While bitter-enders are taking the fight to preserve the 2003 gerrymander to federal court, most Colorado politicians are getting ready for elections under the 2001 map. In the 7th District,
two prominent Democrats are looking at a challenge to Beauprez -- Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas and former State Senator Ed Perlmutter of Golden.
The 7th District under the 2001 redistricting plan was called by some the "Ed Perlmutter district," but either Perlmutter or Thomas could prove a strong challenger to Beauprez. Both hail from Jefferson County (as does Beauprez), which includes the most strongly Republican parts of the 7th. Their local connections could cut into Beauprez' support there.
The Denver Post reports that Rep. Bob Matsui of California, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has been trying to either Thomas or Perlmutter to drop out. (Apparently there is little concern about the neophyte Works.) Colorado Democrats certainly have become gunshy about primaries ever since Gene Nichol hung the "lawyer lobbyist" tag on Tom Strickland that allowed Wayne Allard to eke out two Senate victories. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that primaries don't have to be divisive. If the candidates stay positive, a primary can help energize the base. The 7th District could be a good opportunity to test this theory; if it appears that Democrats are fighting each other, eager for the opportunity to take out Beauprez, it could become a self fulfilling prophecy.