state) were Obama supporters, and had little interest in state politics. They might have recognized the name Romanoff, but couldn’t tell you if it was the former Speaker of the House for 8 years, or a brand of vodka. Sorry to sound harsh, but it is true. Andrew Romanoff’s brand became equivalent to “Crazy Dem who wants to destroy another good Dem”, not unlike Nader followers in Bush vs. Gore. I cannot tell you how many times I told people over two years, “I agree with you, but if Andrew Romanoff ever runs un-primaried, please have an open mind. He may be misguided in this race, but he is a really, really good guy. Trust me.”
http://joemiklosi.com/index.ph…
I don’t think that’s the message you really want to go with. Look — there were good people on both sides of that debate, and at the end of the day democrats came together to defeat “I don’t wear high heels” Buck.
Not everyone is stuck in the past.
I am saying the percentage of people who follow the state legislature is minute. They may be well-informed, intelligent, productive citizens in a million other ways but they don’t hang out on political blogs like we do.
I have since I met him.
I think Andrew Romanoff considers himslef a good friend of Joe’s.
I frankly wish that Romanoff was Governor right now.
He would be a damned sight better than our current “oil and gas” governor.
Nancy if you think everything is still Bennet v. Romanoff Democrats it puts you in a camp with people like John Kennedy. Everyone else has moved on.
Just offering a perpective outside the state legislative community bubble.
Is between the working class Aurora Democrats, and the Nancy Pelosi Denver Democrats.
I think that ship has
shilledsailed.I talked to Joe about the Romanoff rumours. He and Andrew are friends, and Joe said they have discussed it a number of times. Joe will never back down. He’s working his ass off, and he is not going to give over everything he has done, friend or no friend. Andrew lost a lot of support from party people when things got ugly last year in the Senate race. People who respect and admire Andrew for his long history with the state want to see him run un-primaried as a Dem, but will not tolerate him running against another good Dem… again.
Just last night, State legislators Nancy Todd, Suzanne Williams, Rhonda Fields, Su Ryden and many other influential people in Aurora hosted a fundraising event for Joe. The room was filled with union leaders, special district board members, statewide young Dem officers and hard-core, high-profile supporters. Do you honestly think they would go back on their word and switch gears for Andrew? If so, I have a great opportunity for some ocean-front property for you in Montana.
The best thing Andrew Romanoff can do to restart his career in politics in CO is to re-unite the party behind him in a new race from Day One. If he does, I’ll be there, with my canvassing clipboard in hand. I’m hoping you’ll be there for Joe now.
May I recommend the use of a qualifier such as ‘people like me” or “some people”…you know…just sayin’.
LYJTS 🙂
… that Joe Rice could possibly be convinced to run? A solidly moderate Democrat who has served the US in multiple disciplines and would thoroughly trounce Coffman in the realm of military experience forcing Coffman to run on his fairly anemic legislative record alone.
Or is his authorship of FASTER too much of an albatross?
Please get to know Joe. You’ll be blown away.
Joe’s district was close to Aurora. He has more name recognition there than you think.
You think a Denver Dem will win? Does he even live in the District? I can tell you from the experience of having lived there, that it’s going to take a local to beat Coffman because he is a local. He grew up there, he and I went to Aurora Central High School. Aurora has always protected it’s hometown folks. Without a true Aurora Candidate, Coffman wins going away.
PS, ArapGOP, MADCOW and Libertad, does telling the truth, bolster my Republican bona fides. Not so much, as Republicans don’t often tell the truth these days.
Joe would be the most electable candidate that the Dems could field. But I don’t think he’s interested in returning to elected office – I could see him working in the executive branch given the right circumstances.
I was at the City of Aurora swearing in last night, and was genuinely sad to see Frasier go. After his departure, Aurora has 12 Council members and a Mayor, all of whom are WHITE. Only two members on the Aurora City Council are Democrats (both women), in an incredibly diverse city of nearly 350,000 people! Although Frasier drank the GOP kool-aid some time ago, I think he still has a heart for people who are not necessarily straight, white, Christian male conservatives. If he’s got to be a Republican, he should run as a Republican against Coffman. Why not? Sure, corporations will throw fistfuls of money at Coffman, but Frasier’s political career is far from over. He can always rediscover his political sensibilities and come back over to the Democratic party later.
It’s been well-documented on Colorado Pols and elsewhere that Mike Coffman has a long history of refusing to meet with constituents who do not already agree with him. He and his staff have been brazen about it, telling people, “Mike’s here to represent the Republicans who voted for him.” For all of the people who did not vote for him, we’ve had no voice in Congress since he was elected.
Coffman is right about one thing. Despite being a Democratic majority city on paper, Republicans took over Aurora a couple of decades ago, and drove it into the ground, from a community services perspective. Aurora has beautiful new City buildings and landscaping leading to them, feeding the egos of many of the Council members. It also closed many of it’s libraries (where residents go to find jobs), and greatly restricted the hours for the others. It has only one full-service recreation center — for a city of 350 thousand people, that is unheard of.
Sadly, there is a feeling of “learned helplessness” among the communities of color in North Aurora, and getting non-white Aurorans to vote remains a major obstacle. I worked for Move-on during the ’08 election, and was told hundreds of times by people of color “I’ve never voted before. It’s always been one rich white guy against another. What’s the difference? I’ll vote for Obama, though.” They love Senator Morgan Carroll and Representative Rhonda Fields, but many do not trust other politicians as far as they could throw them. Unfortunately, that apathy does make things look easier for Coffman.
I strongly support Joe Miklosi for Congress and think he will give all Aurorans the voice they have been denied for decades. I’m hoping his R opponent will be someone like Ryan Frasier. Mike Coffman could no more represent the good people of Aurora than Herman Caine represents feminists, or Sarah Palin represents vegetarians.
I’m begging here — if you believe in democracy, please show some love to Joe Miklosi. Aurorans are taxed; they too deserve representation. http://joemiklosi.com/?About_Joe
what is his attendance record?
Heh.
Not happening.
Coffman has the GOP nomination completely sewn up – now he just has to lose the general for CD6
Morgan Carroll – say it ain’t so???
The thought of watching Coffman pretend he cares about Aurora and the diverse neighborhoods that make it beautiful would be like watching Michelle Bachmann and her husband say they wanted to start a chapter of PFLAG. Insulting, disengenuous and dangerous.
Coffman like me grew up in Aurora and knows and loves it well. I think it’s his biggest asset in this new district.
They are close friends and have done amazing work together in the legislature. If she did, she could motivate her constituency in Aurora, and many of their supporters (like me) would be torn as to who to support. That said, good Dems primarying other good Dems outside of safe Dem seats in Denver is politically risky (ask Romanoff). I really hope both Morgan Carroll and Andrew Romanoff will come out swinging hard for Joe. We need their help to defeat Coffman.
of qualified and popular Dems that when it comes to Congressional races it is almost impossible to avoid folks stepping on one another
Has Mike ever had a job where taxpayers did not provide the funding for his salary?Maybe he has been a paid consultant to influence government funding like Bill Owens.Got to love these free market cheerleaders that live off the government.
Wrong again. Mike founded and built a large property management firm before he became a full time state-employee when he won the Treasurer’s job. Why don’t you know this? Because you are a myopic person who only cares about politics. You are a big part of the problem in today’s politics.
Gosh, I hate it when I have to defend Coffman. But the truth is the truth.
Both Udall and Bennet have stayed out of CD6 so far, and the DCCC has not gotten involved.
It looks like everyone is either waiting for Miklosi to show he can actually do it, or for someone more serious to get into the race (maybe Romanoff, maybe someone else — who knows at this point).
a) until a few days ago there was no map
b) If I was advising either of them, I’d tell them to say ou (above) until after the caucus.
Mostly – there’s only one announced candidate
Why should they endorse anyone?
…is picking sides yet because redistricting isn’t settled yet.
Romanoff can’t get in just yet, the moment isn’t right. With an appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court still up in the air, nothing about the CD6 lines is set in stone. If he gets in now, and the lines swing back in Coffman’s favor, you have a primary fight to be a sacrificial lamb.
AR should have a sit down with JM, a nice heart to heart for AR to gauge JM’s actual level of commitment and spirit. If AR still decides to get in, they should agree (and hold to it) on a clean campaign focused on “why you should vote for me” and not “Why you shouldn’t vote for the other.” Let the voters decide, come together, and then go full bore at Coffman.
No one wants to see Hank Eng or John Flerlage challenge Coffman in the D primary? I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you.
Meanwhile I know plenty of Colorado D’s who wanted Andrew Romanoff to run for CD6. In 2010 I was one of them.
If he runs now, the “polite” window to announce is gone.
There has been a CD6 for some time now. If Andrew only announces now that the lines are redrawn, I’d be one of his supporters asking why he didn’t announce last winter. Yes, I would support his candidacy – partly because in 2010 I said if he ever moved down to CD6 and ran, I would support his campaign, and help recruit others do the same.
But mostly I’d support him because I think he has a better chance of winning over Coffman. Andrew’s history in the Colorado GA and his tenure as speaker shows that he was an effective, moderate, leader. Joe just has less track record.
Yes name recognition would play a part, but I it would be less important in the general because I don’t see where the CD6 U’s and R’s don’t know him any more or less than they know Joe Miklosi.
Terrance Carroll just endorsed Joe Miklosi along with Arapahoe County Commissioners and all Aurora State Senators and State Representatives.
About raising money and winning this seat, he needs to take a note from Sal Pace and step down from his seat in the State House.
Sal only stepped down as the House Minority Leader. He is serving out his term as a State Representative, just not in the leadership role.
I doubt this would turn into a primary battle. If Romanoff does not get in, it’s because he thinks Joe has a better operation going than we can see in the public. I’m sorry to say, Joe hasn’t raised enough to be invincible. If Romanoff does get in, I could see Miklosi quickly endorsing him.
I’m glad there’s some candor about Romanoff’s past here, too. If he does rejoin the team, he ought to remember how damn forgiving people are…
One today. He has no intention of turning anything over to Andrew…ever. Joe is giving this everything he’s got. He and Andrew have a great deal of respect for each other, and Joe would diplomatically fight hard to win a primary against Andrew.
I’ve been following Joe’s race closely, just as I did Bennet’s two years ago. Joe came out of the gate strong, working hard to build a coalition and going to every event possible, day after day. He has a strong campaign manager and grass-rootsteam of supporters. The money will come. Joe is not your average Joe — this guy’s sharp. Eventually, your all going to see what I’ve been watching.
If Andrew Romanoff is foolish enough to run this way again, I wish him well. If Andrew chose a race from Day One, he’d be a shoe-in in just about any race, and just about every Dem in CO would jump on board. I’d love to see him back in CO politics, but a second round of foolish timing could be the end of his political career. Why take that risk?
Romanoff now lives in CD1. He’d have to move to run in CD6. That would look opportunistic and arrogant. I don’t see it happening.
We know it’s confusing with residency requirements for state races, but you don’t have to live in a Congressional district to run for office there. Romanoff could run for Congress in Ft. Collins without changing his address.
Miklosi lives in CD-1, where he represents HD-9, a Denver/Arapahoe district. Although parts of his current district will be in the new CD-6, he’s just as “opportunistic and arrogant” as Romanoff would be.
Some how I find it all very interesting that anyone has any insight at all about this. Andrew has thought about this race since before Joe announced. Joe Miklosi has known that since before he announced that this could be a consideration. This is no surprise.
What we ALL must keep in mind is CD 6 is up for grabs for the first time. We need a Candidate that has the grass roots backing of the voters. A Strong Candidate that can not only inspire voters but has the best interest of the Constituents. Someone who is willing to represent CD 6 in DC. Someone with Legislative leadership. I like Rep Miklosi and I know this is his first term as an elected and he still has a year left. I respect him and I know Andrew Romanoff respects Joe. I know Joe respects Andrew Romanoff.
I also know that WE, the DNC and the DCCC want CD 6. So I know the right Candidate will float to the surface and we will all support that Candidate 100%. OFA and Bennet and Udall and ALL the Democrats will stand behind the strongest Candidate. Because we are foaming at the mouth to make CD 6 very BLUE.
Never forget the power of the voters.
Your sentiments reflect my feelings on this. I want CD6 and I want the strongest Dem candidate possible in place to make that happen.
One thing I will suggest is that any Democrat that wants to take on this race had better throw his/her hat in the ring and soon. The hold up with redistricting is making this more complicated, I do realize, but at some point, it looks opportunistic and sort of dodgy to wait until the odds are clearly in your favor before declaring your candidacy.
Just one correction for you: this is not Miklosi’s first year in elected office. He was first elected to his seat in 2008 and reelected in 2010.
Ignore me. Always thinking of 2 year cycles…
He hasn’t endorsed Miklosi yet. Were there not rumors about him running? Granted, he just had a new baby, so the timing is less than ideal. But still…. where is he in all this?
but I did support Bennet while never saying anything negative about AR. I wish him well and just hope he chooses wisely what he will run for. I don’t live in or near CD6 but Coffman needs to go.
I really do think AR could help himself, the state and really, really endear himself to Dems statewide if he were to undertake the recall of Gessler. And, I think there is an extremely good chance that he, more than almost anyone else, could be successful in that endeavor.
Sorry, Pols – I need to throw the BS Flag on this one.
Mike Coffman will have no primary and will indeed be re-elected Congressman of CD-6.
The far-lefties who have taken over this site over the last year and gotten you all WAY OUT OF THE LOOP on Republican politics.
Coffman has in the past had less than stellar relations within the party, and even a Republican map presented back during the legislative year drew less than totally favorable lines for Coffman.
I don’t think the Guvs are saying that Coffman will face a primary, but the redrawn lines do offer some potential candidates the opportunity. More likely they take a wait-and-see to find out if a Dem can oust him from office, then run against a freshman Dem.
As to whether or not Coffman will win the district, your pronouncement is pretty much false bravado at this point – the new district is too much of an unknown to guarantee anything right now.
but we’d love to see it. Frasier could build his name recognition for future races.
that predicted and assured us all that Harvey would be the next State Chair of the GOP.
You’ll forgive us if we take your predictions with a pound of salt, particularly since the redistricting plan for CD6 isn’t even finalized yet, won’t you, dear?
We’re just saying that such a completely new district throws a lot of conventional wisdom out the window.
Coffman represented most of this District in the past. He has had all of the southern portion (including South Aurora, Littleton, Centennial and Highlands Ranch). He grew up in old Aurora and has many, many contacts and admirers there (I know, I grew up with him in old Aurora). The only part he doesn’t have close ties to is the Brighton arm, and there aren’t many Republicans there and who would beat him in Brighton????
A serious Coffman primary is a pipe dream made up by people who just want controversy and traffic on their site. Coffman survived his initial primary with a big win against some very powerful Republicans, including Aurora’s own favorite son, Bill Armstrong. Sorry, it ain’t going to happen.
I must have missed the invasion…be specific. Who are these far-lefty subversives?…give us names, I say!!
I am proud to be a liberal Progressive member of the Democratic Party.
A disgruntled voter, former Republican of 40 years, active partisan during that time, now unaffiliate who hates the new “Republicans” and votes for Democrats a lot of times because the “Republicans” just aren’t acceptable, someone who tells the truth and doesn’t put up with the BS of both sides.
be this person…
I think just about everything would go pretty smoothly.
sincerely,
Pollyanna
But I’m with you, Craig. I too remember the day I switched to the Dems. I was campaigning as a teen Young Republican for Ronald Reagan. I looked at the talking points, and said out loud, “I don’t believe any of this stuff will work” (trickle-down stuff). Then I went to campaign for John Anderson as a third-party idealist. After Reagan took away guaranteed student loans at good rates for poor kids like me, I went with the Dems. I stayed there. Forever. End of story.
Thanks for speaking your truth, friend.
I have been a registered Dem my entire political life…except for that time I switched parties to vote against Craig Meis in a primary.
And I was just being snarky by signing the comment as Pollyanna. I happen to agree wholeheartedly with the statement. I hope neither of you was offended.
🙂
n/t
I think at one point there were more disaffected Republicans than there were lifelong Democrats on this site.
I started voting as a Republican, then began taking advantage of New York’s multi-party registration system to vote third parties, then finally re-registered as a Democrat after I moved to Colorado, because Colorado Republicans were just so far to the right of what used to be the national Republican model.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/…
I’m still waiting for:
1) a final CD6 map; and,
2) who the Dem candidates will be.
In the meantime, we have work to do in Arapahoe County. As I posted the other day, the GOP now has about a 9,000 voter registration advantage over the Dems. The Dems used to have the lead, thanks to the Obama campaign. So, we need to have a huge voter registration effort to regain the lead and make the new CD6 map truly competitive.
A good, old fashioned Dem primary battle would actually be good for us. Just like the Obama/Clinton fight here and in other states, the primary caused a massive organizational effort by both candidates that paid off in the general election. I wouldn’t mind seeing the same thing for this race.
Maybe Romanoff primarying Joe would be good for Joe. Give Joe more name recognition and since Romanoff ran to the left of Bennet last year, it only helped Bennet in the end. Coloradans like moderate Dems (okay, so my progressive Denver friends don’t, but statewide, they do).
I sincerely do not want to see Andrew experience another defeat. I mean that. I love Gray in Mountains idea — Andrew should lead the charge to recall Gessler and be appointed to fill his spot. I don’t know any Dem who couldn’t get behind that.
Is the key factor is how much money he can pull in from interests that will then want their quid pro quo once he’s elected. I realize the only way to win is to sell out to those with money, but it’s a sad state for our government.
money comes from many places in big races. There are times in which surrogates give as much or more for the puppet masters than people would think.Part of being a puppet master is what other leverage you have over the candidate. There are a few big puppet masters around.
usually the behavior of the elected officail will demonstrate who they answer to regarding money or leverage.
Aurora has a major military voter base; active duty, veterans, retirees and contractors. Alone, the city is almost one third military. A new CD6 will dilute that number some.
This is where Coffman will pick up most of his votes north of Iliff. That is purely veterans voting for a veteran. The former CD6 was and will be composed of his voters, with some pockets of D’s and I’s looking for a Dem to vote for.
Perlmutter had many things going for him with Aurora voters beyond being a wonderful Representative; in particular the new VA hospital which could bring in military voters. That Coffman was little heard or seen is important to recognize. Miklosi needs to work on making the VA hospital his; and he needs to do this immediately. His name and Ed’s should be together whenever the VA hospital is mentioned now; especially about taking on the Obama administration VA Secretary for delaying it.
Miklosi has a good feel for Aurora from his work here to help other candidates run for and win office. Many of us will be willing to help him win office.
This time running against a sitting State Rep. who has the full backing of the State House Dem caucus–who was the core of Romanoff’s support for his senate run.
Joe M. has been lining up support stateside and was already getting major labor unions bought into his campaign before he even had a district. He’s got the hustle.
Romanoff’s most devoted fans dread a repeat of the 2010 disaster. It’d be hilarious if he sat on his ass until January and then tried to mount a challenge thinking there was still a “grassroots” waiting for him to enter. He would instantly shed the last bit of political capital he retains with the caucus while an ironic union of former Romanoff supporters, Bennet activists and sane local Democrats unite in disgust against another stupid and self-indulgent crash-and-burn.
Lord, I hope he does it….
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
not one word about Joe???? You know we fight for CD 6 to get any recognition, every time. Last time was when Hank Eng ran and the NYT did the article about Coffman suppressing voters as the SOS and counting his own ballots.
But it was about Coffman. Now it’s about the Democrats chance to win CD 6. mmmm??
If Romanoff is going to challenge a Dem he should challenge Degette. I know many middle and progressive folks that would be happy with a change even if it means losing her seniority!