July 15, 2025 11:20 AM UTC

Two Democrats Make 2026 Candidacies Official

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• by: Colorado Pols

Today is July 15, which means campaign finance reports from Q2 are available peruse. It also means that potential candidates who were waiting to announce their campaigns until after the Q2 fundraising period can now officially get moving.

State Senator Jessie Danielson (D-Wheat Ridge) made it official this morning that she will seek the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State in 2026 (current SOS Jena Griswold is term-limited). Danielson had talked about exploring a run for SOS on the Get More Smarter podcast back in April.

Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez has been running for the Democratic SOS nomination since the beginning of the year, which means the Democratic Primary is shaping up to be a statewide race between two Jeffco-based politicians. Gonzalez is in her first term as Jeffco Clerk, while Danielson has served in the state legislature since first winning election to the State House of Representatives in 2014. As the more well-known name in Democratic politics, that experience gives Danielson the early frontrunner status.

In Colorado Springs, meanwhile, Democrat Jessica Killin made her candidacy in CO-05 official this morning. As Nick Coltrain reports for The Denver Post:

Jessica Killin, a former U.S. Army captain and chief of staff to former second gentleman Doug Emhoff, will look to flip the 5th Congressional District in 2026, she announced Tuesday…

…In her announcement, she called out Crank’s vote for the omnibus tax-and-spending-cut bill recently signed into law by President Donald Trump.

“Washington needs leaders who are focused on actually getting things done — not partisan name-calling and bitter culture wars,” Killin said in a statement announcing her candidacy. “The Pikes Peak Region deserves results-oriented, competent leadership. Instead, Jeff Crank has let his constituents down, voting to kick thousands off health care while raising the national debt by trillions.”

Before working for Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Killin was employed by the bank USAA, at which she worked on Veterans Administration home loans and against predatory lenders, according to her campaign. Her military service included time as a military police officer and as a paratrooper.

Killin is technically the fifth Democrat running in CO-05, though her resume and political connections make her far and away the most plausible of the five hopefuls.

There is reason to believe that a Democrat can unseat freshman Rep. Jeff Crank in what has traditionally been a staunch-conservative district in Colorado Springs. According to the Cook Political Report’s latest PVI ranking, the fifth congressional district is moving toward Democrats at a faster rate than any other congressional district in the country. But as we wrote last month, historical results in the district should temper expectations somewhat. Also unhelpful for Democratic chances in 2026 would be the inclusion of an Independent candidate, which may happen if retired Army lieutenant colonel Matt Cavanaugh decides to mount a campaign of his own.