July 27, 2017 03:04 PM UTC

Parade of Democratic Candidates in CD-6 Not Over Yet

• 0 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

As Ernest Luning writes for the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman, two Colorado Congressmen are at the top of EMILY’s “list” in 2018:

EMILY’s List, a national group that recruits and helps fund Democratic women candidates, put two Colorado Republicans “on notice” Thursday, naming U.S. Reps. Mike Coffman and Scott Tipton to its list of top GOP targets in next year’s election.

The group charged that Coffman and Tipton have poor records on issues important to women — including funding for Planned Parenthood and support for equal pay legislation — and plans to make it a priority to get behind women candidates in their districts…

…The “On Notice” designation means not only that EMILY’s List finds the incumbents objectionable — they’ve “amassed appallingly anti-woman, anti-family records,” the group said in a release — but also believes they’re vulnerable to a candidate supported by the organization — in other words, a Democratic woman who supports abortion rights.

While Tipton has drawn a challenger who might fit the profile in state Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush, D-Steamboat Springs, Coffman is so far only facing male challengers — attorney and Army Ranger combat veteran Jason Crow, author and former Obama administration energy official Levi Tillemann and attorney and former school board candidate David Aarestad.

A source close to EMILY’s List told Colorado Politics the group has spoken with Democratic women who might run in Coffman’s district, although local party sources say the higher profile potential challengers — state Sen. Rhonda Fields, state Rep. Janet Buckner, former state Rep. Karen Middleton and State Board of Education member Rebecca McClellan — have opted against a 2018 campaign. [Pols emphasis]

Democrats have a plethora of serious candidates seeking their Party’s nomination in CD-6, headlined by attorney Jason Crow, who had a solid fundraising quarter in Q2. This field seems far from settled, however, in part because many politicos believe that 2018 could be a good year for Democrats.

We’ve been hearing Sen. Rhonda Fields’ name for months as a potential candidate, and while Luning reports here that Fields has ruled out running in 2018, we’ve also heard plenty of scuttlebutt to indicate that she may yet jump in the race at some point. If EMILY’s List is planning on spending big money on a potential candidate in CD-6, we would expect to see another Democratic candidate emerge — whether it is Fields or someone else — for the ability to challenge incumbent Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) next fall.