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July 07, 2015 07:11 AM UTC

BREAKING: Morgan Carroll Runs For Congress

  • 63 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #3: The campaign of Rep. Mike Coffman responds with a mind-numbingly lame message about Nancy Pelosi. From a fundraising email:

We already know Nancy Pelosi is salivating at the idea of replacing me with their handpicked liberal candidate.

—–

UPDATE #2: The Hill’s Martin Matishak notifies D.C., “Dems get top-tier recruit for competitive Colorado seat.”

—–

UPDATE: What a difference a good candidate makes:

Fasten your seatbelts, readers, this is now 2016’s biggest race.

—–

Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll.
Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll.

The Aurora Sentinel’s Rachel Sapin nailed a big scoop early Tuesday morning–Colorado Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll is running for GOP Rep. Mike Coffman’s swing Sixth Congressional District seat in 2016:

“The theme of the campaign is going to about real results,” she told The Aurora Sentinel in an interview Monday. “Congress has been paralyzed. It’s a crisis of confidence to get anything done.”

Carroll, 43, said she would best describe herself as a populist, with a focus on how leaders in Washington, D.C., have not fixed middle-class issues such as soaring student loan debt, affordable healthcare, immigration reform and affordable higher-education opportunities. She said her campaign contrasts against Coffman’s tenure because given the choice to take the side of the average person or a big government or corporate interest, she has and always will side with the everyday residents in the district…

Working her way up to leadership positions in the both the state House and Senate, she became Senate president as Democratic Majority Leader in 2013. Her career has focused on many measures protecting the rights of individual homeowners or residents at the expense of developers, homeowner associations, employers and government agencies. She said that mission has been her life’s work.

Today’s announcement includes a well-produced campaign launch video:

Having represented Aurora in the Colorado legislature for ten years, there are few lawmakers in either party who can match Carroll’s deep ties to the district she is running to represent. Meanwhile, Mike Coffman’s headlong run to the center since his district was remade in 2011, formerly running as a hard-right Tom Tancredo mold conservative Republican, indicates clearly the danger an authentic progressive candidate poses. We’ve said for many years now that the right Democratic candidate, running in the right year, can expose Coffman’s reinvention as a political contrivance–and deny him the remarkable freedom he has enjoyed up to now to be all things to all people.

As of today, Morgan Carroll represents the best chance Democrats have had, and may ever have, to prove us right. We’ll update through the day with statements and coverage.

Comments

63 thoughts on “BREAKING: Morgan Carroll Runs For Congress

  1. This is really good news for CD6 voters. Coffman polarizes people. Carroll brings them together to solve problems. She'll be a much more effective leader.

    1. This is GREAT news for CD 6!  Mikey will need to do a shit-load of push ups to keep his job. Watch Coffman reconsider and announce a run against Bennet.  

            1. @GG…..+ 50%+1

              Hey, Pissant….be honest…have you ever met Morgan?
              Coffman is in trouble…Dems will turn out in droves for Sen. Carroll.

  2. Fasten your seatbelts, readers, this is now 2016’s biggest race.

    Oh, come on.  So with control of the Senate likely up for grabs, and the very real potential of our first female president, Carroll v. Coffman, the race to ensure only near-total Republican dominance of the House, is the biggest thing going.  I like the race, but let's keep it 100 (or at least 80ish).

    1. Uh, since this is a blog about Colorado, I assume they mean the biggest race in Colorado, and at this point I'd say they're right about that. She certainly can bring more enthusiasm to the Dem base, jaded bloviating commenters on this blog notwithstanding. 🙂

      I'm personally very excited about her running.

  3. Finally, a CO-6 candidate who has actually represented the district! This is exactly what we need to motivate the diverse voters of CO-6, which includes 16,000 more women then men. A year with Hillary at the top and a strong, female candidate for congress bodes very well in my opinion.

  4. Andrew Romanoff was a good candidate in a very bad year for Dems.  He did have carpetbagger issues, though.  Morgan has been in the district forever.

    1. And a really, really, really crappy election strategy.

      I hope I never see another hysterical "They're against abortion" ad.  What worthless air time.

      1. Or, "We need a Constitutional amendment to Balance the Budget". 

        I'm sure Morgan Carroll will not be hiring Pat Caddell as her consultant.

            1. Isn't Caddell like 90 years old by now?  I remember him as one of the troika with Hamilton Jordan and Jody Powell who engineered Jimmy Carter's win in 1976. They pulled off a hell of a win but that was 40 years ago.

              And by “hell of a win,” I mean getting to nomination. Carter started the general election campaign w/ something like a 40 point lead and won by 1 1/2 percent of the popular vote.

          1. Unlikely.  Caddell made a brief, highly lamented appearance during Romanoff's Senate primary battle with Bennet in 2010.

            But the lesson to be learned is not to run an uninspired "Republican-lite" campaign — something I don't think Sen. Carroll would ever dream of.

            1. I think most of feel that way…Morgan is an extraordinary person…it shines through in everything she does. I wonder how many phony pushups she can do…?

    2. He was a lousy candidate. Good candidates aren't just good people with good ideas. They run good campaigns and communicate a message that inspires people. Romanoff''s entire campaign was snooze worthy. You don't beat incumbents that way.

  5. One of the side effects of this is that Coffman might have to actually cast some votes as a moderate to gain some street cred.  The district can only benefit from a winner-take-all match for the middle.  He should have tried to take out Bennet.

    1. I suspect he may yet do that. 

      the major will probably poll in district against Carroll and statewide against Bennet and go where he’s got. Best shot at winning.

      1. Lord Voldemort would probably poll higher than Ritter's Mistake but in some secret pact with the Devil himself, Wall Streets favorite gofer will probably have a clear path to returning to the East Coast.

        1. You just put a nickle in and out pops the spin machine word of the week.  I bet you couldn't tell me a single thing about Nancy Pelosi except that you know she's super bad because your spin masters say so. Bet you don't have a clue why that might be besides that she's Dem. 

          1. Mook takes cue from Coffman, Coffman takes cue from overpaid Republican strategist, strategist takes cue from sugar-daddy billionaires. Simple as that. 

            Either that, or they are all equally moronic without need for aforementioned cues.

  6. this would be a good time for CO Dems and MC to explain the utter b.s. of the "both sides do it" dodge and the Republican rhetoric that calls us "ultra-liberal" and such. Also would be a good time to reject the Blue Dog/Triangulation strategy that cost Salazar, Markey, and Udall their jobs. Now that would take guts…..

    1. Udall lost because he ran a stupid one issue campaign that didn't play well. 

      Markey lost because a Democrat really had no business winning in CD-4, and was only there in the first place because of the '08 wave and the fact that the district just got tired of Musgrave.  

      Salazar was in a district that could be won by a Moderate/Conservative Democrat, but he, too, got caught up in a wave election. 

      You really need to abandon the notion that Democrats can win in conservative areas by being more liberal

        1. I agree… he seemed to me to be going through the motions the last few times I saw him. I genuinely like John, and I think he is much happier going back to the family.  

        2. Salazar seemed to just take it for granted and didn't even try until way too late. He actually was the right kind of candidate on the left right scale for the district. Udall was a good fit for statewide. It's not often that Rs get to take advantage of a campaign strategy quite that off base. Triangulating wasn't his problem or Salazar's.

          1. Bullshit, BC. Duke and I live in the 3rd and you don't. We watched John's previous campaigns, and the third time wasn't the charm. His heart wasn't in it. He's been a much happier man for it.

             

            1. Let's see. I say he didn't even try. You say his heart wasn't in it. That sounds like agreement  to me.  Maybe I'm missing something.

      1. Seeing as how she's running now I'm glad she didn't go tilting at the that windmill. Shows she might have enough sense to run a decent campaign.

  7. I'm registered unafiliated, which is my feeble protest against CO's centrist democrats.  I'm getting daily robo calls from Mike Coffman so I'm guessing he's running scared.

    I'm in the 6th district and will be working for Sen. Carroll.

      1. Yes it is. Coffman will no doubt be extremely well funded. If he loses it, the redrawn district and demographics being what they are, it could be lost for good and they know it. It's still advantage Coffman but they will want to make damn sure.

        1. I wonder whether his wife's recent antics with Steve House will soften up the state party's enthusiasm for Magic Mike and his re-election bid. Moddy, A/C, either of you hear any grumbling about that from the high command?

          What would really make the CD 6 race more interesting is if House were to encourage a primary challenge to the incumbent by someone like David Balmer……. 🙂

          1. I suspect the standard greeting at GOP gatherings for the next few months will not be "Hi!", but rather "Bygones!"

            As for House, I'm pretty sure he'll take a page from another failed GOP leader, Donald Rumsfeld:  "you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want"

      1. Haven't gotten called on this yet but have received robos in the past, probably because my husband is a registered U white guy in the sweet spot grumpy older demo. Not that he has ever voted R in the 36 years I've known him.

    1. Ditto (except I am a Dem).  I got the same call from Coffman yesterday, and I will be working for Sen. Carroll.

      Hope to see you on the dusty campaign trail, CDW!

  8. Any word on how Morgan Carroll's former colleague, Shawn Mitchell, is processing the news of her declaration of candidacy? Remember how he once told a nervous committee witness to relax by picturing Carroll in her underwear……..

  9. Bartels: Democrat Morgan Carroll’s record offers some surprises

    Carroll sounds downright libertarian on some of these – the red light camera bill, which Lockwood is all up in arms about, curtailing power of police to pull you over just for not buckling up, being against in state tuition for undocumented students the first time around, etc.

    C'mon, Lockwood, I know you read this – aren't you all for Morgan Carroll now?

    It doesn't change my support for her in the slightest.

     

  10. So who is this Perry Haney guy who's going to challenge Morgan Carroll for the CD6 Democratic nomination?

    1. A Chiropractor, who has had his medical license restricted in two different states (IA and CO) because of unnecessary massage therapy, and overcharging patients. Pols, 12/13/1, quoting from the IA board findings.

    2. A "moderate Democrat" who has donated $16,000,mostly to Democratic legislators or committees since 2009. He contributed to Scott McInnnis' run for Governor in '09. TRACER, contribution search.

    3. Someone with no facebook presence at all, as Nancy Cronk noted in the #1 post. He seems to get around to Democratic fundraisers, and is mentioned by others, but has no social media presence of his own. This always raises a red flag for me; I interpret it as the track of someone who doesn't want to be bound by past history. Facebook search

    4. A perennial candidate for CD6,  Perry ran in 2012, and loaned himself $370,000 to do so. Pols, 2/2012 article

    5. Haney flirted with the idea of running in CD35. He also , and received a campaign finance complaint from Call's RCC after he raised substantial monies without committing himself as a candidate. Pols, Legal briefs on file with FEC.

    6. A guy with good credit, apparently, as he took out a $1 million loan to self-finance the CD6 campaign. FEC page for Perry Haney. Morgan Carroll has no finances on file with the FEC as of July 17, 2015

    7. A candidate with no identifiable issues or positions, except that he's "tired of career politicians in Washington", and "thinks CD6 deserves better". I agree.  To start with, we need a real Democrat, not just a Republican Lite contender like Perry Haney.

     

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