The Democratic primary next year between state Rep. Elisabeth Epps and attorney Sean Camacho in House District 6 — assuming both qualify for the June ballot — will be one of the most closely watched contests in Colorado.
The central-Denver district leans 67 percentage points in Democrats’ favor, according to an analysis of election results dating back to 2016 conducted by nonpartisan legislative staffers as part of the 2021 redistricting process. That makes it the third-most Democratic House district in the state.
Only the voters in House District 8, which covers downtown and northeastern Denver, and House District 10, in the heart of Boulder, have favored Democratic candidates more since 2016.
Epps, who is aligned with the Denver Democratic Socialists of America, is one of the most liberal members of the General Assembly. But while her political views may be in sync with voters in House District 6, the controversies she has been at the center of — most recently interrupting House proceedings from the chamber’s gallery during the special session to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war — may make her vulnerable to Camacho’s challenge.
Epps has also lost support among some members of the House Democratic caucus. She frustrated her colleagues by repeatedly clashing with House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, and then by filing an open meetings lawsuit over the summer against McCluskie, the caucus and House Republicans.
The special session interruption, during which she attacked colleagues on social media and berated them from the House gallery and within it, dramatically widened those fissures.
(Epps interrupted a speech from Republican Rep. Ron Weinberg, who is Jewish, responding to her comments about the Israel-Hamas war. Epps said Weinberg, on the House floor, personally directed an expletive at her during her remarks in support of Palestinians and in opposition to the Israeli military’s response to the Oct. 7 attacks. Weinberg denies that allegation.)
Epps has acknowledged her loss of support at the Capitol on social media. “I’m lonely,” she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “but surely you didn’t think the apartheid defenders were ever — or ever could’ve been — my friends right?”
Camacho already has the endorsement of eight House Democrats, including outgoing state Rep. Ruby Dickson, D-Greenwood Village, who stepped down after the special session citing the “sensationalistic and vitriolic nature of the current political environment.” While most of the Democrats who have already endorsed Camacho also backed Epps’ primary opponent in 2022, Katie March, it’s highly unusual for members of the same caucus in the legislature to publicly support pushing out one of their colleagues. (Epps beat March, a top aide to then-House Speaker Alec Garnett, by about 1,100 votes, or 6 percentage points.)
Camacho’s new House Democratic endorsers include Dickson and state Rep. William Lindstedt, D-Broomfield, who hadn’t been elected at the time of the Epps-March matchup, as well as state Rep. Lindsey Daugherty, D-Arvada.
We hear that other House Democrats are expected to back Camacho in the coming weeks.
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MORE: Camacho, on the other hand, may not have the easiest path to victory in House District 6.
The 40-year-old Air Force veteran (he’s still a reservist) and Air Force Academy graduate was registered as a Republican voter until 2017, when he switched his affiliation to unaffiliated, according to state voter records. He became a Democrat in August 2019.
Epps’ allies are certain to attack Camacho for his past voter registration.
Camacho has also run twice to represent House District 6, in 2020 and 2022. He dropped out of the race before the primary both times, first because state Rep. Steven Woodrow, D-Denver, was selected by a vacancy committee to represent the district when Chris Hansen, the incumbent, filled a vacancy in the Senate, and then, after the district’s boundaries were redrawn in 2021, to back March in her 2022 primary against Epps.
“We can’t avoid the discussion that this is a campaign against a Democratic incumbent, someone with whom I share a number of core values and policy positions,” Camacho wrote to supporters in his campaign announcement email. “However, her actions as a state representative in her first year illustrate that she is not focused on solving the problems facing our state. I hope to bring a level of collaboration and compassion to the legislature that will help us tackle the problems we face.”
Epps’ take: She reposted a user on X who said that: “I, for one, think the people of HD6 knew what they wanted to see in the state house and she was and is it. We don’t want another corporate Dem.”
EVEN MORE: House District 6 is made up of one of the most densely populated parts of Colorado. It runs east to west in Denver from Broadway to Yosemite Street and includes most of the area between East Colfax Avenue and East Sixth Avenue. It also reaches south into the Lowry neighborhood.
When the boundaries of House District 6 were drawn in 2021, there were 87,264 people living in the district. Of the district’s residents, 86.3% were non-Hispanic while 14% identified as Hispanic. Of the non-Hispanic residents, 67.2% were white and 9.4% were Black.
As of Nov. 1, there were 57,291 active voters in the district, of whom 26,534, or 46%, were registered Democrats. There were 25,850 unaffiliated voters, representing 45% of active voters in the district, and just 3,822 Republicans, representing 7% of the district’s active, registered electorate.
ADDENDUM : There are two other candidates running in the district — Democrat Tyler Berthelot-Meres and unaffiliated voter Dante Padilla — but neither appears to be a serious contender.
Padilla listed his mailing address in Aurora, which is outside of state House District 6. If he doesn’t live in the district, he’s not eligible to run to represent it. Padilla does, however, live in the 6th Congressional District.
Berthelot-Meres, an Air Force veteran and current reservist, is a political newcomer who works in flight operations for United Airlines. His LinkedIn account suggests he moved to Colorado in December 2022.
WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
CHART OF THE WEEK
Super PACs spent about $368,000 this year through late November supporting incumbents in three Colorado congressional districts:
Boebert and Caraveo are running for reelection in districts that are considered among the most competitive in the nation next year and that will be key to control of the U.S. House. Super PAC spending in the districts is sure to increase as Election Day nears.
What we’ll be watching in the new year: Will another super PAC form to support Boebert over her primary challengers? Will Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, one of Boebert’s Republican opponents, get help from a deep-pocketed group? How much of his own money will Carbondale investor Russ Andrews, another one of Boebert’s GOP opponents, be willing to spend?
THE BIG STORY: A look behind the scenes
Lawmakers already approved $8M for rental assistance. The Polis administration never spent it.
Weeks before lawmakers approved $30 million in rental assistance during the special legislative session, Polis administration officials quietly made a startling admission.
The Department of Local Affairs didn’t spend the last $8 million lawmakers approved to help renters facing eviction.
The $8 million, authorized in Senate Bill 124, which lawmakers passed during the regular legislative session this year, was on a list of federal stimulus money that administration officials said was in danger of not being spent before federal deadlines at the end of next year. The list was easy to overlook — it was tucked in the appendices of the governor’s budget request for 2024-25, released Nov. 1. The budget letter proposed that lawmakers redirect $7.5 million of it to a migrant support program, and give $500,000 to the Joint Budget Committee to spend as lawmakers please.
But the JBC already made its desires clear. The members of the budget committee were the ones who proposed spending the $8 million on rental assistance in the first place.
“Now we’re sending it to migrants instead of to people in our state who reside here that need this assistance,” Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, told DOLA officials during a hearing last week. “It just doesn’t feel like you’re following what was passed in the law. You just decided to use it (the funding) however you chose.”
It’s not clear why the money was not distributed to local nonprofits as intended. Housing groups have told The Colorado Sun they spend all the rental assistance money they receive. And, at a time of record eviction filings, they anticipate no problems getting the next round distributed to landlords when it becomes available.
In the JBC hearing, DOLA’s housing director Alison George did not explain why, saying only that the governor’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting would have more information for lawmakers when it requests mid-year budget changes next month.
Whatever the reason, members of the JBC last week put the administration on notice: They don’t want it to happen again.
“Those $8 million should have gone out the door in this fiscal year,” said Rep. Emily Sirota, D-Denver.
George assured the JBC the latest $30 million approved in House Bill 1 during the special session would be spent before the new law’s July 1 deadline. She said the state has begun soliciting applications from nonprofits to administer the program, and funding should start flowing to landlords by Jan. 30.
Sirota said she hoped the department and lawmakers could work together in the future. “But I have some distrust about what happened,” she said.
POLL
What Colorado voters are most concerned about heading into an election year
The Colorado Polling Institute, a nonprofit that launched earlier this year, is out today with the results of a new survey testing voters’ opinions heading into an election year on the economy, taxes, education and journalists.
The background: The institute’s founder is investor David Carlson, who founded “A Denver For Us All,” a similar group that polled during the city’s mayoral race. His ex-wife is Rachel Romer, the founder of Guild Education and granddaughter of former Gov. Roy Romer.
The poll was conducted by Cygnal, a Republican political firm, and Aspect Strategic, a Democratic firm, on Nov. 26 and 27 among 652 likely 2024 general election voters in Colorado. It had a 3.83 percentage point margin of error.
Here are some of the big takeaways:
Check out the views on the following institutions and groups:
Keep in mind: The Colorado Polling Institute didn’t previously reveal its donors, but they are now posted on the nonprofits website.
The nonprofit’s advisers include TeRay Esquibel, who leads a nonprofit mobilizing public school alumni; former Denver City Councilwoman Kendra Black; Republican political consultant Tyler Sandberg; and Democratic political consultant Curtis Hubbard.
Hubbard has served as an adviser to The Colorado Sun but has no influence over editorial decisions.
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THE POLITICAL TICKER
>> ELECTION 2024: Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is the latest Republican presidential candidate to post about the Colorado GOP on X, formerly known as Twitter, in order to meet the party’s qualifications to appear on the state’s March primary ballot. “We’re excited to be on the ballot in CO! Keep up to date with @cologop‘s grassroots efforts by giving them a follow — we’ve got a country to save!” Haley posted. It’s unclear whether she has paid $40,000 to the Colorado GOP or $20,000 and plans to visit the state or hold a fundraiser for the party to satisfy the party’s financial requirements to get on the presidential primary ballot.
>> PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY: Monday was the deadline for presidential candidates to submit paperwork to appear on Colorado’s March 5 primary ballot. The Democratic candidates who have filed include President Joe Biden and Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips. The Republican candidates who submitted paperwork include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is awaiting court rulings to process Trump’s paperwork. Colorado’s presidential primary ballot must be certified by Jan. 5. The final list of candidates who have filed to be on the March primary ballot is expected to be released by state election officials this week.
>> ELECTION 2024: Republican Dusty Johnson, a legislative aide and former congressional aide from Fort Morgan, will run in 2024 for the House District 63 seat being vacated by state Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, who is running to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. She’s the first candidate to file for the seat. In House District 37, a second Democrat, educator Ashish Vaidya, is running to fill the seat being vacated by state Rep. Ruby Dickson, D-Greenwood VIllage, who recently announced her resignation. Chad Clifford, treasurer of the Arapahoe County Democratic party, filed to run for the seat last week. A vacancy committee will meet Jan. 3 to fill the HD37 seat. In addition to Clifford and Vaidya, community organizer Kevin Biehl and Nathan Wilkes, an engineer and health care advocate, also have filed to run for the vacancy committee appointment.
>> FUNDRAISING: Common Sense Colorado 2024 is a new joint fundraising committee formed by U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. The committee will allow donors to write a single check to benefit the campaigns of both Democrats.
>> ELECTION SECURITY: The Colorado County Clerks Association executive board sent a letter Friday to all elected officials in the state asking that they work with election officials to support the integrity of the state’s elections and reassure citizens that the state’s elections are safe and secure. “Let’s be clear: Undermining a legal election is not an American ideal,” the letter said. The missive asked elected officials to defend the state’s elections, which are primarily run by counties, when confronted with conspiracy theories or lies.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS : It’s taking longer to schedule abortions in Colorado and across the U.S. doctors fear riskier, more complex procedures.
COLORADO POLITICS : Republican, Democratic leaders highlight efforts to rein in destructive discourse at state Capitol
THE DENVER POST : Decades-old rule pushes mentally ill Coloradans out of hospitals too soon. Legislators may finally change it.
COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO : As time runs out for additional Ukraine aid, Michael Bennet is pushing the Senate and the president to do more
KDVR : Jared Polis talks taxes, housing ahead of 2024 legislative session
THE GRAND JUNCTION DAILY SENTINEL : More endorsements head Hurd’s way over Boebert
PBS12 : Jesse was a panelist on Colorado Inside Out on Friday
KUNC : Colorado will expand automatic voter registration to tribes for the first time
ELECTION 2024
Ted Harvey announced his congressional bid, started raising money before money before filing with the FEC
Former state Sen. Ted Harvey, a Highlands Ranch Republican, announced his candidacy for the 4th Congressional District GOP nomination Wednesday and immediately started raising money for his campaign.
But he didn’t file with the Federal Election Commission until Monday evening, after a conversation with The Unaffiliated. He said he’s raised more than $5,000, with some of that coming from an exploratory committee that doesn’t have to register.
Five other Republicans, three Democrats and one Libertarian have filed to run for the seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor. Buck will have held the seat for a decade in the solidly Republican district.
The FEC requires that candidates file paperwork making their campaigns official within 15 days of announcing their candidacy or once they raise or spend more than $5,000. A campaign committee must be registered with the FEC within 10 days of its formation.
Harvey’s campaign website, before he filed with the FEC, included a “donate” button that links to a fundraising page for a committee called Ted Harvey for Colorado. The page warned that “the legal maximum contribution is $3,300 per individual.” (It’s actually $6,600 — $3,300 for the primary and $3,300 for the general election.)
Harvey, who served in the state House from 2002-07 and then in the state Senate from 2007-15, ran in the 6th Congressional District GOP primary in 2008, finishing third. Mike Coffman, then Colorado’s secretary of state, won the primary and held the 6th District seat until his defeat in 2018. Coffman is now Aurora’s mayor.
Harvey has worked as a political consultant, most notably as chairman of the federal Stop Hillary PAC created in 2013. That group ended up in a court battle with the FEC over using presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s name in its title. The PAC and the FEC agreed to dismiss the suit after former President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 and the group changed its name to Committee to Defend the President.
The PAC is now known as the Committee to Defeat the President, as in President Joe Biden. The PAC has paid Harvey $481,000 since 2014, including $48,000 this year, according to campaign finance records analyzed by The Sun.
In 2022, Harvey served as treasurer for the federal Colorado Liberty PAC, which raised only $5,000. Of that, $1,000 went to losing 7th Congressional District Republican candidate Erik Aadland, $2,030 went to Harvey’s consulting firm and the rest went to a law firm.
Harvey’s consulting business has received $82,000 from Colorado campaigns since 2018, according to state campaign finance records.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
>> Sheila Jackson Lee loses Houston mayor’s race to tough-on-crime state senator (Politico)
>> A leaky roof is about to close the Pennsylvania House for months. Can the legislature finish a budget first? (Spotlight PA)
>> Seattle promised free college. How’s it working out? (The Seattle Times)
>> Britons love the NHS. Some will also pay to avoid it. (The New York Times)
>> Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky appears increasingly embattled as U.S. backing wavers (The Washington Post)
Corrections & Clarifications
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CORRECTION: This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, to correct information about Colorado Polling Institute founder David Carlson’s marital status. He is the former husband of Rachel Romer, the founder of Guild Education and granddaughter of former Gov. Roy Romer. Additionally, the Colorado Polling Institute now reveals its donors after previously declining to do so.