6/28 Primary Preview Part II
Colorado, Utah, and Oklahoma
Today is a very busy day for us here at Primary School. Either one of Illinois or New York alone would guarantee a lengthy list of races in need of a preview, so, naturally, both are voting today, along with Colorado, Utah, and Oklahoma. For readability’s sake, we’re sending Illinois and New York each as their own previews, with another one for Colorado, Utah, and Oklahoma. You can read our Illinois preview here; this preview covers Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah. Our New York preview is next.
Colorado
CO-01
Denver
Diana DeGette (i) vs. Neal Walia
After three cycles in a row, it's now official tradition that Diana DeGette must face an initially-promising primary challenger who fizzles out by spring. This cycle’s offering is Neal Walia, a political staffer and former coordinator in Gov. John Hickenlooper's office for homeless programs. While his progressive campaign initially looked strong, his fundraising soon cratered, and the Colorado Working Families Party, an early supporter, pulled its endorsement in April after concluding that Walia was “not committed to running a serious campaign.”
Board of Regents District 1 (Denver)
Wanda James vs. Johnnie Nguyen
Colorado’s Board of Regents is a fairly powerful body of nine (soon to be ten) that oversees the University of Colorado system, setting tuition, writing the budget and organizational directives, and choosing the officials who run day-to-day operations for the university system, which currently has 67,000 students enrolled. In addition to two members elected statewide, one comes from each Congressional district.
Johnnie Nguyen, an attorney and former Hickenlooper staffer, is the choice of most Denver-area politicians, as well as some progressive groups, like Colorado’s chapters of Our Revolution and the Working Families Party. He’s running on a platform that includes supporting grad student unionization, providing healthcare for students at the university system’s satellite campuses, and banning guns from UC campuses. With Nguyen consolidating a wide swath of support, Wanda James is probably the underdog in this race despite entering with a volume of political connections and money that makes her interest in an office this low profile surprising. James is best known as the first Black person in America to receive a license to legally sell marijuana, but before that worked on several Colorado campaigns; her campaign resume includes managing now-governor Jared Polis’s bid for Congress in 2008, and a high-level position in Obama’s 2008 Colorado campaign. However, her campaign platform is vague. In the case of her fluffy language about supporting free speech, that vagueness is worrying, considering that the most recent and high-profile “free speech” debate in the University of Colorado was about whether the architect of the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, John Eastman, should remain a professor at the university. On top of that, the “small business owner” leans heavily on her stature in the highest levels of the corporate ecosystem, bragging about being featured in Ad Week and her time as a Fortune 100 executive.
HD-06 (Central Denver)
Elisabeth Epps vs. Katie March
Wondering about the comparatively few contested primaries in a state that is not only reliably blue like Colorado, but even has term limits? That's the result of Colorado's party endorsement convention system. Many campaigns simply die for lack of support at the convention.
This is the most expensive primary in the state, more an all-out war between the party’s progressive and moderate flanks than a simple race for one house seat. Elisabeth Epps, a lawyer and director of the bail fund Colorado Freedom Fund, is running openly as an abolitionist, and would be one of the few Black representatives in Colorado’s House. Katie March is a staffer to current Colorado House Speaker Alec Garnett, who is going all-in to elect her. In addition to Garnett and other establishment Democrats (especially suburban ones), March has traditionally Republican groups like the Colorado Chamber of Commerce and the Apartment Association (a landlord lobby) in her corner, something she does not shy away from celebrating. But Epps, even though she’s a DSA-backed abolitionist who would be the most radical Democrat in the legislature, does not have to run as an insurgent. She is backed by the outgoing incumbent, Steven Woodrow (running in a neighboring district as a result of new maps), as well as many progressive Denver politicians, including both of the city’s Black state representatives, Leslie Herod and Jennifer Bacon. Unions have split here, with March getting the more moderate building trades and Epps counting Denver’s SEIU, CWA, and AFSCME chapters among her backers.
The race has turned ugly in the final month, with March’s side running a poll asking questions about Epps being a violent criminal (Epps served four weeks in prison for refusing to leave the side of a man in distress when the police showed and wanted to take over the situation, in 2015). Epps’s side uncovered that March had taken a campaign contribution from a recent NRA lobbyist, an especially effective attack given that March’s #1 message is gun control.
HD-17 (Colorado Springs)
Regina English vs. Mischa Smith
Colorado Springs’s Democratic district is opening up as the incumbent leaves to run for state Senate, but unlike in HD-06, there doesn’t appear to be a battle for the party’s soul in his wake. Mischa Smith is the favorite in this race, supported by institutions across the Democratic Party’s ideological spectrum, as well as labor unions. Mischa Smith is a member of the Harrison School Board with a personal political brand after failed City Council bids in 2019 and 2021. While the candidates had similar stances on most issues, Smith is intensely critical of TABOR, a state constitutional amendment limiting taxes, while Regina English has much more ambivalent feelings on the matter. Considering how hot the fight over TABOR has gotten, that may matter a lot.
HD-34 (Northern Denver suburbs)
Sam Nizam vs. Jenny Willford
Northglenn (pop 34,000, about ⅖ of the district) Mayor Jenny Willford and Thornton (pop 142,000, the other ⅗ of the district) City Councilman Sam Nizam are locked in what is obviously a geographic contest, but is even more of an ideological one. Nizam's campaign is bankrolled by business interests. Most notably, the Colorado Democracy Project, a front for right-wing former DaVita CEO Kent Thirty, has spent almost $130,000—more than most general election contests see between both candidates—to promote Nizam and attack Willford. Willford’s smaller (obviously) outside support comes mostly from labor unions, a clear sign of who both candidates will serve if elected.
HD-42 (Aurora)
Mandy Lindsay (i) vs. Gail Pough
This is the legislature’s only challenge of an incumbent, and even then only technically so. Mandy Lindsay, a former interior decorator and vaccine clinic worker, was appointed to this seat in January, and this will be her first election. Aurora fire inspector Gail Pough was the runner-up for that appointment, and thinks she’ll fare better with actual voters than party insiders. The ideological stakes here aren’t as sharply defined. Labor is spending for Lindsay, but that could reflect a status quo bias more than anything. The biggest hint of anything concerning with Pough is her promise to “cut red tape for businesses”. Meaningless campaign pablum or genuine insight into her thought process? You decide. This is the only primary where the Chamber of Commerce isn’t weighing in, so we suspect it’s more the former.
HD-57 (Aspen and other ski towns)
Cole Buerger vs. Elizabeth Velasco
The final state House race in Colorado pits business-favorite self-funder Cole Buerger against labor-and-progressive backed Elizabeth Velasco, in a race that is, thankfully, much easier to figure out than some of the others. While Velasco is Bernie-supporting progressive, Buerger owns a consulting company, talks about the need for a better business climate and more public-private partnerships. In a more local issue, he sides with ranchers on water issues. That his family owns a ranch may or may not be coming into play there.
Oklahoma
SD-48 (Oklahoma City)
George Young (i) vs. Rico Smith
Rico Smith, a young organizer who briefly worked to get an independent redistricting commission on Oklahoma’s ballot, is challenging incumbent George Young from the perspective that Democrats should be more active and vocal in opposing the Republican majority, instead of attempting to appease them. The incumbent, George Young, was narrowly elected to the Senate in 2018 after two terms in the House, and hasn’t made many waves in either. Young has outraised Smith 2:1, so he’s got the usual financial advantages of incumbency.
Utah
SD-09 (Salt Lake City)
Derek Kitchen (i) vs. Jennifer Plumb
This is a rematch of the 2018 primary, when Salt Lake City Councilmember Derek Kitchen narrowly defeated pediatric ER doctor Jennifer Plumb. While their policy views are similar, their debate showed off very different styles. Kitchen has a well-earned reputation as a big thinker and bomb thrower, while Plumb, drawing on her experience advocating for legislation as a non-elected, thinks small proposals that won’t scare the GOP supermajority are the way to go.
SD-13 (Southern Salt Lake City suburbs)
Gene Davis (i) vs. Nate Blouin
Elected officials across Salt Lake are lining up to endorse renewable energy advocate Nate Blouin, who shellacked incumbent Gene Davis at the party convention, 79 votes to 29. Even the Senate Democratic Caucus is endorsing against one of their own. What happened that Gene Davis, who has been in the legislature for 36 continuous years, has so suddenly lost the trust of his party? Could it maybe have been the sexual harassment allegations? Yes. Almost certainly. Blouin is also noticeably more progressive than Davis, so he’s an improvement on policy in addition to being an improvement on a personal level.
SD-14 (Southern Salt Lake City suburbs)
Deondra Brown vs. Stephanie Pitcher
While state Rep. Stephanie Pitcher would seem like a natural frontrunner for an overlapping Senate district, that’s not how things have gone. Instead, outgoing state Sen. Jani Iwamoto is supporting abuse victims’ advocate Deondra Brown, who narrowly beat Pitcher at the party convention. It’s for the best. Pitcher, a prosecutor, is one of the most moderate Democrats in the House: pro-cryptocurrency, fine with voter ID, and, bizarrely, opposed to high fines for street racing.