Colorado’s candidates for the 2018 midterm elections
By: Adriana Navarro
Tags: Elections, Election 2018, Midterms, Politics, Colorado

Colorado is currently a blue state, having voted Democrat during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The state currently has four Republican and three Democratic U.S. House representatives and a Democrat and Republican each in the U.S. Senate. The state has not had a Republican governor in 12 years.

Important dates and deadlines

The deadline to register to vote in Colorado for the 2018 general midterm election extends through Election Day.

Election Day is Nov. 6.

Race Predictions

According to fivethirtyeight, the first, second and seventh Congressional Districts are predicted as solid Democrat, and the sixth Congressional District as likely Democrat. The fourth and fifth Congressional Districts are predicted as solid Republican, and the third Congressional District leans toward Republican.

As for the gubernatorial race, RealClearPolitics predicts Colorado as likely Democrat.

Source: RealClearPolitics

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Jared Polis/Dianne Primavera (D)

Democrats Jared Polis and Dianne Primavera are running for the position of Colorado’s governor and lieutenant governor respectively.

Polis has a history in business, having launched American Information Systems, founded ProFlowers and co-founded Techstars and Patriot Boot Camp. During 2000, he was elected to the Colorado Board of Education and served as the chairman of the board. His work in education ranged from serving as superintendent of the New American School to founding nonprofit public schools for at-risk children. He became a U.S. House representative in 2009.

Primavera served as a Colorado House representative from 2006 to 2010 and 2012 to 2016. During this time, she expanded “Medicaid and private-insurance coverage for cancer screenings and women’s preventative health care,” created a Business Personal Property Tax Credit, and created a program to give out unused cancer drugs to patients who could not afford them among other things. Primavera is a cancer survivor and joined the Rocky Mountain Regional Brain Injury Center in 1990. In 2017, she became the CEO of Susan G. Komen Colorado.

Their campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Affordable health care

Gun regulation laws

Transition Colorado to clean energy by 2040

Establish universal full-day kindergarten and preschool in each Colorado community within two years

Protect Colorado’s natural resources

Walker Stapleton/Lang SIas (R)

Republicans Walker Stapleton and Lang Sias are running for the position of Colorado’s governor and lieutenant governor respectively.

Stapleton is the current State Treasurer of Colorado and has held the position since 2011. He opposed Amendment 66 and then Amendment 69, the latter which had become known as ColoradoCare. Stapleton serves on both the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver and the Denver Metro Council of the El Pomar Foundation.

Sias served in the U.S. military from 1986 through 2015. He was part of the Navy and the Air National Guard. Sias retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel. During 2016, Sias was elected into the Colorado House, where he served until recently. Sias had filed for re-election into the state House, but withdrew after Stapleton selected him as a running mate.

Their campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Affordable health care

End Sanctuary Cities

Pro-Second Amendment without regulation/ repeal 2013 gun control laws

Protect water rights

Develop natural resources as energy

Scott Helker/Michele Poague (L)

Libertarians Scott Helker and Michele Poague are running for the position of Colorado’s governor and lieutenant governor respectively.

Helker served in the military from 1982 to 1989.

Poague ran in the 2012 Colorado State Senate election for District 29 against Morgan Carroll. She ran again in 2016 against Rhonda Fields.

Helker’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Securing water

Keeping government accountable

Poague ‘s campaign website doesn’t have an issues page.

Bill Hammons/Eric Bodenstab (Unity Party of America)

Independents Bill Hammons and Eric Bodenstab are running for the position of Colorado’s governor and lieutenant governor respectively.

Hammons founded the Unity Party of America in 2004 and is the chairman of the Unity Party of Colorado, which is officially recognized in Colorado as of June 6, 2017. During 2014, Hammons ran for the U.S. Senate against Cory Gardner to represent Colorado. He ran again in 2016 against Michael Bennet.

Bodenstab has no political history.

Hammon’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Eliminate income taxes

Supports abortion rights

Supports the death penalty

Pro-Second Amendment without regulation

Supports a Colorado Medicare for All system

Fight climate change

Bodenstab has no campaign website.

U.S. House of Representatives Candidates

District 1

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Diana DeGette (D, incumbent)

Democrat Diana DeGette is the incumbent U.S. House representative for Colorado’s first congressional district. She is running for re-election.

DeGette has served 11 terms in Congress and is the author of several acts, including the Colorado Wilderness Act, the SAFER Act and the TRACE Act. The United States Association of Former Members of Congress awarded DeGette the Statesmanship Award in 2018 for working to pass the 21st Century Cures Act to pass this act with bipartisan support along with Republican Congressman Fred Upton.

DeGette’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Accessible health care

Supports abortion rights

Protect Colorado public lands

Protect food supply

Casper Stockham (R)

Republican Casper Stockham is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s first congressional district.

Stockham, an Air Force veteran, ran for Congress in 2016 for the same position.

Stockham’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Reduce homelessness

Provide better care for veterans

Encourage cleaner energy options

Promote better and less expensive health care

Change immigration policies, encourage legal immigration

Improve infrastructure

Raymon Doane (L)

Liberal Raymon Doane is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s first congressional district.

Doane ran for the Colorado State Senate in 2016 as a Republican. He ran unopposed in the 2016 Primaries, but faced against Angela Williams in the election.

Doane doesn’t have a campaign website.

Miguel Lopez (I, write-in)

Independent Miguel Lopez was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s first congressional district.

Lopez has no campaign website.

District 2

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Joe Neguse (D)

Democrat Joe Neguse is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s second congressional district.

Neguse started off in politics working for Andrew Romanoff, the speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives at the time. He co-founded New Era Colorado, a nonprofit in Colorado that has helped youth register to vote, and was elected in 2008 into the CU Board of Regents in the Second Congressional District. In 2014, Neguse ran for Colorado Secretary of State against Wayne Williams.

Neguse’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Fight for clean air and water

Protect the Affordable Care act and fight for expanded & improved Medicare-for-All Act

Raise minimum wage to $15 an hour

Supports abortion rights

Against discrimination

Gun regulation

Protect public lands

Peter Yu (R)

Republican Peter Yu is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s second congressional district.

Although Yu has not run for office, he has a history of running small businesses and a marketing background.

Yu’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Energy independence

Repeal the Affordable Care Act

Slow climate change

Roger Barris (L)

Libertarian Roger Barris is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s second congressional district.

Barris has filled leadership roles in several companies and has worked for Goldman Sachs, Exxon Corporation, Deutsche Bank and Starwood Capital and Merrill Lynch. In 2010, he co-founded Peakside Capital, which manages real estate funds with offices in London, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland and Prague.

Barris’ campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Repeal the Affordable Care Act

Set term limits for politicians in Washington

Supports abortion rights, but wants to defund Planned Parenthood

Pro-Second Amendment without regulation

Nick Thomas (I)

Independent Nick Thomas is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s second congressional district.

Thomas has a history with starting up small business and has collaborated with tech startups like STQry, Dash Tickets and Boulder’s Unreasonable Institute. He was a 2008 U.S. Congressional Youth Ambassador to South Korea and has served as an intern and aide to Sen. Ron Tupa from 2007 to 2008.

Thomas’ campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Balancing the budget and reducing national debt

Support small businesses

Address climate change

Social tolerance

Kevin Alumbaugh (G, write-in)

Green Party Kevin Alumbaugh was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s second congressional district.

Alumbaugh has no campaign website.

District 3

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Scott Tipton (R)

Republican Scott Tipton is the incumbent U.S. House representative for Colorado’s third congressional district. He is running for re-election.

Tipton co-founded a small business, Mesa Verde Indian Pottery and ran it for 30 years. In 2008, he was elected into the Colorado House of Representatives for the 58th District. He sponsored legislation to impose harsher penalties for child sex-offenders. In 2010, he was elected into the U.S. House. Tipton has passed legislation to advance healthy forest management to prevent wildfire and to advance the development of clean energy.

Tipton’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act

Preserve Colorado public land

Protect small businesses

Improve transportation infrastructure

Diane Mitsch Bush (D)

Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s third congressional district.

Bush served as a Routt County Commissioner in 2006 and later served as a representative in the State House in Colorado’s 26th Congressional District for three terms. She worked on bipartisan projects based on cleaner energy in 2014 and 2015.

Bush’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Equal rights/against discrimination

Gun restrictions

Supports abortion rights

Supports single-payer, universal health care

Re-designate national monuments taken away

Advocate for the U.S. to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord

Gaylon Kent (L)

Libertarian Gaylon Kent is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s third congressional district.

Kent has ran for U.S. Congress three times prior in 2012, 2014 and 2016. He served in the United States Navy from 1983 to 1987, and is a member of the Sons of the American Legion Squadron 89.

Kent’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Pro-Second Amendment without regulation

Supports abortion rights

Eliminate the death penalty

End the war on drugs

Mary Malarsie (I)

Independent Mary Malarsie is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s third congressional district.

Malarsie has not previously ran for a federal office.

Malarsie’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Pro-Second Amendment without regulation

Against discrimination

Protect public lands

Protect U.S. borders

Protect Dreamers and support the DACA

Supports abortion rights

Richard Tetu (I)

Independent Richard Tetu was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s third congressional district.

Tetu has no campaign website.

Bruce Lohmiller (G)

Green Party Bruce Lohmiller was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s third congressional district.

Lohmiller has no campaign website.

Gary Swing (G)

Green Party Gary Swing was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s third congressional district.

Swing’s campaign website lists the following stances:

Abolish nuclear weapons

Uphold the Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawing war

Close all foreign military bases

End foreign military aid

Abolish U.S. Senate

District 4

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Ken Buck (R)

Republican Ken Buck is the incumbent U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fourth congressional district. He is running for re-election.

Buck served as the Weld County District Attorney after his election in 2004. During his time in office, he helped to create the Juvenile Assessment Center. He was elected into the U.S. Congress in 2015.

Buck’s campaign website doesn’t have an issues page.

Karen McCormick (D)

Democrat Karen McCormick is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fourth congressional district.

McCormick is a small business owner and a veterinarian. She is a board member of ten years in the nonprofit organization Project V.E.T.S. McCormick has also volunteered in teaching English for the nonprofit organization Intercambio.

McCormick’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Pro-Second Amendment with regulation

Pass a clean DREAM Act

Protect LGBTQ rights

Improving transportation infrastructure

Protect Medicare and Medicaid

Supports abortion rights

Richard Lyons Weil (D)

Democrat Richard Lyons Weil was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fourth congressional district.

Weil’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Raise minimum wage to $22 an hour

Income tax of 70 percent on incomes more than $3 million

Free education

Turn correction intervention into therapeutic intervention

Focus on maternal healthcare

Economic equality for women

Single payer health care system

John Vigil (G)

John Vigil was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fourth congressional district.

Vigil’s has no campaign website.

District 5

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Stephany Rose Spaulding (D)

Democrat Stephany Rose Spaulding is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fifth congressional district.

Spaulding is an associate professor at the University of Colorado as well as a licensed minister. In 2015, she founded For Our Children’s Children Enterprises, and she has played a leadership role in Projects Impact, Raw Tools, Together Colorado, the Colorado Springs Urban League and others.

Spaulding’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Reform and improve the Affordable Care Act

Protect public lands

Gradually increase carbon emission fees

Build onto the “Every Student Succeeds Act”

Doug Lamborn (R)

Republican Doug Lamborn the incumbent U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fifth congressional district. He is running for re-election.

Lamborn served in the Colorado General Assembly from 1995 to 2006 in both the State House and State Senate. While in the State Congress, he introduced legislation eliminating and reducing state services to immigrants who entered the country illegally, banning late-term abortions and other legislations. While in the U.S. House, Lamborn has served in a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee and the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans.

Lamborn’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Anti-abortion

Pro-Second Amendment without regulation

Improve transportation infrastructure

Repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act

Douglas Randall (L)

Libertarian Douglas Randall is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fifth congressional district.

Randall has no campaign website.

Lori Furstenberg (D)

Democrat Lori Furstenberg was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fifth congressional district.

Furstenberg’s campaign website lists the following stances among others:

Supports abortion rights

Supports LGBT rights

John Croom (I)

Independent John Croom was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s fifth congressional district.

Croom has no campaign website.

District 6

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Mike Coffman (R)

Republican Mike Coffman is the incumbent U.S. House representative for Colorado’s sixth congressional district. He is running for re-election.

Coffman served in the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marines and the reserves for both. In 1989, he was elected into the Colorado House of Representatives, where he served until 1994. Coffman then served in the State Senate immediately after until 1998, when he was elected as the Colorado Treasurer. During 2007, Coffman became the Colorado Secretary of State. He joined the U.S. House in 2009 and has been serving since.

Coffman’s campaign website issues page lists the following stances among others:

Reform the Affordable Care Act

Reform immigration system

Protect small businesses

Jason Crow (D)

Democrat Jason Crow is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s sixth congressional district.

Crow served in the U.S. Army until 2006 when he became an advocate for veterans.

Crow’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Pro-Second Amendment with reform

Reform the criminal justice system

Protect Medicare and reduce medication costs

Kat Martin (L)

Libertarian Kat Martin is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s sixth congressional district.

Martin’s campaign website lists the following stances among others:

Prison reform

Dan Chapin (I)

Independent Dan Chapin was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s sixth congressional district.

Chaplin was a write-in candidate during the 2014 election for the U.S. House representative of Colorado’s 4th District. In 2016, he ran against Democrat Michael Bennet to represent Colorado in the U.S. Senate.

Chapin’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Pro-Second Amendment with regulation

Address Climate Change

Reform Medicare

Raise Minimum wage to $15 an hour

Christopher Allen (L)

Libertarian Christopher Allen was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s sixth congressional district.

Allen has no campaign website.

District 7

Source: FiveThirtyEight

Ed Perlmutter (D)

Democrat Ed Perlmutter is the incumbent U.S. House representative for Colorado’s seventh congressional district. He is running for re-election.

Perlmutter was elected into the Colorado State Senate during 1994, where he served until 2003. During 2007, he ran to represent Colorado in the U.S. House and secured the seat of Colorado’s 7th Congressional District.

Perlmutter’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Increase minimum wage

Supports abortion rights

Protect and improve the Affordable Care Act

Mark Barrington (R)

Republican Mark Barrington is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s seventh congressional district.

Barrington has a history in marketing and has been the co-chair for the Jefferson County Prayer Breakfast.

Barrington’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Anti-abortion

Improve transportation infrastructure

Open Federal lands for energy opportunities and the Keystone Pipeline

Jennifer Nackerud (L)

Libertarian Jennifer Nackerud is running for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s seventh congressional district.

Nackerud’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

Promote activism

Provide transparency in running for office

Encourage finding solutions to social problems

Steve Zorn (D)

Democrat Steve Zorn was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s seventh congressional district.

Zorn’s campaign website’s issues page lists the following stances among others:

End the war on drugs

Reform immigration policies

Protect unions

Pass a Federal paid family leave act

Michael Haughey (G)

Green Party Michael Haughey was written in during the primaries for the position of U.S. House representative for Colorado’s seventh congressional district.

Haughey has no campaign website.