PUEBLO — State Sen. Jeff Bridges on Saturday won enough support from Democratic Party delegates to block both of his rivals from advancing to the June primary in the Colorado treasurer’s race.
Candidates needed the backing of 30% of the roughly 1,350 delegates at the Colorado Democratic Party’s state assembly in Pueblo to advance to the primary ballot.
Bridges, who is vice chairman of the legislature’s powerful Joint Budget Committee, received 44% of the vote, while state Rep. Brianna Titone received 29% of the vote and former El Paso County Democratic Party Chairman John Mikos received 27% of the vote.
As a result, he’ll appear uncontested on the June primary ballot, making him all but a lock to secure the Democratic nomination and advance to the general election in November. Given the GOP’s history of losses in Colorado, Bridges is also the favorite to become the state’s next treasurer.
Candidates can also petition to make the ballot by collecting voter signatures, but no other Democratic candidate for treasurer attempted to do so by the March 18 deadline.
Titone’s failure to make the ballot was the biggest shocker at the state assembly, where Democrats from across Colorado selected their candidates for every statewide race up for grabs this year.
In her speech to delegates, Titone sought to siphon support from Bridges by going on the attack and trying to tap into anti-incumbent sentiment.
“If you want to have another Bennet or Hickenlooper, then you pick my opponent,” Titone said, likening Bridges to Colorado’s U.S. Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet.
Mikos, meanwhile, had proposed creating a state-run bank to provide capital to parts of the state that struggle to attract investment.
But delegates ultimately decided to go with Bridges in the race that will decide who manages the state’s finances.
“He impressed me with his qualifications,” Gayle Dixon, a 74-year-old delegate from Pagosa Springs, said of Bridges.
Bridges told delegates gathered at Memorial Hall in Pueblo that as treasurer he would find a way to invest state dollars in the state — whereas right now they are mostly invested in securities.
“I’ll invest in Colorado companies creating Colorado jobs,” he said. “Instead of Wall Street, I’ll invest in cities and counties here in Colorado that are building the infrastructure that we need for our economy to thrive. Instead of national mortgage backed securities, I’ll invest in housing in Colorado so that folks like nurses, teachers and firefighters can live in the communities that they serve.”
The treasurer’s contest is one of four open races this year to replace Democrats who hold a statewide office. State Treasurer Dave Young, Attorney General Phil Weiser, Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Gov. Jared Polis are all term-limited and can’t run for re-election.
Three candidates make the ballot in attorney general’s race
In the Democratic primary for attorney general, all three candidates who were trying to make the ballot through the caucus and assembly process advanced.
In first place was Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, at 42%, followed by David Seligman, a consumer and workers rights attorney, who won 41% of the vote. In third place was Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty, who won 17% of the vote.
Dougherty could still make the ballot through the petition signatures he collected and turned in to state elections officials.
The attorney general’s primary had the most drama of any of the races decided Saturday.
As delegates were gathering, a former Griswold staffer — Reese Edwards, who worked for about a year as director of government and public affairs at the secretary of state’s office — blasted out an email accusing Griswold of operating a hostile and volatile workplace environment. Edwards said his letter was also being brought on behalf of six other former staffers who were too afraid to be named.
“The internal culture of the office was defined by a pattern of bullying and professional abuse,” Edwards wrote.
Griswold defended herself against the criticisms she has experienced on the campaign trail.
“Another candidate in this race has decided that his best shot is to launch misleading attacks against me. Let’s call it what it is: desperation,” she told delegates in her speech to the assembly, referencing Dougherty. “If your focus is on bringing me down and not on the racist lunatic in the White House, you’re not ready for this job.”
Seligman, a first-time candidate who leads the legal nonprofit Towards Justice, told delegates he’s “dedicated my entire career every day to standing up in court for working people.”
Dougherty pitched the assembly on his long legal resume.
“Having real leadership experience and real legal experience — those things matter,” he said.
Dougherty signatures are still under review by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. Candidates who go through both the signature gathering and caucus and assembly route must get 10% of delegates’ support at the assembly, in addition to their signatures, to make the primary ballot.
Former federal prosecutor Hetal Doshi, another Democratic candidate for attorney general, also collected petition signatures in a bid to make the ballot. She bypassed the caucus and assembly process.
Doshi’s signatures are also under review by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
Mark Weisser, a 67-year-old delegate from Severance, backed Griswold on Saturday.
“I liked her courage during all the election chaos,” Weisser said. “I settled on her early.”
Weisser said he was “not worried at all” about her smaller breadth of legal experience, something Griswold’s opponents have tried to make a key issue in the race.
Suzanne Barr, an 80-year-old delegate from Colorado Springs, supported Seligman. She’s heard him speak several times and was moved by his words.
Barr said she decided against supporting Griswold because she’s heard “negative things from people who have worked with her.”
Griswold’s name will be listed first on the Democratic primary ballot, which is the perk candidates get for winning assembly.
Both Democratic candidates running for secretary of state make ballot
Both of the Democrats running to replace Griswold as Colorado’s secretary of state qualified for the ballot on Saturday.
In first place was Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, who received 63% of the vote. State Sen. Jessie Danielson finished second with 37% of the vote.
Gonzalez, whose name will appear first on the primary ballot in the secretary of state’s race, vowed to be a “firewall, not a figurehead” against the Trump administration’s attacks on elections if elected.
Danielson talked about her work in the legislature passing elections bills.
“I don’t just know the systems that Donald Trump is trying to dismantle,” she said. “I helped build them.”
Erin Kenworthy, a 47-year-old delegate from Lakewood, backed Gonzalez because of her record as county clerk.
“I think she’s done a good job in Jeffco,” Kenworthy said.
Other assembly results
Other news from the assembly:
- Attorney General Phil Weiser advanced to the gubernatorial primary ballot after winning 90% of the delegate vote Saturday, keeping two other candidates off the ballot. Weiser will face U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who made the ballot by collecting voter signatures, in the June primary.
- State Sen. Julie Gonzales qualified for the U.S. Senate primary ballot after winning 74% of the delegate vote, beating political science professor Karen Breslin, who won 24% of the vote, and Jessica Williams, who won 1%. Breslin did not get enough support to make the ballot. Gonzales will face U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who is running for a second term and made the ballot by collecting voter signatures, in the June primary.
Republicans will hold their state assembly in Pueblo on April 11. No GOP candidate has won a statewide race in Colorado since 2016.