Former Denver Public Schools board member Auon’tai Anderson is dropping his bid to be a state representative, he announced Tuesday.
Anderson was running as a Democrat to represent House District 8 in northeast Denver, where state Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, is term-limited. He wrote in a letter that his decision is aimed at ensuring another Black person represents the district. (Herod is Black, and so is Anderson.)
The Democratic primary to represent House District 6 was crowded with Anderson in it and it will remain crowded now that he has exited the race. It includes:
- Kwon Atlas, a former aide to Denver Mayor Michael Hancock who ran unsuccessfully for a Denver City Council seat last year
- Lindsay Gilchrist, a public policy consultant and foster/adoptive parent, who worked for the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat
- Sharron Pettiford, a labor activist who is also a Denver NAACP officer
- Victor Bencomo, a Latino veteran and activist who is endorsed by Giffords, a national group that pushes for gun violence prevention measures
Atlas and Pettiford are Black.
House District 8 is solidly Democratic and whoever wins the June 25 primary should cruise to victory in the general election.
Anderson dropped his school board reelection bid to jump into the House District 8 race. His reelection prospects to the school board seat were uncertain after he was at the center of several controversies. He has also clashed with and drawn the ire of Democrats and Republicans alike.
As part of his announcement Tuesday, Anderson said he is launching a nonprofit called The Center for Advancing Black Excellence in Education.