First reported by The Colorado Statesman:
A Republican-turned-Democrat is preparing to announce her candidacy against a Democrat-turned-Republican for mayor of Aurora, The Colorado Statesman has learned.
Former state Rep. Debbie Stafford – who finished her legislative career as a Democrat after being elected four times as a Republican from House District 40 – is planning a run against former City Councilman and former state Rep. Steve Hogan, one of two announced candidates in the nonpartisan November election for the open seat…
…Stafford’s entry into the race will mean Democrats have candidates up and down the ticket in the November Aurora election. While the election is nonpartisan – party affiliation isn’t listed on the ballot, and candidates win slots via petition, not by party nomination – some of Stafford’s backers said the candidacy of conservative Republican and Tea Party favorite Jude Sandvall could make it harder for Hogan to count on a win in a city that tends to elect Republicans.
Aurora is one of Colorado’s five largest cities, so there is a lot of political upside to being elected Mayor. Outgoing Mayor Ed Tauer has long been mentioned as a potential candidate for higher office numerous times. Aurora City Council member and former CD-7 Republican candidate Ryan Frazier has been rumored to be looking at running for Mayor, though the likely strong candidacy of Steve Hogan may keep Frazier at bay.
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The GOP was never so happy to be rid of someone as we were Debbie Stafford. I predict an unusually embarrassing campaign even by Democrat standards.
She should have stuck with the pulpit.
It’s a shame you’ve clearly never heard her in a committee hearing. She’s pissed me off a time or two, but there’s no denying that she bothers to come prepared and ask actual, you know, questions that matter.
I can see how she wouldn’t have fit in with today’s GOP.
I am glad she is running she will have my vote. We will get our libraries back and our school will thrieve. Our kids will get what they deserve and the kids will be safer than they ever were. Thank You Debbie for standing up for Domestic Violence Victims
Beer will run from the taps and the streets will be paved in gold. Husbands will do all their chores on the weekends and kids will tell their moms thank you. Every little girl will get a pony.
hehe
I haven’t seen her around the Arapahoe Dems office much these last five years, either. I hope she’ll take the time to get to know all of us there. Arapahoe County should have had a Democratic Mayor in the Aurora seat a long time ago. We really missed the boat on that one. The Tauer’s were friendly men, but it is time to end their dynasty.
A few years back they had scheduled an illegal poker tournament to fund a museum. I felt morally obligated to notify the council by email 3 or 4 days before it was set to go off. Ed Tauer responded that he would have the city legal counsel look into it. I had suggested that they check with the gaming board. They cancelled the tournament.
If they had run it, I wonder if the press would have bothered to investigate it?
It’s amazing what the press and law enforcement choose to selectively investigate.
I still have his e-mail and my response on a hard drive no longer tied to the internet.
The city and council are very far right at this point. Any Democrat would be progress.
There’s no good reason (although there are some explanations) why Aurora should have a city council that is 9R-2D. Democrats have a strong plurality city-wide, and the city performs very well for Dems in general elections. But Aurora’s Democrats have proven hard to turn out in the off-year city races.
Witness two other members of Aurora’s City Council who were both Democrats — Deb Wallace and Larry Beer — getting knocked off in the last election in wards that have Democratic advantages and send Democrats to the legislature.