The Denver Post’s Jesse Paul reporting, a wild few weeks of uncertainty in Colorado Democratic politics is rapidly winding down as primary candidates for the congressional seat of incumbent Rep. Ed Perlmutter suspend following his decision to run for re-election again:
State Sen. Andy Kerr on Tuesday morning became the third Democrat to leave the 7th Congressional District race after U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s announcement Monday that he will run for re-election to Congress after all…
“There’s good reason to be excited about Ed’s decision to run for Congress again,” Kerr said. “He’s a true-blue Coloradan that has spent more than a decade in Washington, D.C., fighting for our values and making sure that we have a strong advocate for Jefferson and Adams counties.”
Sen. Andy Kerr’s statement this morning was preceded yesterday by his principal rival in the race Rep. Brittany Pettersen, whose statement was no less gracious:
“While I’m disappointed I will not have the opportunity to serve our community in Congress, I know that the people of the 7th (Congressional) District will continue to be well represented by Ed Perlmutter,” she said in a written statement. “I am so proud and humbled by the support of the people across Colorado who believed in me and stepped up to contribute, volunteer and support my campaign.”
Sen. Dominick Moreno was first to pull out after yesterday’s announcement, first reported by Colorado Pols, saying “we continue to be in good hands with Congressman Perlmutter.” The only other candidate still nominally remaining the Democratic CD-7 race is Dan Baer, a former Obama administration diplomat who parachuted into the race early in August:
A spokeswoman for Baer, who said he raised more than $300,000 in the two weeks after he announced his campaign Aug. 1, said Monday that he was traveling and “given the number of twists and turns in this race so far, we don’t have any immediate response.”
Whatever, Baer. The fact is, it doesn’t matter what this locally unknown come-lately candidate says at this point. For all intents and purposes the 2018 CD-7 Democratic primary is over, and Baer will just humiliate himself if he ignores that reality.
It’s true that this has been a bizarre turnabout, over the course of months, as Ed Perlmutter entered the gubernatorial race then decided against it as the brutality of today’s politics evidenced by the shooting of GOP Congressman Steve Scalise–and the prospect of a hard-fought primary against Rep. Jared Polis–led him to reconsider. But after a period of introspection, it became clear that Perlmutter’s seniority in Congress and long record of effective leadership in this district are powerful assets that serve his constituents and the state well.
So yes, he gets to do this. As we’ve said before, it’s possible that there is no one in Colorado politics today who has the political capital to pull this kind of episode off without loss of standing besides Ed Perlmutter. His decision to run again, as painful as it is to his would-be successors through no fault of their own, is therefore one that everybody on the Democratic side of the aisle is compelled to accept.
The other candidates will all get their chances, in no small part based on their graciousness today.
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Colorado Pols, the servile mouthpiece of the Democrat Party.
Moldyanus, the servile mouthpiece for Trump's Nazi Party.
He's not smart enough to be servile.
Are you still with us?
I thought you and the librarian threw in the towel and stopped defending the indefensible, leaving Passionate Prune as the sole RWNJ still standing.
Moldy still shows his mug here. 2 Live Drew is Inmate No. 57035924 in Virginia.
Yes, but his friends call him 5703592 for short.
Ed's is sensing a fundamental change in the House post November 2018 and wants to be part of what's coming after the mid-terms. Republicans can now put all their eggs on winning the open CD 2 seat vacated by Polis.
I think they have a shot there.
With Larimer County drawn into CD2, they just may.
May what? Nominate another Darryl Glenn to carry the banner? Good luck with trying to win with a hard right candidate in a mid-term with a president with stinky poll numbers. It can get much worse for Republicans if the Russian tampering probe is epic in it's indictments next spring. The real betting will be on who wins the Dem nomination. There's a horse race shaping up on that side of the aisle.
Perhaps Trump will visit Boulder to campaign for the eventual GOP nominee. Wouldn't that be exciting!
Of course what's true for Red, is true for Blue. The CDP can now focus on holding the one open seat in CD2, rather than having to try to hold two while going for 3 or 6 again.
Does Dan Baer now move to CD2?